NCIS: LA - Core Values

I didn't notice that 'kayak' was a palindrome. I love palindromes. And so does Eric. Awwwe. Callen just said 'Egad'. I'm dying.

The guy who collapsed, bleeding, at the beginning of the episode, was a marine who had radioactive poisoning. His wife is pregnant, and he told her he had taken on a second job - but he hadn't gotten that one, it was actually at a nuclear plant. Keeping secrets! Bad marine man!

We get in some more Callen jibes - "Maybe one day we'll discover that kale is poisonous and yoga's bad for your spine". I like his thinking (I hate kale, but you knew that already).

I'll take two of these. One for me, one for Callen. 

Oh hey! My dad and I both had a 'Hey I know that guy' moment - but about separate actors - mine was this guy, who played FBI agent Peter Elliot on CSI: Miami (I'm gonna refer to him as Peter) and dad's was about this guy who's playing a scientist. We both said each of them are always the bad guy... I wonder which one it'll be this time?

Kensi and Deeks both go undercover at the nuclear plant where the poisoned marine had been moonlighting, he as a security guard, she as a janitor. It's weird though, he was observing a group of protesters outside the plant, and one of them was talking into a megaphone, and he sounded exactly like Deeks.

Deeks wants to have a moustache, Kensi disagrees. He compares himself to Albert Einstein.

Well, I mean, they both rock the poufy-hair look.

But just because one can pull off a beard, does not mean they can pull off a moustache. Let this photo of Toronto Blue Jay Russell Martin be exhibit A:

And click here if you need proof that Russell looks his best at his beardliest. (That's totally a word)

Someone left a note for Sam to meet him in secret, it was the scientist guy. He said one of the pools under which the radioactive material is stored was significantly drained and the plant is a 'disaster waiting to happen'. And Peter wouldn't let him tell Sam & Callen.

Granger went to talk to the poisoned Marine, and they had the exact same tone of voice. One of them has radioactivity poisoning, and the other one is just a boring person. I'll let you guess who was who.

The fuel rods of radioactive material were exposed because of the drop in pool level - and there was a two-hour 'glitch' in the video feed as the pool was being drained. There's no backup. And that was the night that the guard was poisoned.

So my dad was right at first, the scientist guy is the one who shut off the valve and turned off the alarm and the backup pool-filling stuff. The guard went in and looked around on his rounds while the water level was low and that was how he got exposed. Poor guy, just doing his job, wrong place wrong time. Scientist-guy says no one was supposed to get hurt, he was just trying to make it obvious apparent to the public how the plant was unsafe. But it's early in the episode, so clearly we're not done.

Just as Kensi and Deeks are leaving the building, the small shed-type building behind them explodes. It held the backup generators for the cooling system. The team finds a bomb wrapped around a pipe that sends water into the cooling pools, so when it goes off it'll cut off the water and expose the fuel rods.

There was a reason they showed the protesters outside - their leader was the one who came in and planted the explosive. He had told the scientist-guy that he was a professor of environmental studies and the scientist guy was dumb enough to believe him and get him a fake ID to come in and study the pools.

Callen and Sam manage to pry the charge off the pipe and Callen runs it outside and dumps it in some barrels of water - but then the scientist points out that that wouldn't have effectively emptied the pool (it would have taken too long) so everyone freaks out and Sam realizes it's a diversion - he planted a much bigger explosive under the pool that would create a hole and drain the pools. I would just like to say 'underneath a pool containing tons of radioactive material' is a really dumb place for a utility room.

This new bomb has a pendulum that would detonate it if it swung too much.

"I'm disassembling a bomb"

Hetty calls in and says to pull the first responders away, she thinks the perp is trying to hurt as many people as possible - and then Sam has an idea to yank the blasting caps out of the plastic explosive VERY CAREFULLY and throw them at least 6 inches away from the explosive before the cell phone connects, but they can't be holding the thing or else they'll lose a hand. THIS SOUNDS LIKE A BAD IDEA TO ME.

Deeks and Kensi find the perp sitting outside at a cafe (cos he wouldn't go back to his secret lair to set off a nuclear disaster, oh no, he's right out there in public) and ruin his phone, then pull guns on him, but then he pulls out a BACKUP phone and tries to take a woman hostage, it all happens very fast but basically he dials the number and calls, then they shoot him, Kensi and Deeks freak out "It's connected!" Sam and Callen pull out the blasting caps but have to run just as a guy in a bomb suit shows up and yanks the whole thing away from the plastic and dives on it as a small explosion goes off beneath him (just the caps, not the plastic, thank god)

Sam and Callen run back in and tell him he has 'some big stones, my man' and thank him, then he takes his helmet off and OH MY GOD IT'S GRANGER?!! Sam looks like he immediately wants to take back the 'big stones' comment and I don't blame him. But holy hell, I think that was the most exciting thing Granger's ever done. Or second-most, after showing up at that insane cult place and ending that standoff. That was pretty badass.

The next scene Kensi and Deeks are in the hospital, the wife delivered her baby but the husband's lungs are filling up with fluid and he can't breathe anymore. So for some random reason (my dad questioned this, I mean there are nurses EVERYWHERE) the lady decides to hand her baby to Kensi and Kensi looks as freaked out as Rachel from Friends the first time she held Ben.

"This IS how I would hold a football..."

But then she and Deeks sing 'Twinkle Twinkle' to him and everything is all right... Except that his father is dying in the room right behind him and that's sad as hell, but instead we're just supposed to focus on Kensi and Deeks and a baby (because if this isn't foreshadowing then I don't know what is).