NCIS: LA - Matryoshka

Apologies for the late post, I had a lot of schoolwork and decided that should take priority for once...

Kirkin got kidnapped from a spa. Looks like we're back with the Russian plotline.

Callen apparently got beat up on a plane, and there may or may not be footage of it. Also, Eric is wearing a kilt. I can't tell whether that's a step up or a step down from his usual cargo shorts.

I see London, I see France...

Callen goes into a bar, and gets threatened, then decides that the best method of escape is to spit fire at the dude. FIRE. And then Sam chastises him after the fact for a lack of a heads-up, to which Callen casually delivers the line 'I think I need some chapstick. I think I burned my lip!' You can borrow one of my chapsticks, Callen, I have like 50 and I've only opened like 3. Hope you like strawberry.

Turns out the person who kidnapped Kirkin was a woman, working alone - Deeks is skeptical because he thinks not all women have the skillset of Kensi, which is hella sexist bro, I thought we were past that?! Anyways, she and him have some pretty great banter, then they all go to a shipyard where they find Kirkin and get set upon by a mysterious woman on a motorbike, who they chase down and *gasp* it's Ana!

OK she keeps flirting with Callen and it's getting super-obvious. Ugh. There are more subtle ways of conveying attraction, writers.

Eric may or may not have been going commando under his kilt. But he won't tell Nell which one.

Hetty has an exact replica car of James Dean's car. Weird. Kinda morbid.

"You know I died in that thing, right??"

They start talking about how attractive Deeks is, how he has 'soulful blue eyes'. Yes indeed...
Arkady is alive! Or was, two days ago. If he is otherwise when they find him...

*Self-five for the Princess Bride reference*

Callen decides to be all gallant and whatnot, and help Anna find Arkady. Anna's accent is STILL both not Russian and also terrible. I could do a better Russian accent than her.

Somehow, Eric LARPs and has lots of game-playing groups, but considers himself lonely. Awww, sweet little nerd. And then he refers to himself in third-person. Oh Eric.

Kirkin thinks Deeks' hair is 'glorious'. I mean, he's not wrong.

Glorious indeed.

Blah blah blah, undercover, blahhhh... Kensi and Deeks are cater-waiters again, and their little tiny bossman is kinda high-strung. But at least Deeks gets to wear a bowtie!

DAMN Callen! That is a sharp suit! Like Matthew McConaughey sharp! Navy suits with black lapels are so in. But there's a near-snafu when their faces aren't in the software for their fake IDs, so Kensi has to act like a clueless waiter and interrupt, which is hella awkward. Callen's undercover nickname is 'Cal'. Very little imagination went into that one.

Some random girl at the party is being very clingy. Callen and Anna are dancing (not terribly productive, guys). Apparently he learned ballroom dancing by osmosis. Which is impressive. But then again, most things about Callen are impressive. Deeks and Kensi take down a security guard aaaaand then Anna and Callen start making out in an upstairs hallway. Which was really awkward and REALLY OVERACTED. Good grief. I keep making that 'ugh' noise every time the two of them talk/look at each other/are in the same shot.

While they were busy doing that, Sam was doing the ACTUAL dangerous work, and then crawled out a window and stuff.

Turns out some CIA dude that everyone thought was dead was being held captive alongside Arkady, but they are only being sent in to get that guy, not Arkady. Hmm. And only Callen and Sam are being sent in to get him. SO NOT ANNA RIGHT?!!

Crap, Anna is going with them.

And it's to be continued...

NCIS: LA - Chernoff, K.

Lots of 'previously seen on'. Lots of shooting.

Pew pew pew! 

The bad guy is in the wind, along with Anna. Turns out the guys shooting at our guys in the opener were not Karposev's men, but a hit squad sent to kill him. Fun.

'A little less conversation, a little more information please' is Hetty Lange's new Elvis parody. Catchy, eh? She won an apartment in Moscow in a poker game in 1992, because why not. Hetty's a badass.

Anna decides to pull a gun on Sam, because that seems like a good idea - also, she doesn't have a Russian accent. I don't know what kind of accent that is, but it's very faint and it's not Russian. She denies being Arkady's daughter, and has killed Karposev because he wanted to 'keep her like a pet'. Ew.

Deeks shoots a guy, saving Kensi's life, and she is less than grateful. Literally all 'Damnit, you killed him!'

Seriously, what's with this Anna chick?? Apparently she worked at one point for Chicago PD, and her accent is more French than anything... good grief.

Callen has questions about his father, and Arkady has a somehow-related history lesson about an espresso machine. The guy Arkady thinks was Callen's father was sent to the gulag but somehow escaped, and OH HEY! Now we know what he looks like! Kind of!

Callen looks just like him. 

I really hope Anna is not around for much longer. Her accent is terrible. Also the guy Deeks shot was a member of ISIS - why?! Why do all the evil plots in the world have to do with ISIS?!

There's a meeting of all the people who bought the oil, so the team needs to infiltrate it for some reason. You know stuff's getting intense when Kensi takes her hair out of her ponytail. Also Callen could get Eric in trouble with the Russians for snooping around to find out more information about Callen's father. But of course, Eric be damned! Our hero needs to find out his identity!

Sneaky Kensi steals a guy's car and 'secures' the buyers from Cameroon. Computery stuff is computery, and suddenly Kensi is taking Nell's place in explaining all the tech stuff.

Arkady doesn't sing. I'm so confused about all this running around and beating people up. It is NOT HELPFUL when you stress out Eric when he's working, guys. NOT HELPFUL. Yet again, TV criminals demonstrate how unoriginal they are by driving a black van. Anna kicks the crap out of a guy, and Arkady is shot. Damnit! I liked him! Why couldn't the damn girl have died, she of the inconsistent accent?!!

The police are approaching, Arkady tries to be a hero and distract them, and even though she supposedly hates him, Anna offers to stay with him. Hetty insists that's not a good idea, so they all leave. And in the next scene, we find out that Anna has disappeared and Arkady is still alive somehow. Callen wants to stay behind and track him down, but Hetty says no.

Hetty was married?!! In Russia?!! As a part of an undercover assignment? For some reason it's significant to her, even though the man didn't mean anything to her. Hetty found out information about the name Callen's dad took on after he escaped the gulag. Konstantine Chernoff. Hence the episode title. And he died in 2008. Poor baby Callen, he's so sad! Especially considering he was actually in Moscow for years before his father died. So he goes and stands around the cemetary, and the cafe, and a bunch of other landmarks, with Sam just watching over his shoulder. Sam waits for hours (I assume) before saying anything, which is "Let's go."

And then JUUUUST when we think the episode is over, an old man comes in and orders an espresso at the cafe. AND HE HAS A COIN!! IT'S HIM!!! Of course!!

So that's all for this season, I am so relieved they got renewed, and I can't wait to see what happens next time! Until then, toodles!

NCIS:LA - Kolcheck, A.

NCIS: LA just got renewed for Season 7!! Hooray!! Let's celebrate!

Don't give money repeatedly to friends. Life advice brought to you by Kensi and Sam. And Callen is a bad friend who doesn't return Sam's stuff. Bad Callen!

Eric is the friend who borrowed all the money?!! OMG Bad Eric!!

The dead guy found in the opening is part of the dead crew of that oil tanker related to Arkady that we discussed last time... The guy who owned the company that owned the tanker is dead, and Arkady is missing.
Wait, Callen suddenly knows who his dad is? When did this happen?? I am confuse!!

Deeks suspects incest in the case of the brother and sister who owned the tanker company. Eww. And I guess no one will ever know the answer, because now the sister's dead too!

This is getting intense. 

Eric tries to make casual chit-chat with Granger. It does not go well. Hahaha Sam and Callen are always one step ahead of Arkady. Sarcastic Callen makes an appearance - because you never know when a bazooka's going to come in handy, right?!

A guy who has 'no regard for human life' is after the oil tanker - or may already have it! Oh goody!

Thanks Leonard, you're a pal. 

Significant old coin is old! And significant! And shockingly, Hetty is tracking the whereabouts of every single employee of hers. What a gal.

Deeks thinks Kensi's cleavage is a good way to distract people. I'm sure it's distracted him plenty... Also apparently defibrillators are good weapons to threaten people with. Who knew?

Arkady really hates that interrogation room in the boatshed. Like, REALLY hates it.

Someone runs into Kensi and Deeks and he shoots (deafening her) but they get away. My dad wants to know why the team are all crack shots but never hit anything when it's convenient to the plot. Like they never shoot a tire when the bad guys are driving away. GOOD POINT DAD, VERY GOOD POINT.

I call it the Horatio Caine sharpshooter effect.
He's either a sniper or overly cautious depending on the episode. WHY HORATIO WHY?!

Arkady didn't kill anyone! Hooray! But the blonde girl, Anna, that Callen found on Arkady's phone, is in danger. And OMG the ship is in the Sahara Desert! - no, wait. It's still in LA. Uh-oh? Not exactly sure what nefarious plan would involve something like that.

Arkady was told to wait in the car - so of course he did not, On the entire giant tanker, they manage to find the ONE guy who's rigging it to explode - and is willing to be a villain and monologue the entire thing. They moved the oil. *Insert evil laughter* And Anna is Arkady's daughter, and she's been kidnapped. Aaaand it's a cliffhanger.

I HATE CLIFFHANGERS!!!