NCIS: Los Angeles - Episode 5.22 - "One More Chance" Review - Just Like Comfort Food

After being very disappointed by the previous episode, watching “One More Chance” was like eating comfort food. It contained many of the elements viewers have grown to love in “NCIS: Los Angeles” – the action, the funny dialogue, a heartfelt Kensi and Deeks conversation that took a comical turn, a show of trust between Sam and Callen, and Hetty reinforcing she’s in charge.

Some of my favorite scenes in “NCIS: Los Angeles” happen as the team arrives at work in the morning before they are assigned a new case. We find some of the funniest banter in these scenes as the characters simply chat about their lives. Often these scenes revolve around Deeks’ idiosyncrasies. “One More Chance” was no different. I loved the scene that dealt with Deeks spring cleaning his digital life. As he comes in to work quoting Dickinson, he soon sits down to delete his Facebook friends. He says his first group of deletions will be those who post food pictures – “foodbookers,” he calls them. He then calls Kensi a “vaguebooker” because she posts vague Facebook pictures that encourage people to comment. The scene had so many great quotes, I kept laughing out loud. I especially loved the hypocrisy that Eric points out to Deeks when he says, “Last Tuesday… Olive Garden…. I posted my Tortellini al Forno. You hit ‘like.’”

“Did I?” asked Deeks coyly. He is caught but still acts like he has the upper hand.

I truly think the character of Deeks is one of the most well-written and expertly acted characters on television. Eric Christian Olsen has given this unique, quirky character so much life that you feel you know and understand all of his weird ways. They make him so fun and lovable. It takes a nice symbiosis of writing and acting to accomplish this depth in a character and it has worked extremely well with Deeks.

This week’s case for the team hits home for Sam. A 10-year-old girl named Riley Peyton is missing – a girl that Sam knows and loves as he previously offered protection to her family in Saudi Arabia during his task force days. He even taught her to play the drums. The girl’s mother, Jessica, is the chief engineer at a company that builds unmanned aerial vehicles. Some of the company’s software was also just stolen so the two incidents at the company may be connected. But the mother insists her daughter is safe with her estranged husband.

Sam isn’t so sure, though. As they investigate the theft, everyone keeps questioning his closeness to the case and in turn his judgment. But as usual, his judgment turns out to be right. Eric recovers a video file that shows the little girl has indeed been kidnapped, along with her father.

As Deeks and Kensi look into the masked men who committed the software theft, they happen upon a bomb. After Deeks jumps on top of Kensi to shield her from the blast, he calls himself a hero. “Rule numero uno,” he tells Kensi, “when a hero saves your life, you can’t make fun of the said hero.” When Kensi finally acknowledges that maybe he did save her life, she implies he owed her for the dozen or so times she has saved his.

For Densi fans upset about where “Three Hearts” left things for the partners, it was nice to see some heartfelt and also fun scenes this week between the two. My favorite was the scene that began with them talking about kids. With everything going on with the kidnapped girl, Deeks says it makes him wonder if having kids is worth it. Kensi says she thought he wanted kids and Deeks responds that he did, but when cases like this come up, it makes him question that choice.

The conversation was a nice way for them to have a relationship-type chat in a non-relationship setting and manner. They explored topics that couples might have without committing to any kind or relationship or acting like a couple. They were not talking about having kids in the way that a regular couple would. But they were still talking about it. And they were also addressing the importance of having people around you who care about you. Kensi gave Deeks something to think about as she rebuffed his arguments that it is sometimes better to be on your own in this line of work because then you don’t have to worry about anyone else and can be fearless. But Kensi counters that then no one is looking out for you or has your back.

I loved the intimacy of this conversation and how it seamlessly touched on the root of Deeks’ recent fears. I like that Kensi doesn’t have any hesitation in reminding Deeks what is important. And I like that the conversation went from serious to lighthearted in just moments.

Deeks suddenly reacts to Kensi’s encouragement by saying, “Oh my God.”

“What?” Kensi asks.

“I just realized you’re the yin in my yang, so to speak,” Deeks tells her.

Kensi is amused and replies, “Explain to me how you have this capability of making everything sound so wrong.”

“It’s a gift, isn’t it? Deeks responds. “I’m just saying you’re the right to my wrong, I’m like the good to your evil.”

Kensi doesn’t hesitate as she picks right up where he left off. “The beast to my beauty?” she offers him.

“That’s hurtful,” Deeks says mockingly.

Even the lighthearted part of this conversation was enlightening. Deeks, in his goofy, non-serious way, was expressing his realization that they complement one another. Even though he did it in a way that made fun of the essence of their partnership, the meaning was clear.

Perhaps the thing that made me happiest in this episode was realizing that despite the up-in-the-air, confusing, go-nowhere ending of the last episode, the fun dynamic between Deeks and Kensi remains unchanged. Their way of making fun of each other is still intact. Though they haven’t moved forward with anything, they are still at a great jumping off point to be able to do that at any time. I was reassured to see that even though they are not moving forward, at least they are not moving back. They haven’t changed the way they interact with each other. (This wasn’t the first time this season I’ve been relieved at seeing this, but I needed that reassurance again after last week.)

Later, Densi fans got another treat when the duo plants themselves at a cafe near mom Jessica Peyton as she awaits the kidnappers’ instructions on what to do. After a long hour with no contact, the mother is getting nervous and keeps glancing at Kensi and Deeks at the next table. Only she is supposed to be ignoring them so Kensi has to create a reason for the woman to be looking at them. She leans in and kisses Deeks on the cheek. Deeks, caught off guard, distractingly says, “Oh, wow, what are we doing here? What’s that?” Kensi leans in close with her arms around him and explains what she’s up to, laughing giddily and leaning her head against Deeks’ to play up the ruse. Even in an undercover situation, it’s fun to see these two playing a couple.

Nell and Granger were also part of the surveillance team and I was amused to see Nell kissing Granger on the cheek as she approaches him, pretending he is her father. Granger doesn’t like that choice too much.

When the mother, Jessica, finally does receive the kidnappers’ text (which NCIS intercepts) and gets in her car, she veers off the expected route and pulls into a parking garage, where she disappears.

This leaves Callen questioning if Jessica is really trustworthy. Could she be in on the scheme? Sam gives an emphatic “no” and Callen begins to question Sam’s judgment. Callen tells Sam he is trying to trust him but Sam needs to look at the facts. But Sam knows better. He trusts his gut and wants Callen to trust him. He believes someone got to Jessica at the cafe. So they all head back to the cafe, where they find the mother had not been watching Kensi and Deeks after all. She had actually been looking behind them to graffiti on a wall that gave her a message to go to the parking garage.

Utilizing the bad guys’ driver (whom the NCIS team had arrested earlier in an undercover shoeshine operation), the “NCIS: Los Angeles” team infiltrates the kidnappers’ location. Sam’s good instincts that everyone else doubted help him recover the young girl (along with the mother and the father). Young Riley cries as she is reunited with her mother and tells Sam she knew he would come for her. I was so impressed with this little actress. Her emotion and the character’s devotion to Sam drew you in and made you love Sam even more as you saw how special he was to her. She gives Sam the cover booklet from the CD case and tells him to keep it for good luck and asks him to come by for a drum lesson that weekend.

As the team wraps up the case back at work, Hetty tells Granger she has called the Secretary of the Navy to report the outcome. Granger is surprised she made the call and it quickly becomes clear these two still don’t fully trust each other. Hetty is testing Granger, almost marking her territory. She is pushing the boundaries with him and exerting her influence. These two are still feeling each other out in terms of who is in charge. Hetty does not want to answer to him or give him all the power. Through Granger recognizes what she is doing, he lets the issue go.

Clearing out for the night, Kensi is looking for a drinking buddy. Sam says he is going home to be with his family and Callen has a date. Without being asked, Deeks volunteers to get a beer with his partner. But then Granger shows up and asks Deeks if he is going to have a drink or post the drink on Facebook, calling Deeks a “brewbooker.”

“That was one time… and how dare you, sir!” Deeks responds. Deeks’ digital hypocrisy is called out again. In an unusual camaraderie, Granger offers to buy the drinks.

As they get ready to leave, Sam thanks his partner for trusting him. And Callen thanks Sam for being right. These two have such a natural bond. Even when questioning Sam’s judgment, Callen ultimately put his trust and faith in his partner. They always have a gut instinct about each other and though it didn’t seem logical, Callen chose to back up his partner. As Sam leaves, he gives Callen his good luck CD ledger and tells him he will figure out what to do with it.


Other great quotes from the episode:

Callen: “Deeks speaks Dickinson.”
Sam: “Deeks doesn’t speak Dickinson.”
Deeks: “Oh, Deeks is full of the Dickinson.”
Sam: “That I believe.”

Deeks: “Wait… so you special agent ninjas don’t dust off your digitals?”
Sam: “I dust off my digitals daily.”

Nell: “Holy s’mores, Batman. This gives new meaning to fried hard drive.”

Eric: “And now I’ve begun what will be a monumental restoration. Stella is going to get her groove back.”
Nell: “Did you say Stella?”
Eric: “Yeah, that’s what I named her.”
Nell: “Wow. This could end up as quite the notch on your bedpost…. I’m gonna go now.”

Kensi: “Your brain really doesn’t work like everybody else’s, does it?”
Deeks: “No, no it doesn’t. Like Steve Jobs said, ‘I think different.’”
Kensi: “I don’t think he was talking about you.”
Deeks: “Or was he?”
Kensi: “No, he wasn’t.”


What did you think of "One More Chance?" What was your favorite scene? Your favorite quotes? Let us know what you liked (or didn't like) in the comments below.

About the Author - Tonya Papanikolas

Tonya Papanikolas is a freelance journalist who loves covering entertainment and television. She spent more than 10 years as a broadcast news anchor/reporter and now does everything from hosting to writing. She is excited to cover NCIS: Los Angeles for SpoilerTV. (She loves Kensi and Deeks!) She also writes SpoilerTV articles on other great shows.