NCIS: Los Angeles - Traitor - Review: "A Mole in our Midst"

The ninth episode of the season, “Traitor,” brought us the hunt for the NCIS mole that’s been mentioned numerous times this season. That mole is infiltrating the NCIS Los Angeles office and wreaking havoc. This time he causes serious damage: getting to Granger, poisoning him and causing him to flip his car in a very serious accident. While Granger recovers, the NCIS LA team works to uncover the mole and bring him down. In the end they are successful.

General Thoughts/Analysis

I thought the mole story arc, with teasers delicately sprinkled through several episodes, was one that could have been really interesting. And though I liked this episode, I was disappointed that the actual mole was someone whom none of us knew. It was harder to get invested in the story when it was a new character we had never met before. Even if there had been a short introduction or a couple small sightings over the last few episodes letting us think this man was a nice person, it would have been more effective when we learned he wasn’t. But as it was, the sense of danger was diminished and the level of emotional investment lowered because this was just any average guy who worked in the IT department. It could have been anyone. That was the problem. It was anyone. Unfortunately I feel like the show missed a good opportunity to present a really captivating story here. Of course, I recognize that whoever this mole works for may be a bigger fish and lead to more interesting story, but this one really just scratched the surface.

There were still many good things about the episode, though. I was happy to see more of Eric finally. I don’t know how it took nine episodes to give him a little bit more material. But it was nice to see more of funny, quirky, nerdy Eric. I enjoyed seeing how he was afraid of approaching Hetty, using a nervous knock-knock joke and British accent before slowly inching near to check on her. I loved him talking about his Captain America comic book. And I loved his password for his bank account: “2015Eric+Nell.” I guess we know where he stands on that topic. Nell slapping him was also amusing, along with him acknowledging he needed it. But I couldn’t really figure out why Nell got mad at him after he wanted to deal with the bank account problem on his own. Why was that such a bad thing? And I have to say, the final Nell-Eric scene was a little cheesy for me. Giving them a nice moment with everyone right next to them (before the group takes off uncomfortably) just felt awkward.

I also loved Hetty getting a polygraph test. What a fun scene. Wouldn’t Hetty be the perfect person to polygraph? I think Eric had the right idea when he wanted to take advantage of the test and ask her about things like government secrets/Area 51. Hetty is such a wealth of knowledge with so much rich history that she must have a ton of fascinating secrets. It would be a lot of fun to see what she knows. That might be the most interesting polygraph test ever! The things she revealed to Nell already made me want to know more. Which country did she commit treason against? And what is the story of how she tried to kill Granger long ago? I want to hear more about that! She’s such a polygraph tease. We only got intriguing snippets of her life. Nell should have pressed her harder to get answers for us!

Analyzing Deeks/Kensi

Another thing I loved were the Deeks and Kensi scenes (though they also left me with a big disappointment, which I’ll explain in a minute). My favorite was the scene right after the opening shot. As Kensi practices target shooting, Deeks brings her a food container and accuses her of eating his special leftover burger. He wanted to eat it for breakfast but it was gone and he knows Kensi ate it. “You are a refrigerator hyena,” he tells her. “Let me smell your breath.” When he gets his wish, he thinks her breath is “surprisingly minty” because she must have covered up her actions with mouthwash. As she claims he might not know her well enough to say that, he proves very convincingly she is wrong. He easily rattles off a long list of obscure things he really does know about her: her specific favorite color (Cornflower Blue), that she hates liver but loves bulgogi, her favorite movie (“Titanic”), that she loves techno music and mojitos at a certain hotel, that she played college softball, that she dressed up as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle for Halloween as a child, that she keeps a journal, that she wants an oregano garden, and that her favorite New Kid was Joey. These are the kind of specific details that show Deeks really does know her well. They point to a deeper understanding of her likes, her life and her history.

The scene ends with a very sweet, charming Deeks telling her she also hides “girly magazines” under her bathroom sink. At this one Kensi is a little confused. But Deeks’ version of “girly magazine” means “Cosmo” and “Modern Bride.” (Kensi reading “Modern Bride?” That is something I cannot picture.) I love when Deeks tells her, “Our kickass Kensilena has a softer, lacy, lady side that no one knows about but me – and I love it!” His smile is sincere as he says this, as if he is trying to convince her how much he cares and loves these things about her. But Kensi plays coy. “You couldn’t have said that any creepier,” she retorts. And Deeks, I’m sure, echoed many viewers’ thoughts as he replies, “Creepy? I thought it was pretty charming.” Indeed it was, and very sweet. How can Kensi resist that smile?

At numerous times during this episode (including this scene and the hair-smelling scene where Deeks gets distracted and won’t promise not to smell her again) I found myself thinking that Deeks is really beginning to wear his heart on his sleeve in this relationship, while Kensi continues to play coy. Deeks has become the romantic. He often acknowledges out loud what he likes about Kensi. He seems to have pushed through his fear of being together and has become bolder about letting her know how he feels. He makes numerous comments now that show Kensi how much he likes her. Meanwhile, Kensi acts hard to get and doesn’t play along. She doesn’t seem to want him thinking she likes him, even though she clearly does and they both know it. But funny enough, Kensi is acting cool like the traditional guy. Having said that, I don’t think it’s a reflection of how she truly feels at all. I just think it’s Kensi’s personality to not tell Deeks she likes him and not voice how she feels. It’s even become part of her flirting – and Deeks understands that. Unless it’s a really serious moment where she truly needs him, Kensi is not going to be overtly loving or romantic, at least in public. But Deeks will. This episode really impressed on me how far Deeks has come in expressing his feelings for Kensi.

But another thing the episode did was begin to convince me that these two characters are indeed dating. So far it’s been hard to determine exactly what their relationship is. Much of it has been left open-ended and ripe for interpretation. But this episode really presented evidence that pointed to these two having a more intimate relationship. The fact that Deeks thinks Kensi ate his special burger for breakfast shows that Kensi was over at his house for breakfast. Unless she is an early riser who just likes to have breakfast with Deeks before work, the implication is she stays over at his house. In order to have raided his fridge and stolen his leftovers to eat for breakfast, she had to be at his place in the morning. That implies a relationship.

There are also other indicators they are getting close. Deeks is obviously over at Kensi’s place a lot, too. Otherwise he wouldn’t be looking under her bathroom sink and noticing her toilet paper stash. Before discussing their peeing habits, he comments on how she never actually places the toilet paper onto the roll. This whole conversation was quite amusing. It sounded like a couple bickering about putting the toilet seat down. But in this case they were arguing and joking about replacing the toilet paper roll instead. This had definite couple status written all over it. If they are spending this much time together at one another’s houses outside of work, it really does seem to imply they are a couple, or at least dating. Also, Deeks at one point mentioned Kensi’s chili, letting us know that Kensi has been cooking for him. And when Kensi spots the poisonous plant on her desk, she admits she originally didn’t think twice about it because she thought it was a gift from Deeks. Maybe he buys her more gifts than we know. But the evidence is adding up: staying over, cooking for each other, buying gifts, replacing the toilet paper at one another’s houses and stealing things out of the fridge all point to these two already being a couple.

As much as I personally have wanted them to get together, I was really disappointed by this revelation because it means the relationship has developed off screen. That is something I haven’t wanted to believe was happening. Many fans have wondered if these two were developing a close, intimate relationship that wasn’t being shown on screen, if the show was getting them together and just hinting at it but not actually showing it. I didn’t really think that was the case because I hadn’t seen much evidence of it - until now. Or maybe I just didn’t want to believe it. Like many fans of the couple, if something was going to happen, I wanted to see it happen, not just be told about it later. So I had really hoped the show was simply backing up the relationship to friendship so they could then move forward and show us the development of their relationship onscreen. But the scenes and dialogue this week really make it seem like it’s happened off-screen. That was a big disappointment for me.

Other Thoughts:

- I loved Deeks referring to Granger as “our favorite little curmudgeon.”

- Sam pointing out the similarities between Granger and Callen’s lifestyles was entertaining. I enjoyed this dialogue and banter.

- Hetty certainly doesn’t like her team questioning her decisions. She did not look happy when Deeks questioned her choice not to evacuate the building.

- Worst line (and delivery) in the episode goes to Nell: “I used to think this was the safest place on earth.” I had to roll my eyes at that one.

- When Hetty was talking about people changing and losing themselves, it certainly seemed to imply there was a chance Eric may have lost his way. I was really shocked at that. I would have thought Hetty and Nell would defend him at all costs instead of casting suspicion on him even a little. I didn’t like that. It felt disloyal.

- It was a little creepy to see Deeks strangle Kensi even as a demonstration. Fortunately he did something cute right after it. (Smelling her hair)

- I couldn’t believe the mole knocked Eric’s head against a wall. But it was an effective choice. It surprised me and made me say, “Whoa!”

- Why did Callen say, “Pick on someone your own size” to the mole? Was that a fat joke?

- I loved Deeks saying, “Holla!” after catching the mole. Everything is a joke to him.

- When Kensi told Nell to check on Eric, he was two feet away from them. Don’t you think he would have heard that comment?

- We still don’t know who the mole was working for so we’re not really much closer to understanding the threat or where it’s coming from. But I look forward to finding out who is behind everything.

- I guess now we know why Hetty and Granger have such a contentious relationship – she tried to kill him once. But it seems they’ve come pretty far since then – almost friends. To that end, it was nice to see her supporting him at the hospital.


What did you think of "Traitor?" Are you convinced Densi is a couple? Tell us your thoughts on the episode 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 loves covering NCIS: Los Angeles for SpoilerTV. (She's a big fan of Kensi and Deeks!) She also writes SpoilerTV articles on other great shows.