NCIS: Los Angeles - Driving Miss Diaz - Review: "Character Study"

“Driving Miss Diaz” is a clever title for an episode that deals with a young model, Catalina Diaz, as the NCIS team goes undercover to protect her. The girl is thought to have escaped an old massacre in Peru. Now the Peruvian general in charge of the massacre is after her. To find out what is going on and help protect Catalina, Deeks poses as the girl’s driver, while Kensi pretends to be the assistant to her agent.

The episode wasn’t as good as the first two this season. A lot of the episode was predictable; you could easily guess what was coming. I also felt it was hard to follow at times. But it was still enjoyable and had some fun moments. Watching Deeks and Kensi undercover was great, and it was funny seeing Sam get annoyed with Callen. Plus Hetty offered a couple surprises once again. The character moments buoyed the episode. As usual, the “NCIS: Los Angeles” writers did a wonderful job charming us with our favorite characters.

Kensi and Deeks

Deeks and Kensi were perfect in their roles undercover. Kensi looked so official in her suit, catering to this young girl and arranging her schedule. But it wasn’t all fun and games. Kensi had to apologize to the girl after they led her to Alex Elmslie, a man working with the criminal tribunal trying to prosecute the Peruvian general. Catalina was not happy she had been duped, but she still believed Deeks and Kensi were her driver and agent’s assistant. So she directed her ire at Kensi as Deeks watched from the driver’s seat, making sure his girlfriend was okay (and wasn’t about to explode).

Deeks was also fun to watch as the driver. He kept his formal boundaries clear until he took Catalina to eat. There Deeks starts getting a little friendlier as he wants to know if he could be a model. I loved this scene. Just as Catalina says yes, giving Deeks smug satisfaction, she adds that he could only have been a model back in 2008 because his “homeless” look is out of style now. Ouch! She continues by saying maybe he just needs to comb his hair or put some product in it. Kensi likes this idea, but Deeks does not. “No one’s touching this hair because this hair is styled by Pillow,” he tells them. Typical Deeks, even undercover.

I enjoyed the teasing elements between the two partners as Kensi frisked Deeks for his phone, knowing exactly what she was going to find on it: the girl’s modeling pictures, even after Deeks claimed he didn’t like entitled girls. Kensi knows who Deeks is – a flirt at heart who can’t help but guess Catalina’s bra size. I love that these things don’t seem to bother Kensi, but neither is she about to let them go without teasing Deeks. It’s only appropriate. Later at work when Deeks sees the photo shoot pictures and exclaims, “She’s hot!” Kensi questions his comment in front of the team. But they all know it’s in good humor. Deeks is who he is, and he isn’t going to change. He will probably always make those kinds of comments, and Kensi will always call him out on them. That’s part of the way they tease.

Deeks also made fun of Kensi this week after she gave Catalina advice she’d read on a bottle of face wash. Deeks recognized where she got the advice and couldn’t wait to bring it up. He was eager to call her out on it. Of course, that in turn meant Kensi knew Deeks had been using her face wash. Why else would he know what it said on the bottle? These little touches were fantastic. By the time Deeks mentions the face wash advice in front of the entire team, Kensi pretends she doesn’t knows what he is talking about. But Deeks doesn’t care. His comments were just for her, letting Kensi know he was proud of her odd ways. (It was also funny to watch him try to get Sam to touch his smooth face.) I am loving the dynamics between Kensi and Deeks this season. These little touches show what a good match they are together.

Sam and Callen

One thing I love about this show is how the characters show different sides of themselves in different situations. Their moods change and they don’t always act the same, just like people in real life. That was the case with Sam this week. Callen, his buddy and friend, was annoying him, and he couldn’t help but let it show. Sam and Callen are similar in many ways, but they are also very different in the way they approach life. They have different styles, and Callen’s was driving Sam crazy. He didn’t like how Callen was so cavalier about the office security assessment. His annoyance affected his mood in general, putting him on edge. He then became ticked off that no one had changed the printer toner, realizing he was going to have to do it himself. That reminded him of how Callen apparently never changed the toilet paper roll when he’d been at Sam’s house, so he made sure to bring that up. (How funny is it that it bothered Sam so much? This military boy likes things done a certain way!) I also enjoyed Nell as she comes in and tells Sam she had already changed the toner. The looks on her face just added to the scene, and so did Eric cluelessly asking if they’d changed the toner.

What made it even funnier was that Callen clearly enjoyed annoying Sam, as we saw when they went undercover as tech support at the criminal tribunal offices. As they pretended to fix spotty Wi-Fi, Callen made fun of Sam for thoroughly checking the bookshelves for evidence, showing their different styles once again. Callen acted like this was a stupid idea, which angered Sam even more. Then Callen brought up the printer incident again, intending to get under his friend’s skin. And it worked! These little friendly jabs at one another, egging each other on, just show how close they are. They enjoy teasing one another, just like Kensi and Deeks. This time Callen had the power to annoy Sam, and he wasn’t about to let that opportunity pass. With Sam, what you see is what you get. If he’s annoyed, he is definitely going to show it. So it wasn’t surprising to hear him say Callen was “super getting on [his] nerves.” Callen just smiled knowing he’d accomplished his goal.

But they also had each other’s backs when it was needed. No matter how they feel, they work together in dangerous situations. When they came across the maid in Catalina’s house, they were both on the lookout for anything suspicious. (I love how Sam flipped her onto the couch when she came after him. That Sam is quick on his feet!) Then when they showed up at Catalina’s secret apartment to find her and her adoptive brother Gabriel about to run away, they worked together to stop the bad guys. I loved how Sam told Callen, “Run fast” while Callen told Sam, “Protect me.” It took both of them working together to escape. Without their teamwork they wouldn’t have gotten away. Sam took a lot of gunfire as he was covering Callen, but their plan worked (with a little help from Kensi and Deeks hitting the bad guy with their car in the parking garage). Sam and Callen may annoy each other from time to time, but when it comes to being partners, these two couldn’t be any better together.

Hetty

Once again Hetty showed up when you least expected to see her and threw everyone off, even Deeks. I loved how Deeks jumped when she appeared out of nowhere, and then he quickly had to get back into his undercover character. Initially I was surprised when Hetty blew all their covers. But Hetty knows what she’s doing. I enjoyed watching her actually direct Catalina’s photo shoot. She was a wonderful director; she relished giving the direction, and the photos turned out great. Incidentally, I don’t know who put that picture of Hetty at the end of the photos (any guesses?), but that was fantastic! It’s not often someone can throw off Hetty Lange, but that did the trick! It was fun seeing the team’s reactions.

Eric and Nell

I enjoyed the scene in Ops where Eric starts telling Sam, Callen and Nell about all the gross DNA you’d find at someone’s home: “dead skin, hair, saliva, toenails.” Sam’s reaction was priceless. Their dialogue made me laugh out loud. As Eric and Nell were left alone together, things got even more revealing as we learn that Nell was at Eric’s house last night. What?! That got me excited. But their date was innocent enough – they had a board game night. How fun! I love that these two get together outside of work and hang out. That made me happy.

Other Thoughts

- I was a little surprised when Callen saw the modeling photos of Catalina and said, “Some days I love my job!” I expect that from Deeks, but it didn’t really sound like Callen to me.

- Wasn’t it fun seeing the receptionist at the criminal tribunal checking out Sam? She couldn’t help herself! And Sam seemed to enjoy the attention. That was cute.

- Hetty has a gun hidden in her jacket sleeve? I love that!

- For once, Granger didn’t abide by the rules when he grabbed Catalina’s DNA on the sly. We knew you had it in you, Granger!


What did you think of "Driving Miss Diaz?" Did you have a favorite scene or moment? Who was your favorite character in this episode? Let us know in the comments below.

About the Author - Tonya Papanikolas

Tonya Papanikolas is an online, print and broadcast 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.