NCIS: Los Angeles - Internal Affairs - Review: "A Lot to Process"

After a long wait, Deeks’ LAPD internal affairs investigation has finally played out on screen. “Internal Affairs” begins right after Deeks was arrested, as he’s being booked into jail. We learn he is accused of killing his former LAPD partner, a dirty cop who was murdered in a hotel. The team works hard to clear Deeks’ name. And in the end, they are successful. But just when it looks like Deeks is innocent, we learn that he indeed killed Francis Boyle – in order to protect a young female informant whom Boyle would have killed.

This was a highly anticipated episode. And in many regards, it didn’t disappoint. The episode was jam-packed with interesting scenes. We got fun moments, emotional moments, Deeks’ history re-emerging, a spectacular performance by Eric Christian Olsen, Momma Deeks returning, Kensi on a mission, and fun banter with Callen and Sam.

We also got the case details we’ve been wanting to know. But I must say, the revelation of guilt at the end kind of threw me for a loop. After watching the majority of the episode, I was expecting Deeks to be in the clear. And I admit that would have felt like an easy cop-out. So I applaud the show for making an unexpected choice. But in doing so, I also felt like they dropped a bomb in our laps and then expected us to quickly move on and accept it. For me it wasn’t that easy. The decision to have Deeks be the actual murderer left me conflicted and a little disappointed in him.

The Murder

It was crazy to watch Deeks be paraded through the jail in front of his former co-workers, getting his mouth swabbed and taking mugshots. He dealt with the situation well, though. In fact, one of the things I loved about this episode was how Deeks reacted to his arrest and incarceration. He kept his cool, despite the gravity of the situation and uncomfortableness he must have felt. He made light of what was happening, partly because he was nervous. You could see his eyes shifting around him as he was processed. But that nervousness didn’t stop him from cracking jokes every chance he got. He goaded the officers and taunted the woman leading the investigation, ignoring her questions and talking instead about coffee. Once we learned the truth, I couldn’t help but think Deeks had a fantastic poker face! Most of the time his attitude made it seem like he had nothing to hide. But cracking jokes probably helped him alleviate some of the tension he felt.

All this time, though, the reality is, Deeks was lying. That’s kind of hard for me to grasp. At one point he outright tells the investigator he didn’t kill Francis Boyle. Not only is he lying to the police department, but he is lying to his team members, and the woman he loves. And he’s been lying about what happened for a long time. In the first episode of the season, when Deeks first told Kensi about his old partner (who turned out to be Boyle), she followed up by telling him if there was something she needed to know, he needed to tell her. Deeks said he would if he could, but he just didn’t know. However, he knew what he’d done. He just didn’t want to offer up the truth if it wasn’t necessary. And that is going to be hard for Kensi to take. I understand this is the kind of topic that you just don’t bring up out of the blue. But having kept it from her for so long, when she constantly asked him if there was anything she needed to know, is going to be tough on her in the future if she finds out. I’m curious to know Deeks’ reasons for lying. Did he want to tell Kensi at some point? I would think he trusts her enough to share the information, but it is sensitive information. As a lawyer, he would know there is more to the situation than just telling his girlfriend a secret. If police or lawyers ever questioned her, she would be put in a very difficult position. So he could have been protecting her by not telling her anything. But we don’t know his full reasons because they weren’t explored.

We do know that keeping this secret is tough on him. In the end he almost seems eaten up by having to keep the truth from those he loves, especially Kensi. It was clear to me he was thinking about Kensi a lot during the case. While he was behind bars, he tried to prepare her for the possibility that he would be sent to the county facility where his life would be in danger. He wasn’t thinking about himself, but preparing her for the reality of what could come. And in the end, when he thinks about keeping the secret, it’s Kensi who’s on his mind. He wonders aloud how he can keep something so big from her. He has already evaded her questions and, at the very least, lied to her by omission, if not directly. A secret this large has to impact an honest person like Deeks.

And it is a huge secret: Deeks killed someone. That’s a lot to take in. Granted, his motives were altruistic – he was trying to save someone’s life, protecting Tiffany from a man who likely would have killed her. Obviously Boyle was a dirty cop who stole guns, drugs, and money and then tried to resell them. He regularly hired prostitutes and had no problem beating up a woman. And it’s possible he may have killed his old partner after she potentially learned about his crooked side business. The man was not a good guy. But we are also talking about what sounded like premeditated murder on Deeks’ part. Was this something that happened in the spur of the moment in self-defense? Did Deeks show up at the hotel and see Boyle waving a gun at Tiffany? They didn’t tell us it happened that way. So we don’t know the details. That made the action harder to process. It wasn’t laid out in a way that immediately made me think, “Oh, I see why he needed to do that. It makes sense. He had no other choice.” I was left with a lot of questions, wondering if he really made the only choice he could.

In fact, to me it sounded like Deeks decided to kill this man because he knew Boyle would kill Tiffany in the near future. And that sounds premeditated. That is not an easy thing to dismiss. Even with the difficult situation he faced, I would hope Deeks would turn to another solution instead of killing someone and covering it up. I would hope he would find another way out. The choice he made is a big deal, and I was a little disappointed that he chose it – and also disappointed that his reasons weren’t explored more. We were given one simple answer as to why he did it: to protect Tiffany. And that was it. Were we supposed to think his reason was right? I know some were okay with it and felt it was justified. But I didn’t have enough information to feel it was right. Because of that, I really hope this is something we see Deeks grapple with going forward – not just keeping the secret, but questioning whether he did the right thing. Reasoning through those questions would be a credit to his character, and do more justice to us as viewers.

Interestingly, Deeks didn’t seem to regret his decision too much. He had a hard time with the secret, but it almost seemed like he’d made peace with what he’d done. I felt like the writers purposely brought in the conversation with his mother, mentioning what happened with his father, in order to draw a parallel to the new situation. Deeks told his mom the one regret he had in shooting his father was that he didn’t do it sooner. He also told her, in a very sweet scene, that that decision drives him, and makes him who he is, making sure bad guys don’t win. This was an interesting tie-in to Boyle’s murder. Because Deeks felt justified in shooting his father, I would venture a guess that this time, he didn’t regret his actions to kill a “bad guy.” But I would still like to hear him talk more about why he felt that action was necessary.

Another thing that disappointed me was the entire case being resolved in one episode. I wish it had been stretched out across several episodes, creating a bigger impact. And as for the case, it felt unresolved. Deeks was off the hook since the police department knew Boyle’s former partner, Steadman, had been selling stolen goods. But learning that did not solve the murder. Steadman was working with Boyle, so he wouldn’t have killed him. In the minds of the police, that leaves Quinn (a former IA investigator who now is in prison) as the main suspect. I guess Hetty took care of that by moving Quinn to a different prison under a new name. He will be hard to track down, so the police likely will not be able to find him to question him about the murder. But at some point you would think he would want to clear his name of murder and stop cooperating with NCIS, who put him away in the first place. That means Deeks is still in danger since the case was technically left open-ended. The truth could still catch up with him. Hetty did a nice job of trying to protect Deeks. But the unsolved facts of the case do leave it open.

Deeks’ Support System

I was happy to see that Kensi wasn’t mad with Deeks after his arrest. She kicked into “go mode,” standing by her man and working vigilantly to free him. She was concerned for his safety and wanted to do everything she could to make sure he wasn’t being railroaded. She even went so far as to yell at Hetty, telling Hetty she owed her, and she was collecting on that debt. That was a bold move. But it showed how scared Kensi was and how invested she was in helping Deeks.

Deeks and Kensi’s actions both showed how much they cared about one another. Deeks’ jailhouse phone call went straight to Kensi, where he gave her instructions, while she told him what was going on at his house. And the jailhouse visit was sweet. Deeks started off as his flippant, normal self, making jokes about how being behind bars was making him desperate. But the sexual jokes didn’t last long before Kensi garnered a touché for telling him she had been busy trying to clear his name. Then things got serious as Deeks realized his team knew about Tiffany (and were getting closer to the truth). He demonstrated his concern for Kensi when he told her the situation may not go away. But she wasn’t ready to hear that. She had no intention of letting him be transferred to the county facility where inmates would have an ax to grind against him. So instead of listening to his reality check, Kensi stubbornly walked away. She was determined to set Deeks free and couldn’t handle being around him if he was not expecting a positive outcome. Her irritation just proved how much she cares about him.

I love that they brought in Deeks’ mother once again in this episode, adding another emotional element to the arrest. Having her there gave her and Kensi a chance to bond during a crisis. And it also offered an opportunity to bring up what had happened with Deeks’ father in the past. Unfortunately I didn’t think the acting was the best on the part of the mother. Many times the actress’ portrayal came across as goofy instead of genuine. But having Momma Deeks there still added to the overall effect. I really enjoyed the scene between Deeks and his mother when she visited him in jail. It was nice to see him reassure his mom that what happened with his dad didn’t screw him up for life. I loved how Deeks reassured his mom that she did a good job raising him, and that his relationship with her also helps make him who he is.

I also enjoyed seeing that Deeks’ mom appreciates how much Kensi cares about her son. The situation gave them a chance to grow closer. When internal affairs showed up at Deeks’ home, Kensi was the first person Deeks’ mother called. And when she was worried about her son, she visited Kensi with a casserole, encouraging Kensi to do everything she could not to let him down.

Deeks’ team also supported him. Sam walked in to work immediately asking about Deeks. Eric and Nell were concerned. Callen was the only one who raised any questions. And it turned out Callen’s questions were legitimate. He was a little hesitant to pursue digging into the case because he understood there could be a chance they wouldn’t like what they found. But Hetty encouraged him to do it anyway. Even though Hetty knew the truth, she took Deeks’ side.

Hetty was definitely the person who sacrificed the most for Deeks. She knows Deeks actually killed someone, and helped him out of having to answer for it. That demonstrated that she trusts Deeks a lot. She trusts him enough to make the situation go away by pulling a few strings. She trusts him enough to cover things up and draw attention away from him. She trusts him enough to trust his reasons for committing murder. She trusts him enough to keep his secret. And she trusts him enough to plant the stash of stolen goods in Steadman’s garage. These are serious things – and they showed how much Hetty stands behind Deeks.

But she didn’t necessarily think he should share his secret. Her final comment to him was interesting: Secrets are much easier to keep when you have no one to share them with. At first I thought she was emphasizing what a good thing it was that he had someone important in his life with whom to share secrets. But upon second viewing, it seemed she was pointing out to Deeks that he might have to push Kensi away if he wanted to keep the secret. At the very least, she seemed to be stressing that it would be especially hard to keep that secret from Kensi. That was just reality. I don’t really think Hetty was advising Deeks to break up with Kensi. But I do suspect she was letting him know how hard it would be to keep that secret with Kensi in his life, and letting him know that ultimately that decision was up to him.

Sam and Callen

Though this case focused squarely on Deeks, I’m glad we still saw a great dynamic between Callen and Sam. I enjoyed the scene where Sam made fun of Callen for sleeping on the couch at work. It seems Callen and Joelle are not doing very well. Sam knows how hard this is on Callen but couldn’t resist telling Callen he knew nothing about women. I appreciated that Callen let us know how much he really liked Joelle before saying he knew he should probably cut her loose. This lets us know Callen tried to make it work, but the job got in the way. Sam was cute as he smiled and told Callen that he would always have him in his life.

I also enjoyed their banter about Sam being intimidating, while Callen claimed he was “the boy next door.” These two teasing each other about their appearances was great! I loved how Sam pointed out Callen is actually a sullen loner who keeps to himself – the classic description of a serial killer. And Callen then goes on to point out Sam is just grumpy because he’s married. All this dialogue was fun.

Finally I enjoyed how Callen watched Sam and Kensi embrace after Deeks was finally free. Usually Callen looks disgusted with these two, but this time he was smiling and happy. Perhaps he was thinking of Joelle, happy that Kensi and Deeks could make things work, despite their difficult jobs. It was as if he appreciated their relationship and how much they cared about one another, perhaps hoping to find that for himself in a relationship that worked. And I loved how he teased Sam about not ever being that excited to see him.

Other Thoughts

- How great was Deeks singing the jailhouse blues from his cell? We need to hear him sing more often!

- Deeks’ support of Tiffany just emphasized to me how caring he is. He doesn’t want anyone in trouble for being caught up in a bad situation. It was sweet that he still helps support her after all these years.

- Did you notice that Deeks’ mom is hilariously random like her son? I love how she commented on his dry skin while he was sitting behind bars. And that comment she made to Kensi: “Cross your heart and hope to Blye?” Fantastic!

- It was pretty funny that Deeks took the time to write that note to the investigator when he was freed from his handcuffs.

- What a smart choice Deeks made to go to the boatshed with Steadman and Monica Lee, letting the team know where he was. Pretending the stash was in the trap door of the floor was also a fantastic move. Deeks is one good bluffer.

- Kensi wanted to shoot Steadman so bad! She kept her cool but definitely wanted a reason to pull that trigger.


What did you think of "Internal Affairs?" Did it bother you that Deeks killed Boyle? Or that he lied to Kensi? What did you make of Hetty's final comment? There's lots to discuss this week, so make sure to leave your 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.