NCIS: Los Angeles - Seoul Man - Review: "Attempting to Change"

The NCIS team hunts for a North Korean spy in “Seoul Man.” Hetty and Granger assign the team to be bodyguards for high-level Navy officials from other countries who are in town for diplomatic discussions. But it turns out NCIS has a deeper mission: smoking out a North Korean mole within the South Korean ranks. The mole is gathering information to disable missiles. It doesn’t take NCIS long to find him. But when they go to apprehend him, the mole claims he is seeking asylum and wants to defect after falling in love with a U. S. woman. So NCIS must protect him as the North Koreans come to kill him. In the meantime, Deeks gets a lesson about accepting Kensi for who she is instead of trying to change her.

Although this wasn’t my favorite episode, I enjoyed it. It had an interesting enough plot. The script felt somewhat unique. I didn’t feel like it had been recycled from previous episodes. I liked the Korean element and seeing the team as bodyguards. But I wish there had been more character emphasis. We saw a couple good character moments, mostly with Deeks and Kensi. I enjoyed those. But they were somewhat sporadic. The show also missed some opportunities to take advantage of what could have been fun scenes.

Sam and Callen

It was fun to see Sam and Callen staying in a hotel while working security. I totally forgot that Sam’s family was still in a safe house. That left Sam in an apartment by himself. It was sweet of Callen to kindly offer Sam his guest futon – but I can’t imagine Sam wanting to stay there, with no furniture and no real comforts. “You ever have any guests?” he asks Callen. G admits Sam would be the first, and Sam knows why. But I like that he takes the high road and simply thanks Callen for the offer.

It was funny to watch Sam take charge of the South Korean security team protecting their Navy admiral. He acted like it was his operation, even though he was just filling in. The other guards didn’t like it much, though, and started badmouthing him in Korean. I was shocked when Sam turned around and answered them in Korean. Who knew Sam spoke Korean? Even Callen was surprised.

At the karaoke bar that night where the South Korean group goes to unwind (a bar apparently recommended by Sam), I found it amusing when the admiral asks Sam if he likes Broadway show tunes. Can you imagine Sam Hanna singing Broadway show tunes? I really wish they would have showed a bit of this – or at least cornered Sam into almost having to sing show tunes. This felt like a missed opportunity. I would have loved to see LL Cool J rap, too. When the Admiral started singing “Humpty,” I thought maybe we’d see LL Cool J on the mic next. But no such luck.

There were a couple fun moments that played on the connection between Sam and Callen. I enjoyed the bodyguard in the car asking them how long they’d been married, right after Sam admonished Callen for his sarcasm. (That whole scene was pretty amusing as the man gave Sam and Callen tips for doing his boring job.) And Deeks’ observation upon seeing their hotel room was classic – he says it looked like Sm and Callen cuddled all night in one bed because only one bed was messy. It turns out Sam makes his bed every day, even in hotels.

As always, the episode highlighted Sam’s skills. After deciding to help keep the mole safe, Sam is the only one alert enough to spot a man whipping out a gun in the lobby of the federal building. And after their driver was shot, the way Sam grabbed the wheel and shifted the car in reverse, right past the shooters, was impressive. Causing the bad guys to crash was also a nice move.

Deeks and Kensi

I enjoyed the opening bullpen scene where Deeks is cleaning Kensi’s desk. He says they’ve been so successful cleaning their house, he is now moving on to the office. He thinks this is something Kensi will appreciate, but his coworkers know better. “So you’re trying to fix your girlfriend?” Callen asks Deeks. Sam adds you can only change yourself. But Deeks claims he is not trying to fix anyone, although if someone is in trouble, sometimes you need to stage an intervention. He believes Kensi is addicted to messiness. “She’s like a mess head,” he jokes (a play on “meth head”). He wants to help Kensi. But when Kensi comes in, she doesn’t like her new clean desk. “How am I supposed to find anything now?” she laments. And then Deeks does something stupid. He accidentally vacuums up her dad’s rifle expert badge from the Marine Corps. It was something Kensi had been wanting to frame. All things considered, I thought she reacted pretty calmly. As Deeks tries to get it out of his vacuum, I loved Callen and Sam’s remarks. “You might need a screwdriver,” Callen says. And Sam adds, “You might need couples therapy.” Sometimes it takes an outsider to see the clearest.

Later Deeks tries to prompt Kensi again to clean up her ways. He points out to Kensi that Sam makes his bed every day, hinting she needs to do the same. But Callen once again asks, “Have you learned nothing, Deeks?” “Evidently not,” Deeks replies. He is still trying to change Kensi. He hasn’t learned yet. But he does by the end of the episode. After dragging Kensi away by pretending his stomach hurts, he gives her a little gift. Mimicking the love poems the mole sent his girlfriend, Deeks wrote Kensi a poem about how even though her desk was messy, she was worth it and he wouldn’t make fun of it again because he loves her. The poem was awful – it didn’t rhyme and basically read like a long sentence. Kensi noticed, too. She told him, “I don’t know if I can accept this. I think we need to work on your poetry.” Deeks’ response was great, joking it sounded like Keats if you read every fourth word (like the codes the mole sent). But Kensi does accept the gift – and she’s touched when she opens it. Deeks took the time and effort to frame her dad’s Marine badge. It was a moving gesture that she appreciated.

I must say, I’m not sure how I feel about the whole idea of changing someone. Just a couple weeks ago Deeks successfully got Kensi to realize how much it meant to him when she attempted some cleaning. He really hates her messiness and appreciates the effort she’s made to clean their home. It was effective. So was that bad? That whole episode made it seem like if it was important to him, she could make the effort to change some things. But this episode implied the opposite. It suggested Deeks shouldn’t try to change her at all. In reality, I think there has to be a give-and-take, with Kensi budging a little and Deeks budging a little. They need to compromise. But it’s good he accepts her for who she is. That was a sweet message.

Other Thoughts

- I liked the opening scene with a mysterious person shredding documents and printing a 3-D gun. It set the stage for a little intrigue.

- I enjoyed Deeks’ banter about wanting microphones in his shirt cuffs – and I loved how everyone looked at him like he was crazy.

- I’m still a little confused by the gun range scene with Granger and Special Agent Gates. I don’t know who he is or why he was there. There seemed to be more to that story than we saw. But it was interesting that Granger told Hetty he’d learned to leave the past in the past. Can’t wait to hear more about his Korean past and history with Jennifer Kim.

- Deeks was funny when he tackled the South Korean intelligence officer and told him he didn’t look like a college student, adding, “When I was in college, I kept busy by playing beer pong and streaking.” That sounds like Deeks.

- I can’t believe Hetty left ipecac in their water bottles. How bad would it have been if any of them drank it? And she had to have known there was a North Korean mole right from the get-go. Her excuse that sometimes you’re just in the right place at the right time was total BS. Sam and Callen knew it.

- It was fun seeing Kensi dressed up at the club. She looked beautiful. I liked how she told Granger, “Don’t let that little umbrella block your view.” Seeing Granger with an umbrella drink was kind of funny. (I also liked his response: “That’s my camouflage.”)

- I thought the woman in the bathroom was going to be Jennifer Kim at first.

- It was great seeing Granger out in the field with the team. He is really becoming one of the team. He and Sam worked well together. When the spy whipped out his 3-D zip gun, I loved Granger’s response: “Your mother must be so proud.” His dry humor is fantastic.

- When the North Koreans were shooting at their car with a machine gun, I was thinking, “How did no one get hit?” So it made sense when the driver got shot. After all his talk about a boring job, he may be happy to go back to that boring life after recovering from his surgery.

- I loved how Deeks hung out the window shooting at the North Koreans. Very bad-ass!

- There are still two North Korean sleeper agents at large in the U.S. I expect they’ll catch up with NCIS eventually.

- It was great to hear Sam’s family was coming out of protective custody. But why was the threat diminished? They never caught the person responsible for taking their pictures, right? And the NCIS mole is still out there. So I don’t understand how the threat was diminished. Granger’s assurance wasn’t real reassuring, either.


How did you like "Seoul Man?" Do you believe Deeks should try to change Kensi? Let us know your thoughts 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.