NCIS: New Orleans - #1 Fan - Review: “Don’t Give Up On Me”
4.2 - “#1 Fan”
Directed by Hart Bochner
Written by: Zach Strauss
Reviewed by Kelly Anne Blount
The episode starts with a woman waking up in a strange room. She has a cut on her face and she looks disheveled. The room appears to have her belongings; however, after further examination, it appears as though she’d been kidnapped and someone is holding her in a brick room, designed to look like her own place. Realizing what is going on, the woman begins to panic and screams.
We cut over to LaSalle and Gregorio, who inform Pride that there is a missing Petty Officer out of Belle Chasse, Lindsey Kirk. There was a disturbance reported at her apartment, but by the time NOPD arrived, she was gone.
Pride who is getting ready for a fishing trip with his daughter, is worried about leaving the team while they are working on a new case. Pride and Gregorio assure him not to worry and tell him to enjoy his time with his daughter!
Before he can get out of town, Pride gets a visitor, Martha Roberts. She claims to be Pride’s mentee; however, it’s clear that Pride doesn’t remember her.
Martha wants to talk to Pride about the Petty Officer Lindsey Kirk case. She heard that Kirk was missing over her scanner and thinks she’s the latest victim of Mr. Lonesome. Looks like Pride isn’t going to make it to that fishing trip.
Mr. Lonesome is an alleged serial killer.
Sebastian meets Pride, Patton, and Martha downstairs. Sebastian recognizes her name right away as a crime blogger.
Martha appears to be way too attached to Pride. She specifically wants him to help her solve the Mr. Lonesome case. Pride tells her that he can’t help, but offers to have Sebastian take her statement. She refuses and leaves.
Gregorio and Pride are over at Petty Officer Kirk’s apartment. Pictures, clothing, and other items are missing. They also find blood spatter. They deduct that there’s a good chance that Kirk was either taken or killed.
Oh no! Just as Pride is getting ready to get into his boat, Martha tases him and says, “Time to learn things, Agent Pride.”
Pride wakes up in a cabin with Martha. She has been following Pride’s career for a long time. She really thinks that he is her mentor, even though Pride doesn’t know her. Martha has sent Pride’s daughter a text telling canceling their fishing trip, so no one will be looking for him all weekend. She’s also been texting LaSalle from Pride’s phone, getting updates on the case. Yikes! She shatters a glass when Pride informs her that she has kidnapped him. Be careful, Pride!
Gregorio and LaSalle are investigating the case. They take bets on Pride coming back early.
Martha talks Pride through all of her evidence. There are ten missing women. Pride tells Martha that her evidence is all speculation. Martha gets angry. Seriously, Pride! Be careful!
LaSalle and Gregorio pay a visit to the people Petty Officer Kirk last spoke to. They claim that she didn’t have anything “tying her down” (i.e., family, friends, etc.) and that there’s a good chance that she just left. The evidence says otherwise. The two men LaSalle and Gregorio are interviewing admit that Kirk thought she had a stalker, but managed to convince herself that she was making it all up in her head.
Martha is talking through the evidence with Pride. All of the crime photos from the missing women’s homes have exotic flowers, classical art, and sun dials. She claims that the women are also all “under educated” as well. Martha thinks that Mr. Lonesome gave the women the gifts before kidnapping them.
Sebastian has a lead. He found a chemical in the evidence that is used in crop dusting. The bad thing is that over 400 farms in Louisiana use the chemical. While they’re trying to figure out their next move, the team gets a text from Pride. He asks if there were exotic flowers, a sun dial, and classical art in Petty Officer Kirk’s house. Guess what? All three things were there! Ding, ding, ding! Sebastian realizes that the chemical used in crop dusting can also be used on exotic plants. Time for Patton to track down the nurseries that carry these flowers.
There are two nurseries, Sebastian and LaSalle head to one that went under over a year ago. There’s a flower that recovers daily care at the abandon nursery. Gregorio calls in from the office. She has found a new section of a bricked over wall. When they break down the wall, they find Petty Officer Kirk face down on the cement floor. Things don’t look good!
Pride manages to break free of the ropes tying his hands. He tries to send a text message, but is hit over the head with a pan. Martha has a signal jammer, so the message didn’t get through. Martha is angry!
A few seconds later, LaSalle texts Pride. It looks like Petty Officer Kirk has passed away. Martha screams, “You wanted a body, I just gave you a body!”
Loretta has the body in the morgue. Oh my! It turns out that it isn’t Lindsey’s body! The victim looks very similar and has many of the same characteristics though, which fits in well with Martha’s serial killer profile targeting specific women.
LaSalle and Gregorio come to the conclusion that a serial killer kidnapped Lindsey and if they don’t find her soon, they’ll find her body next.
Sebastian bursts through the doors. There’s a problem! Since no one could get a hold of Pride, he checked with his daughter, who told him that her dad (Pride) canceled the trip because of a case he was working. The team knows something is wrong and that they have to find Pride right away!
Back at the cabin, Martha is stitching up Pride’s head. She claims the body doesn’t belong to Kirk.
Pride thinks he knows who the victim in the photo is based on Martha’s evidence board. Martha agrees that the body belongs to one of Mr. Lonesome’s victims (the ten women she has identified), a woman who went missing nine months ago and hasn’t been seen since.
Pride tells Martha that she’s obsessed with the case. He goes on to say that she kidnapped him and is holding him hostage, just like Mr. Lonesome does to his victims. He also talks to her about her medication, which is stacked on the counter. She hasn’t been taking it and Pride is worried that she is struggling to make rational decisions.
The team has tracked Pride’s car to the marina. They were able to pull up footage and spot Martha, who they quickly realized followed Pride after he left HQ. They find out that Martha has a history of mental illness and aggression. Luckily, because Martha has been sending texts from Pride’s phone, the team is able to track down his location, which is remote. Without hesitation, they head out to rescue Pride.
Talking calmly, Pride is untying his hands while trying to calm down Martha. He manages to get free, but offers to help Martha. As he tells her, “You can trust me,” LaSalle and Gregorio break down the door. They ask what he’s doing. Pride tells them that they need to find Lindsey alive and that Martha can help.
On the porch of the cabin, Pride is trying to convince Sebastian, LaSalle, and Gregorio that Martha is looking out for Petty Officer Kirk’s best interest. The team decides to work with Martha, but Pride wants to know why she’s so fixated on the missing girls. I bet one of them was her daughter. What do you think?
Martha tells the team about when she was first committed. She was placed in a locked room at the age of twelve and went through sensory deprivation. She tells them that she was thrown away and no one cared about her. Martha says, “They deserve justice, just like everyone else.” She apologizes for hurting Pride, “But not for getting your (Pride’s) attention.”
The team and Martha head back to HQ. Ooh! A break in the case! All of the girls made calls to help lines with access to their records before they were reported missing. LaSalle does a quick search and finds a man by the name of Brian Davis, who has worked at multiple call centers. He’s the same guy we saw in the beginning, when LaSalle and Gregorio were following up on Petty Officer Kirk’s final phone calls.
Everyone but Patton and Martha head out to arrest Brian Davis. Pride tells them when they find Davis to hold their fire. If Lindsey isn’t there, he’s the only one who knows her location.
Davis lives in a massive house. The team quickly heads upstairs to Davis playing the piano. Pride tells him to put his hands up, to which Davis replies, “We’re just getting to the best part.”
They have Davis in custody, but he’s refusing to give up Lindsey’s location or admit that he’s Mr. Lonesome.
Deciding that they need to try something unconventional, they allow Martha to interrogate Davis with Pride as backup.
Davis says, “I offered girls a way out.” He says that he was, “There for them.”
Pride is playing good cop and Martha is playing bad consultant. They are playing the game well. Finally, Pride and Martha get Davis talking. They convince him that he didn’t have enough time with Lindsey to be able to “really help her.” Under the premise of seeing Lindsey again and being given more time and assistance from the NCIS team (and Martha), Pride and Martha convince Brian Davis to give up Lindsey’s location.
The team rushes to a sealed off room, which has been freshly bricked over. They get to Petty Officer Lindsey Kirk just in time. She’s being loaded into the ambulance when Brian Davis says, “You promised me I could see her!” To which Pride replies, “You’ve seen her! Now get him out of here!”
Back at HQ, Pride meets Martha and tells her the good news. She is relieved that Lindsey is going to live. Pride thanks Martha and apologizes for treating her poorly in the interrogation room. He was just playing it up in order to get Davis to crack.
Pride tells Martha, “You need help.” He convinces her that she’s going to get caring treatment and the right medication. He says, “I trusted you with this case. Now it’s time for you to trust me.” Martha thanks Pride for listening. He answers, “You deserve a chance to Martha.”
Gregorio and LaSalle realize that neither of them have won the bet. The only time Pride actually agreed to take a vacation, he was kidnapped. They agree that they’re never going to get him out of the office ever again. I have a feeling Pride is going to surprise them and head off to his fishing trip. What do you think?
Called it! There goes Pride with his fishing poles and tackle box. He tells them that he’s still going on his fishing trip and that you, “Can’t let work stop you from living.” As he’s heading out, he jokes with Gregorio and LaSalle not to burn the place down.
*******
My Thoughts:
While I really enjoyed the premise of this episode and Mr. Lonesome’s storyline, handling mental health topics on TV and film, can be difficult to address responsibility and appropriately. I felt like there were stereotypical behaviors displayed in this episode, which can be harmful to those dealing with mental health. While Pride was able to help Martha and I believe he did so in good faith, I think things could have been handled differently by the writing team. I’d love to hear your thoughts on tonight’s episode!
Leave a comment below to let me know what you thought about this week’s episode and be sure to check out my other reviews and interviews right here on SpoilerTV!
