NCIS: New Orleans - Empathy - Review: "Let's Sing, Mama"
4.16 - "Empathy"
Directed by Tessa Blake
Written by Paul Guyot
Reviewed by Kelly Anne Blount
The episode starts out with a night shot of New Orleans. It's stunning. A woman named Molly is walking next to the river and she looks terrified. Two officers approach her. They claim that David sent them. They want to know if she has "all the evidence" on her. She does, but she's getting increasingly nervous.
A man appears out of nowhere and attacks the officers, killing them both. He puts his hand over the woman's mouth as she begins to scream.
The team shows up to the scene. Pride is annoyed that there were not given a heads up that there were going to be FBI officers in New Orleans.
The agents were expertly killed.
According to witnesses, someone "swooped in" and saved Molly from the fake FBI officers. The question is, did he or she save Molly or did he or she kidnap Molly?
Turns out, they weren't real FBI agents. They stole two officer's credentials several weeks ago. They are dishonorably discharged, ex-army.
LaSalle has to take a call. Now that his father has passed, he needs to take the lead in taking care of his brother.
Sebastian identifies the victim as Molly Lindell. She is a Congressional Aid and travelled to New Orleans from Washington D.C.
LaSalle is stressing out about his brother. He wants him out of the mental health facility that his father had him committed to and he wants to bring him home. Pride is worried about LaSalle. I am too.
Pride and LaSalle show up to Molly's the hotel room. They are met by a man in all black. He attacks Pride and LaSalle. After taking them both out and pointing a gun at them, the attacker suddenly faints and falls over.
At the hospital, Pride and LaSalle are beat up, but okay. They go to visit their attacker. According to his fingerprints, his name is Jake Cooper. He says that Molly is in trouble and he's there to protect her. He doesn't know how he knows, but he knows that he has to protect Molly.
Jack says he can't remember who the men were last night. He can't remember where Molly is either. He gets really agitated when LaSalle calls him out for lying.
Pride tells LaSalle everything will become clear once they find Molly.
Gregorio isn't buying Jack's, "I forgot" excuse.
Percy has a lead. Her hotel room was paid for by G & M Holdings, a company that has been providing military weapons and other goods to the Navy for years. Also, Molly's boss, Congressman Perez is the Chair of the committee in charge of Defense Spending for the government. They are investigating the company that booked Molly's hotel room. After going over the evidence again, it becomes apparent that Jack did save Molly, but why? LaSalle tells Percy and Gregorio that he's going to call Pride and give him their latest findings.
Pride is still at the hospital and he's arguing with a doctor who is refusing to share Jack Cooper's medical diagnosis and/or information. He argues that he needs to save Molly, which overrides the hospital's duty to keep his medical information private. The doctor agrees. She shares that Jack Cooper has a brain tumor, stage four, that is inoperable. The tumor could be the reason that he doesn't remember things and his fainting spell. The tumor is pressing on an area of the brain that impacts empathy. He could want to kill someone one moment and then feel empathy for them the next. Also, real world experiences may trigger memories and skills that Jack has forgotten due to the tumor. So, the question is, does he want to hurt Molly or save her?
The doctor tells Pride that Jack could live for another year or he could pass away tomorrow. There's a good chance that Jack was told that he has a brain tumor, but he may have forgotten.
Pride visits Jack. He asks for his help finding Molly. Pride shows him pictures of the two fake FBI agents and the car that he used to drive Molly away from the scene. Jake tells Pride that Molly is at a cabin and that somebody is trying to kill her. Unfortunately, he can't remember where the cabin is or anything else that could help Molly.
Gregoiro calls in and tells Pride that Jack killed someone else with information on G & M Holdings. She thinks that Jack wants to kill Molly.
The next day, Pride has Jack brought in to HQ for questioning. He tells the team that they are going to have to find Molly on their own. Jack either can't remember or isn't going to tell them. Gregorio fills him in on the men Jack murdered. Turns out they are all hit men with elite training. They are wanted for several murders. Patton has more information. G & M Holdings, the company Molly's boss is currently investigating for fraud, is responsible for selling the Navy bad equipment that has led to the death of several sailors. The team think that there's a good chance that there are additional hitmen going after Molly. They need to find the cabin Molly is being held at immediately!
Pride interrogates Jack. Pride tells him that every decision may be his last. Phew! Points to the writing team for that intense line. Pride presses him again for the location of the cabin. He wants Jack to tell him where he's hidden Molly. Jack tells Pride, "There's no saving her." He doesn't give up any additional information.
Percy and Gregorio visit Loretta. Percy wants to know why Pride is being so kind to Jack. Loretta doesn't divulge much information, but he does share that Pride gets his love of music and kindness from his mother, who he still takes care of. It sounds like she has dementia, and like Jack, her memory has been seriously impacted by the disease.
Sebastian shows up at the room. He thinks he has located the cabin.
Meanwhile, three U.S. Marshalls are transporting Jack back to the station. He attacks them, takes them all out, and steals the SUV.
Pride breaks the bad news to Pride. Thanks to Sebastian, they have an idea of where the cabin is, but not an exact location.
Pride heads down to the scene of Jack's attack on the Marshalls. Jack didn't kill the Marshalls. Pride thinks he chose not to kill him because he was in a hurry to stop the other hitmen, who are trying to kill Molly. LaSalle isn't as confident.
Jack shows up to the cabin where Molly is hiding. Is he going to try to kill her or does he still want to save her?
Sebastian and Patton have located the cabin. The Marshall's car is parked out front. They begin to panic. Gregorio and Percy are looking for Molly in that same area. If they come across Jack, things could turn deadly.
Speaking of Percy and Gregorio, they see the Marshall's SUV parked out front of one of the cabins that they are due to check for Molly. Without a signal, they cannot call in back up. They draw their guns and approach the cabin slowly.
Jack meets them on the porch and says, "I'm here to protect Molly." He adds, "We got to get out of here fast." Molly says that Jack saved her.
Before anyone can say anything else, they are ambushed by another hitman squad. Jack goes outside and begins taking out the assassins one at a time. Before he can take out the final two hitmen, Jack faints. The men approach the cabin, where Gregorio and Percy are out of bullets. Luckily, Gregoiro has an idea. They fill a bucket full of embers from the fire and throw it on the guys as they try to burst through the door.
Gregorio runs to Jack's side as Percy slaps cuffs on the bad guys. Jack says, "Molly, Molly, we've got to protect Molly."
LaSalle meets Pride at the hospital. Pride tells him the bad news, Jack Cooper passed away. LaSalle tells King that he was wrong. He thought Jack wanted to kill Molly. He asks Pride how he knew that Jack would keep Molly safe. Pride admits that he didn't know for sure, but his gut instinct about Jack was right.
Thanks to Jack, Molly's bravery, and her evidence, the FBI is shutting down G & M Holdings.
Pride and LaSalle talk about Pride's mother. Pride tells LaSalle that his mother had struggles. He said that he tried to help her on his own, but he realized that she needed a different kind of help from qualified people. He lovingly pats Christopher on the shoulder and heads out.
Christopher has a lot to think about in regard to his brother's care and Pride's words definitely have made an impact on him.
Pride heads back to his bar, where he begins playing the piano. He gets a phone call from one of his mother's caretakers. When the caregiver hands Pride's mother the phone, she doesn't recognize him. Pride, being the incredible man that he is, starts playing and singing a beautiful song in French, to his mother. He encourages her to join him. After a few seconds, she begins playing the song on her piano. Pride joins in and the episode ends as they play the duet together.
*******
My Thoughts:
I'm still trying to compose myself after that ending. I'm literally in tears. That was the most beautiful and touching scene I think I've ever watched on television.
The writers have done an incredible job on this episode. They deserve an award for that final scene!
Leave me a comment below with your thoughts!
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