This very emotional episode of NCIS: LA starts with a man running through a parking garage at night, then getting pinned to a wall by a car.
Cut to Deeks discussing his vows with Eric, which turns weird in about 0.2 seconds as Eric launches into a dramatic monologue of royal vows that would befit a Renaissance Faire. Listen, I’m sorry, but sometimes Eric gets so, SO weird on this show that I mute it until he returns to reality.
But before I have to start fast-forwarding, Deeks is called to the scene of last night’s incident where the man from the opening scene is still pinned between the car and the wall. This man is David Sarraf, who was trying to deliver vital video footage to the Global Criminal Tribune (GCT) when the men he was about to expose chased him down and pinned him to the wall before stealing his thumb drive with the footage.
David’s not doing well since, for some reason, he’s STILL pinned between the car and the wall. He’s sweating and starting to shake. Deeks and Kensi ask the Wonder Twins run the details of the driver David describes. When the partners start to head out to get the driver, David grabs Kensi’s arm and doesn’t let her leave. And thus begins the unnecessary drama.
Deeks brings Callen and Sam with him to check out the hotel where the mysterious driver was last spotted and after a little game of chicken in the parking lot, they pull over… our friend Turk!
Turns out Turk is also chasing down the driver, so they’re working the same job from different angles.
Back at the car, David and Kensi are having the first of about 15 conversations this episode that end in tears. David is telling Kensi that he does this kind of work because terrorists killed his son.
He is also able to describe another one of the men in the car that hit him, whom Eric immediately tracks down.
And then, to my annoyance, Kensi is informed that David is definitely going to die as soon as they move the car, but he doesn’t know that he’s dying and she should probably be the one to tell him. What?! This isn’t her job! She shouldn’t be there anymore, she should be with the team.
I apologize if you loved this episode, but episodes like this bother me. This episode is a pretty emotional one - but not in like a “one of the team members is close to death and it gets scary” kind of emotional, just in a “random character they’ve known for 10 seconds clings to one of the team members and takes them on an emotional, tear-filled rollercoaster by merely sharing their story” kind of emotional. I don’t like those kinds of plots because there’s not a real purpose other than to make you cry. And in this particular instance, absolutely none of this handholding should have fallen to Kensi - she’s not a counselor or a doctor, she’s an NCIS agent, she should’ve been out in the field shortly after interviewing David and then a medical professional should’ve done all this.
Oh, and ALSO… They have had PLENTY of time to an ambulance all prepped with a ton of blood bags and all sorts of medical equipment. I’m no doctor, but I do not believe he would have bled out in under 5 seconds like the show wants you to think.
Rant over. Moving on.
The guys have found one of the guys that hit David and while Callen and Sam watch on, Turk jumps on the dude and slams him on the car, wanting to know where the jump drive is. They bring him into the boat shed, but the guy, Nasar, is denying everything and claiming diplomatic immunity.
They bring Nasar to the scene where they film David looking the guy in the eye and confirming that this is the man who hit him, then launching into a list of his crimes. Which includes killing his son.
The state department shows up to defend Nasar, claims it’s a case of mistaken identity, and take the suspect off NCIS’ hands.
After all that back and forth, Kensi asks Deeks for advice on how to break the news to David that he’s about to die. It’s a very sweet moment between the couple, but they both desperately need haircuts.
It turns out, as much as I bellyached that she shouldn’t be the one doing this, Kensi is the right person for this job. She is honest and direct and just comes out with it. She then calls in all her favors to get David’s wife on the phone so they can speak before he dies… Which leads to another tearjerking moment.
Meanwhile, guess who sold out the NCIS team and alerted the state department to the situation? That would be Turk. Deeks chases Turk down to confront him, but it turns out Turk had a good reason. He doesn’t want NCIS to have Nasar because he wants to kill the guy himself - he’s responsible for killing his former partner. Deeks understands but can’t condone his actions.
Deeks follows Turk to a warehouse where Nasar is hiding out and thus begins a lengthy shoot-out. Deeks gets backed into a corner - it’s pretty dicey there for a second - before Sam and Callen arrive to cover him.
Meanwhile, Turk runs in and finds Nasar, cornering him. He asks Nasar if he remembers his slain partner and the two start throwing punches. He starts choking Nasar but stops himself, turning in a very bruised and battered Nasar to Sam and Callen.
And great news! Nasar has the thumb drive, so David’s efforts were all worth it. Kensi shares the happy news and… now it’s time to die. He dies and Kensi starts crying and falls into Deeks’ arms, and it’s all very sad. Poor Kensi, they always put her in the most heart-wrenching scenarios.
