‘NCIS: Los Angeles’ 13×11 Review: “All The Little Things”

NCIS: Los Angeles 13×11 “All The Little Things” is the opposite of last week, in the sense that yes, there is a case — this is a procedural, after all — but it can barely be called a case. Instead, most of the episode focuses on what Hetty is up to, with both Killbride and Callen trying to get answers, though different means.

The part where it would be better if they were working together goes without saying.

But that’s the point of the episode, too. That’s mostly why Nate is back (!!!), because Killbride isn’t Hetty. He won’t ever be, though, and that could be okay. It really could — he seems to want to try, at least. But he cannot expect everyone to suddenly treat him like they treated Hetty, because he just isn’t.

Henrietta Lange wasn’t just the boss at the OSP, she is family to each and every one of the people on this team. Not just Callen, who she helped raise in some ways, but Sam, Kensi, Deeks and even, in a way, Fatima and Roundtree, who came much later. She is family to Nate too, and that’s why he continues to go out on a limb for her. And that kind of relationship isn’t built in a day, or a year.

But the decisions Hetty made, particularly regarding Callen, are coming to a head, and the fallout can be disastrous. Calling Nate kind of disastrous, if Killbride is to be believed. The one bright spot in that regard is that, at least that hopefully means we will get Hetty back. I don’t know how we ever get closure in this storyline without her.

Not knocking the importance of Nate, or anything of the sort, but it feels to me like what Callen needs as the explanations he has been looking for are finally revealed, is support from the people who have been around. From Anna, the woman he loves and is considering marrying (no, we have not forgotten about that!), from Sam, his partner of over a decade, and yes, from Kensi and Deeks and the team that has had his back for so long.

This show is, and always has been, about family. Thirteen seasons in, not much has changed. As Kensi and Deeks have gone through their struggle to have a family, something that keeps getting brought up to the point where there’s just got to be a resolution, one way or another, the team has been there. Callen has been there.

Now, he’s going to need everyone to have his back.

We’ve still got a ways to go in this season, and some dangling plot threads that need to be picked back up. The most obvious is the Callen doppelganger, which has been the cliffhanger for two straight episodes. Then there’s the Kessler situation, which …yeah, we need that fixed before the show does something about the other Kensi and Deeks plot thread that absolutely needs a resolution, and that’s the two of them becoming parents.

And of course, there’s Hetty. And we don’t just mean Hetty because, we need some answers about Callen, and a conversation or four about why Hetty made the decisions she made. But Hetty because, well, we miss Hetty. And we’d really, really like to have her back.

Things I think I think:

• Not just Anna, but casual Anna!
• What in the world are you doing, Hetty?
• A Russian dolphin joke, Roundtree?
• WHY ARE THEY SO INSISTENT ON DEEKS’ TITLE? NO ONE CARES.
• There’s no reason to ask if Kensi and Deeks have kids. None.
• So I’m not supposed to ask where Anna has been all this time? Just casual talk and support and that’s it?
• “Maybe you are exactly where you’re supposed to be.” I think this way of thinking is the only way to live.
• This was a very nice conversation between Anna and Callen, and it really raises the question of WHY she’s only around every blue moon.
• “Island of Misfit Toys”?! I’m sorry Killbride, but what? You have an elite unit, and they’re not even that hard to work with. Please, turn down the drama about 5 notches.
• We ever gonna get our answers? Asking for both Callen and us.
• I had a bad feeling about the case ever since they found the mom.
• I think Kensi is a beautiful name, okay?
• No, but seriously, give Densi a kid.
• FERN! A FERN mention!
• No one puts any respect on Deeks’ name.
• Two weeks in a row with a cliffhanger like that?!
• Also, this better mean Anna is also in next episode.

NCIS: Los Angeles airs Sundays on CBS.