NCIS: Los Angeles 14×09 “Bad Blood” sees Kensi and Deeks work a case together again, for the first time in what feels like forever, and lets them take center stage even as Arkady gets involved. Sadly, we do not get to see Anna or experience the Anna and Kensi team-up we deserved, but the show once again gets to prove that it has many moving parts that work in many different configurations, and that’s why we’re still here, 14 seasons in.
There are longer-running shows than NCIS: Los Angeles, one of them part of this very franchise, but the difference between those shows and this one is that …the team is mostly intact, 14 seasons in. The incredible flexibility the show gives its actors probably has a great deal to do with it, and one of the reasons they have been blae to do that is that …well, it is possible to have an episode without Kensi and Deeks and have it work, but it’s also possible to have an episode with no Sam and very little Callen and have that work.
That’s no easy thing. Most shows don’t work without one or two of their main characters, and yet NCIS: Los Angeles has managed to work for seasons without Hetty, the one character that was at the center of the team for a decade. Of course, that doesn’t mean we don’t have favorites, or that we don’t miss some actors — no, but seriously, we need Linda Hunt back in some capacity –but the show is still entertaining and emotional even in their absence.
NCIS: Los Angeles 14×09 “Bad Blood” is a good example of this, as the episode allows the Densi dynamic fans have loved for so long to shine. It’s not even romantic Densi, either, it’s just them being partners and working a case together — though we do have to admit there’s a certain parental air to both of them these days that speaks to the show’s respect for continuity. People change, in good and bad ways. Kensi and Deeks are not the same people they were when they first started working together, and we wouldn’t want them to behave as if they were.
Instead, we want them to be this …the people they have grown to become. The ones we’ve seen them turn into. And as long as they are that, and the show remembers the balance of these characters we are invested in — and of course, as long as the actors are in — then who is to say NCIS: Los Angeles cannot continue on for as long as NCIS has. And hey, we’re here for more crossovers, too.
We still got a wedding to attend. We have to bring back Hetty — not to mention we deserve an explanation for what the hell has been going on with her — and there’s a lot more to experience with Kensi and Deeks (and Rose …and …Pilar?). So we’re here for the long run, as long as these characters are.
Things I think I think:
- This is a little shorter than my favorite Deeks’ hair length, but it’ll do. Better than too long.
- Kensi, let us believe in the legitimacy of reality TV!
- That was some real mom and dad energy from Kensi and Deeks with Roundtree.
- Also, yeah, still a thrill to hear “babe.” IT’S BEEN A WHILE, OKAY?
- I mean, shocked that someone would want to kill Arkady isn’t how I’d feel.
- Okay, but what is going on with Fatima?
- Look, I have always sort of enjoyed Callen and Arkady. Sad Sam isn’t around to tease, though.
- A …pillow fight?
- On a timeout, hahahaha.
- TOO MANY FLYING RUSSIANS, SHE SAID.
- Okay, but now I’m more confused about Callen having t leave because this …isn’t tired to the crossover, as this episode was slated to air later. So, what is it?
- NOW the timing of the crossover kinda sucks.
- Kensi kicking ass, just the way I like it.
- But what happened in Malta?
- I’m kind of scared about what kind of wedding Arkady wants now.
Agree? Disagree? What did you think of NCIS: Los Angeles 14×09 “Bad Blood”? Share with us in the comments below!
NCIS: Los Angeles airs Sundays at 10/9c on CBS.
Sorry, but i don’t really care anymore if Densi is partnered up anymore, it’s not going to help the show improve in my eyes. This show changed for the worse when Hetty started disappearing, the humor started becoming more cringy, the cases more convolted, too easy, or just left unsolved, everyone now looks like they’d rather be somewhere else then work, the newbies act more like they’re still in college then in a serious job, I could on, and on for the next couple hours!!
This showrunner has completely forgotten what made this show so great in the 1st place, and all these dumb attempts to appeal to a younger audience just makes it all worse.
If something doesn’t happen before this Season ends with Hetty, I doubt this show will make it to Season 15. Because I and everyone else are tired of being cheated out of great episodes while having to see every other part of this show turn into a dumpster fire that is led by someone who clearly doesn’t care anymore if the episodes are even good, and we’re also tired of the endless dragging out of every single story arc to utter infinity!!!!!
(oh, and this episode was filmed while the crossover was being filmed with the other 2 NCIS’s, that’s why there was so little of Callen)
I think they need to have more Deeks and Kensi. Let us see what they’ve worked toward for all these seasons. I want that for Callen, Sam and Hetty too. Kilbride is growing on me and I think that is because they are showing us more of him in terms of who his character is. Unfortunately, with Fatima and Roundtree they (the writers) are trying to repeat some of the same events that made up Kensi and Deeks relationship/partnership. Are they are aren’t they, will they or won’t they, doesn’t work if we don’t feel connected. I might want to see more of them if they were allowed to develop in their own way. Right now, I don’t feel the chemistry between them. Hopefully, the show will be around long enough for it to try and develop.