NCIS Crossover Review: “Too Many Cooks”/”Deep Fake”/”A Long Time Coming”

The first NCIS Crossover is in the books, and to be honest, this was a pretty fun three-hour adventure. Well, fun in the NCIS way, because it was also kinda nerve-wracking, with people from all teams getting kidnapped at different times, and tensions running high for basically most of the three hours. But then again, this is NCIS we’re talking about, so what did we expect?

Ironically, the teams blended together pretty well, and I only say ironically because it seems like TPTB weren’t sure this could be a thing, as the OSP (aka NCIS: Los Angeles) has been kept away from the NCIS and NCIS: Hawai’i teams for far too long. But it was pretty fun seeing Callen interact with Torres, not to mention the Sam/Tennant/Jimmy team-up that we never knew we needed. And though the hour left me wanting in the female team-up I wanted, I did get to see Jane Tennant and Kensi Blye do an op together, so there’s that.

So let us go over the highs, the lows (what lows, we see no lows), and the future as we discuss the NCIS Crossover.

TORRES WHO? IT’S ABOUT JIMMY

The crossover starts with NCIS, and ironically, though we get to see the series regulars and have some funny moments as the highest-ranking members from every team end up on a crime scene together, it’s Jimmy who steals the show, not McGee or Torres. He doesn’t really get to impress till the NCIS: Hawai’i hour, titled “Deep Fake,” but it’s still pretty fun to see him basically outshine the more established members of the unit – including Parker.

NCIS has, more than the other two shows, had a revolving door of regulars. That means that it’s possible to pick the show back up without missing anything with these new characters, but it also means that the few dynamics that were already established with the OSP team are impossible to recreate. Gibbs is gone, and so is DiNozzo. Knight and Jimmy get most of the fun, though – well, McGee gets arrested, do we consider that fun? – with Knight teaming up with Tennant and Jimmy getting kidnapped alongside the aforementioned Tennant and Sam.

Torres does get to play around more than the others, and his crowning moment comes when paired up with Deeks, because of course it does. That’s like oil and water, which means fun. But there’s something incredibly endearing about seeing Jimmy hold his own against the kidnappers, even as Sam and Tennant basically annihilate the poor crow that really, really had no idea what they were going up against.

And in the end, this is why the crossover works, and why the shows need more – because we got to see different sides to characters we already knew, and when we’ve had characters for 14 seasons like in NCIS: Los Angeles, that’s not as important as when we’ve had characters for barely a few seasons, which is the case with NCIS: Hawai’i and this new NCIS team. When it comes to teams, NCIS might be the mothership, but it’s NCIS: Los Angeles that has the experience.

TENNANT IS THE STAR OF HER OWN SHOW

One highlight of Jane Tennant’s position is that she’s in charge …of everyone! If that’s not enough reason to let her come out to play every once in a while, then I don’t know what is. But there’s also this …as fun as it has been to explore her dynamics with Torres, it was probably twice as funnier (and infinitely less charged) to watch her interact with Callen.

Grisha Callen is one of those characters who does well when he’s in his element, and it always feels like Callen is in his element. It’s hard for NCIS: Los Angeles to truly throw him for a loop, especially because the people around him know him well, and we’ve gotten to a point — those aforementioned 14 years  — where even a character like Deeks, who he, on paper, shouldn’t really get along with, is family. But Grisha Callen is also the kind of character who can thrive when he’s pushed out of his comfort zone, and we got to see a little bit of that in this crossover.

Not that anything truly rattles Callen, not even Jane Tennant. But in a way, that also works well for Tenant’s character, who is used to most people deferring to her. And why wouldn’t they? She’s the star of her own show, and she absolutely deserves it. Here, though, here she might be in charge, but there are some other people in the room who might respect her, but who commands respect as well. And I’m not going to lie, we want more of that.

IT’S A TEAM EFFORT IN LOS ANGELES

The NCIS: Los Angeles hour is the more team-focused one, and by that, I mean both the LA team and the new team that comes together …to save Killbride. It’s hilarious that it all comes back to the Admiral and it’s even more hilarious that we care more about Roundtree than we do about him, but that is on par for the course. Killbride has never been Hetty, and he will never be. We at least don’t want him dead, so that’s a win.

For a second, though, just for a second, imagine the entire team coming together to save Hetty, instead of Killbride. I’m not saying it would have been perfect, but I’m also not saying otherwise.

It all works out in the end, of course. With so many NCIS agents working together, how could it not? But, perhaps, the most important thing isn’t that everything works out, it’s that yes, this has indeed been “A Long Time Coming,” but now that we got a taste of it, we’re greedy. We just want more. No joke, let’s make it a yearly thing. If the Arrowverse, the FBIs and One Chicago can do it, why can’t these shows?

More importantly, why shouldn’t they?

Things I think I think:

• Yeah, this was cleaaaaarly meant to air before yesterday’s episode of NCISLA and you can TELL.
• Pitch: the next crossover, it’s only the women. Or, it’s Deeks stuck in a room with Torres and Jesse for hours. Then Kensi and Tennant save them.
• THE COMEDIC POTENTIAL.
• No, I didn’t really want my Kacy reunion rushed in the middle of a crossover, but I’m also kinda bummed we didn’t get any Kacy, I’m not going to lie.
• WE GOT A CUTE DENSI MOMENT, THOUGH. And they’re so married. And parents. It’s adorable.
• I go back and forth in the Fatima/Roundtree thing. Like …not even in what I want, in what I think the show is doing. But I adore their relationship either way, and I will take more of it.
• Wasn’t it just kinda random that Lucy was around? I say this as someone who will always want more Lucy Tara.
• TENNANT BEING IN CHARGE.
• Man, I miss Hetty. Linda Hunt deserved to actually be in a crossover like this one.

Agree? Disagree? What did you think of the NCIS Crossover? Share with us in the comments below!

NCIS and NCIS: Hawai’i air Mondays, while NCIS: Los Angeles airs Sundays on CBS.