NCIS Hawai’i 3×02 Review: “Crash and Burn”

NCIS: Hawai’i 3×02 “Crash and Burn” is a much stronger episode than NCIS: Hawai’i 3×01 “Run and Gun,” as the second part of any two-parter has to be. It gives every member of the team a chance to shine and gives their particular dynamics some space to flourish while letting Sam a chance to just be Sam. There’s no denying he adds something to the team, even if the fact that he is around in the first place means more questions than answers in the grand scheme of the NCIS-verse.

The Season 3 premiered made Sam’s presence too much about Jane Tennant. NCIS: Hawai’i 3×02 “Crash and Burn” pulls back and remembers that Tennant has gotten through a lot of hard times before and that yes, having people is always better than having no people …but that Jane Tennant doesn’t need no man to save her. She never has.

So why is Sam Hanna around?

It’s hard to tell just yet. Probably because LL Cool J was available and it’s hard to say not LL Cool J if you have the possibility, and honestly, no one really wanted NCIS: Los Angeles to be canceled in the first place. Story-wise, it really serves no purpose beyond these two episodes. Not that Sam won’t be helpful. A guy like Sam Hanna always will be. And he doesn’t have an established life in Los Angeles like the other characters in NCISLA, that part is true. But he does have friends. A partner. And, you know, a boss he cares for that he was committed to helping save.

Loose ends and all of that.

No one (okay, me, no one is just me) will complain if Hawai’i ends up being the place where some of these loose ends end up being tied off. Another crossover with NCIS is probably in the cards. Maybe NCIS: Sydney comes into play next season. Perhaps the characters from NCIS: Los Angeles can still return for one last hurrah. Either way, there’s a lot of life left in the NCIS- verse, and Sam Hanna being around proves that.

The Hawai’i Team

Every little team-up works in this episode, from Kai and Jesse (and the third musketeer), who have come a long way from those moments in the Pilot when it seemed like they would never see eye to eye, to Lucy and Kate, who have also come a long way from UST to working together pretty harmoniously. The Hawai’i team is a well-oiled machine of people who like each other, trust each other, and even when they’re joking around and being a little competitive with each other, work pretty well together.

The episode doesn’t even need to have big moments. We don’t need Lucy and Kate to be all over each other for Hawai’i to make it clear they’re a couple, and we don’t need an episode focused on Kai and Jesse’s friendship to see how much that has changed and deepened. The actors make the little moments count to the point that when we do get an episode that focuses on these dynamics, it’s a thousand times more meaningful because it’s not something new, it’s just reaffirmation.

Things I think I think:

• Look, after a second crash landing in a year, I’m not getting on another plane.
• Not sure I would have gotten in one after the first one.
• “Sounds like a you problem.” I mean, he isn’t wrong!
• Lucy’s competitiveness is kinda cute, but it’s also kinda …scary.
• Also, any excuse for Lucy and Kate to work together is fine in my book.
• How did Sam even fade into the background? I didn’t even think that was possible.
• I don’t trust you, Henry Ian Cusick.
• “If I was you, I’d do the same. But you gotta own it. Or you’ll eat yourself alive.”
• Kate + Lucy + Ernie = perfection.
• Honestly, I don’t think I saw until this episode how Tennant provides Sam with the same kinda character dynamics as Callen did. I’m kinda blown away by this discovery. I’m gonna need 48 business hours to process.
• Three Musketeers? Really?
• “It’s good to ease back into work.”
• “We want to take care of you.” I trust this about 67% only.
• LOL, Sam’s whole “you’re okay, even if sometimes you’re not” is like an NCIS motto.
• Sam and Jane need to get a drink with Nick Torres too. Cut from the same cloth. Just SAYING. Get Callen in there and ooof.
• Maybe the reason they’re not telling us why Sam is in Hawai’i is because there’s no GOOD REASON for Sam to be around. Like, sure, maybe Sam needs a friend, but he’s got Callen and Kensi and Deeks and Fatima and Roundtree AND he also has the mission to save Hetty and that’s a lot of unfinished business to now just take his boat to Hawai’i and hang.
• I’m glad to see Sam, don’t get me wrong, but like, continuity matters. Please, at some point, at the very least, try to give us an update. And fix the Hetty matter. You can’t bring Sam in and not do that.

Agree? Disagree? What did you think of NCIS: Hawai’i 3×02 “Crash and Burn”? Please share with us in the comments below!

NCIS :Hawai’i airs on Mondays at 10/9 on CBS.