Damn! The grand experiment isn't over yet!
Those who thought the return of Hetty meant things would return to normal were greatly disappointed by developments on NCIS: Los Angeles Season 9 Episode 15.
We found out, for example, that Mosley outranks Hetty. How is that possible?
Also, apparently there were no repercussions for Mosley authorizing the rescue mission of Hetty without clearing with her bosses. Maybe that high-falutin' title she brought out this episode meant she didn't have to get it cleared with anybody.
When I heard Mosley was an executive assistant director, I figured she was a replacement for Granger, who was Hetty's assistant. I thought she was just filling in until Hetty got back, and would move down to her regular role.
Related: NCIS: Los Angeles Season 9 Episode 14 Review: Goodbye Vietnam
Now it turns out that she's someone just south of Director Vance and is Hetty's boss despite Hetty's storied career and knowledge of where all the bodies are buried.
Even worse, apparently Mosley's mission is to blow up the Los Angeles unit of NCIS. This despite that, as Hetty pointed out. They're a family, which is one of the show's larger appeals to viewers.
This blow-it-up-for-the-hell-of-it storyline didn't work on Criminal Minds recently, and it shouldn't work here.
If it's going to be canceled, cancel it. All good things eventually come to an end, as happened to all the many variations of CSI and most of the Law & Orders. There's absolutely no need to ravage it first!
Here's hoping that Hetty can pull another rabbit of a hat (or blackmail somebody) to save the team.
Other than the above revolting development, there was quite a lot else happening. For example, this episode tied up not one, not two, but three dangling storylines, quite an accomplishment.
Related: Watch NCIS: Los Angeles Online: Season 9 Episode 14
First was what was the truth about the creepy Stiger couple on NCIS: Los Angeles Season 9 Episode 3?
That result felt incomplete way back then, and Callen vowed to keep looking into it.
It turned out that Lynn Stiger was an innocent. The way you tell that is because she was shot, then blown up in her husband Keith's fishing cabin.
Keith, on the other hand, not so much. He was a North Korean sleeper agent. I never got that vibe from him. I was going with opportunistic sleaze instead.
But no, it turns out Keith, aided by a pack of anonymous Asian thugs, was building a giant bomb out of ammonium nitrate and a couple other chemicals, which was going to be set off somewhere in LA.
That's where dangling storyline No. 2 comes in: Jennifer Kim.
For those who may have forgotten, Jennifer was introduced on NCIS: Los Angeles Season 7 Episode 11 as the North Korean sleeper agent who was also the daughter Granger never knew he had.
Related: CBS Cheat Sheet: Is Criminal Minds Really In Danger?!
Well, it turned out that Jennifer was bored out of her skull by WitSec, living in a rural area away from civilization. She was willing to help out Sam and Callen and risk life and limb in exchange for some quality New York-style pizza. That sounds reasonable to me.
Jennifer didn't have much rust on her, as she was able to gain information simply by threatening a soft local contact.
That resulted in the four main members of the NCIS team taking on Stiger and about a dozen of his thugs (it's hard to count with bullets flying) in the tunnels of LA. Sam's bomb-defusing skills returned, and LAPD was saved.
Because, really, again the case was secondary to what was happening around it.
For example, we found out that Hidoko came west for a fresh start after her hero husband (Hetty's words) was killed. I'd figured she batted for the other team this whole time. So she's less of a mystery now.
Then, there was the third dangling storyline: Whatever happened to Granger? It turned out he was buried on Jennifer's property, where he had died from Agent Orange after finally getting to know his daughter some. We all knew Granger wasn't coming back, but still, closure is important.
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Also, we now know why Mosley is so prickly toward everybody. She isn't there to make friends but to rebuild the team in her own image. I suppose Hidoko is part of that plan. Maybe Sydney Jones as well. But what else happens; who can say?
On another front, since Mosley can't seem to find her child with all her intelligence contacts, why not give the Meerkats a try? They've got hacker skills when they choose to use them, so why not? What's she got to lose?
To catch up on the season with all its meandering, watch NCIS: Los Angeles online.
Were you surprised about Mosley and Hetty? Are you content now that Granger has been laid to rest? What about importing Jennifer into the substitute rotation? Comment below.
