NCIS: Los Angeles turns up the tension in Season 13, Episode 19, titled “Live Free or Die Standing,” delivering one of the show’s most politically charged cases. In the second part of a two-episode event, the NCIS team partners with DEA Agent Talia Del Campo (Mercedes Mason) to track down a missing whistleblower poised to testify against gun manufacturers allegedly supplying weapons to drug cartels.
Airing May 1 on CBS, the episode carries special significance behind the camera as well. Series star Daniela Ruah steps into the director’s chair, while Eric Christian Olsen pens the script — a creative collaboration fans have come to appreciate in the later seasons.
The episode places Callen and Sam Hanna back in deep-cover territory as the team races against time to protect the witness before powerful forces silence them for good. Meanwhile, the tight-knit unit leans on the guidance of Hetty Lange and Admiral Kilbride, balancing political pressure with life-or-death decisions in the field.
