LL Cool J reprises his NCIS: LA role as Sam Hanna in the Monday, April 21, episode of NCIS. And with his return — he appeared on the mothership in the LA backdoor pilot and the three-show crossover with Hawai’i — comes a couple of key updates.
First of all, Sam is no longer with NCIS. After his Elite team was killed in Hawai’i, he requested a leave of absence because he wanted a change of pace. Now, he’s working in D.C., on the Hill, wearing a suit, dealing with bureaucrats, and doing his best to protect democracy. (One senator comes in handy during the case.) It’s a “course correction,” he tells Knight (Katrina Law) when she checks on him, knowing the grief of losing a team (for her, it was her REACT team). He asked to be a voice since politicians don’t see the sacrifices soldiers make. He also has a standing weekend karaoke date with Palmer (Brian Dietzen) and his daughter Victoria; Sam sings “a little,” while Palmer raps, old-school. (Love the nod to LL Cool J’s music career.)
When Knight remarks that Sam’s new position, a lone wolf job, sounds more like something Callen (Chris O’Donnell) would do, he reveals that his partner’s no longer a lone wolf: He and Anna (Bar Paly) are expecting a “new pup”! Sam also provides some news about Jane Tennant (NCIS: Hawai’i‘s Vanessa Lachey) when he brings in pastries for the team at the end: She bakes.
By the end of the episode, Sam has quit his new job. “Seeing your team, working shoulder to shoulder with them, reminded me how much I missed it,” he explains to Vance (Rocky Carroll). The director remarks, “Well, you always were a team player, like any good SEAL,” and assures him, “There’s always a place for you back at NCIS.” Sam just has some things to take care of first — leading to news about Hetty! “Wouldn’t have anything to do with Hetty, would it? I’ve heard rumors she’s been spotted on the wrong side of the DMZ,” Vance comments, but Sam tells him it’s better he doesn’t know. The “see you around” when McGee (Sean Murray) and Sam say goodbye in passing makes us think this won’t be the last time we see LL Cool J on NCIS.
As for the case, it’s Sam’s badge number that gets him involved: The team’s suspect in the murders of three vets keeps repeating it. He gives his name, Mark Davis, once in interrogation, and Sam can’t believe his friend could be responsible. He trusted him with his life. But, it turns out, the man in interrogation isn’t Mark, but rather, his brother, Roger. Mark’s in trouble, and Sam’s the only person he trusts, so he gives Roger his badge number. While Roger was covered in the victims’ blood, he insists he didn’t kill them — he went to the motel to meet Mark but found them and tried to do CPR — nor did his brother. He wants Sam to find Mark before he ends up dead, too.
Though it does look like Mark could be guilty of murder and Sam worries he’s not the man he remembers, he’s been captured because of his attempt to blow the whistle on a private military company, Iron Horizon, hiring vets and having them protect warlords and other bad guys, which none of them signed up for. (The woman running the employment services charity that led them to Iron Horizon sold Mark out.) Rescuing him leads to Sam, McGee, Knight, and Torres (Wilmer Valderrama) facing off against Russian mercenaries in some brutal hand-to-hand that leaves them all bloody. (To find someone who’s tough for Sam to take down? Impressive.)
Elsewhere, McGee continues to investigate Laroche, but Torres worries that he’s becoming obsessed. McGee hopes to have the proof he needs via a friend at the Department of Justice who is sending an unpublished report with Laroche’s name all over it. Parker (Gary Cole) warns McGee that word of what he’s doing is making its way around the building.
In fact, Vance calls McGee into his office at the end of the episode to talk to him about the file that his friend at the DOJ sent. McGee stumbles over defending himself, but Vance just warns him that he has to be “absolutely certain” that Laroche is guilty of something or they could all get burned. He leaves McGee in his office with the file while he takes a call in MTAC. McGee quickly begins reading.
What did you think of Sam’s return and the updates on Callen and Hetty? What are you hoping to see next in McGee’s attempt to take down Laroche? Let us know in the comments section below.
NCIS, Mondays, 9/8c, CBS
