NCIS: Los Angeles season 9 episode 12 review: Napalm is a problem

Tonight, NCIS: Los Angeles season 9 episode 12 was a case that was in part about napalm — also, it was a case that revolved around the mysterious death of a former sailor named Zach. He was a man who seemingly had an honorable charge from the military and seemed like a decent enough guy from all everyone said.

Yet, there wasn’t really anyone who knew all that much about this guy. He lived off the grid, he wasn’t exactly traceable, and there are questions surrounding what he wanted to do following his time in the military. The more that the team looked into the case, though, the more dangerous it appeared as though Zach was. Yet, it did eventually turn out that there were some other people who were the real dangers this episode — people who wanted to use napalm in order to figure out how to destroy much of the city. They were “activists,” the sort of people who apparently wanted to cleanse the planet and get rid of much of the urban world as we know it.

Probably the big emotional undercurrent in this episode came via Amanda, a young woman who ended up being connected to the case through no fault of her own. Zach had become closer to her, probably because of his own feelings of isolation and her struggling with being bullied. Unfortunately, these conversations with Zach made her a target and, as a result of that, she ended up being captured at the end of the episode … before the team rescued her and took down the bad guys.

Of course, in the end the good guys at Team NCIS managed to save the day! With that, they were able to get back to Deeks in order to tell him the story of what happened. (Through most of the hour, he was in the process of weapons training.)

Some of the only other character work tonight came when there was briefly a consideration to inviting Mosley out for a drink. Kensi and company didn’t do it, but this moment showed that they were getting closer to having her be a part of the team.

Related – Preview what is coming next on NCIS: Los Angeles

Final Verdict

NCIS: Los Angeles season 9 episode 12 would’ve benefited from more Deeks. Seriously, why couldn’t we get more of the guy this week? Without some of that comic relief much of the story felt a little more by the numbers, and we didn’t have enough time to get to know some of the other characters who were new to the story.

At the end of the day, we certainly do think there have been more memorable episodes this season.

What did you think about NCIS: Los Angeles season 9 episode 12 as a whole? Be sure to share right now in the comments!

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