NCIS: New Orleans season 4 premiere review: Pride’s true calling

In the NCIS: New Orleans season 4 premiere on CBS, we learned many things about Dwayne Pride. What’s one of the biggest ones? At a certain point, we couldn’t stay away from the team even if a part of him wanted to.

It would have been pretty easy for the writers to shrug their shoulders and have Pride wait out his suspension; or, they could’ve found him itching to get back to work to the extent that he was willing to take any risk necessary to do it. They found a way to resolve the cliffhanger in a way that was straight down the middle. Pride wasn’t necessarily sitting out to adhere to his punishment; rather, he was afraid of some of his own demons. He came very close to committing murder last season; he’s seen himself at the edge, and is fearful of getting back there again. The only reason that he found himself back in the thick of things this week was when the Acting Mayor came calling over a nuclear-waste operation that was starting to feel more like domestic terrorism. It was at that point he realized he was needed and sprung more into action.

It’s a good thing that he did. The team works better with him at the helm, and by the end of the episode, almost everything was as it should be: With many of them celebrating a win while Pride got his bar operational again in time to get a memorable performance from Jimmy Buffett. We’re not going to say that the procedural aspect of the case made for one of the more interesting cases, as it felt somewhat routine beyond the higher stakes and the city in peril. Still, it did serve as a means to a great end in getting Pride back where he belongs in the city.

One other interesting wrinkle in the premiere came via seeing Pride’s relationship with NCIS Supervisory Special Agent Paula Boyd (Becky Ann Baker), who was looking after the team with him gone. They’ve got a bit of a history, and she clearly him just as well as he knew himself — sooner or later, she knew that he would get bored and decide to sign off on the document to follow orders. It wasn’t just about that, but she knew he would be back … just as she also seems to know that at some point down the line he’s probably going to disobey orders once more.

Other things to know

For one, the writers did a good job that there were seemingly everyday people hurt as a result of Pride shutting down Hamilton’s operation last year — and some of them are acting out about losing their jobs. Pride’s car was attacked early in the episode, and by the end of the premiere he found himself punched in the face. If this story continues, it will mark a good way to make the end of last season into something that still matters now.

Meanwhile, Tammy and Percy are now roommates! As the Percy / Lasalle relationship cools for now, they’ve come up with a unique way to save money … while Percy also gets to move up in terms of living conditions. Good on her.

Our CarterMatt Verdict

While the episode dragged its feet a little during some of the late-night shootouts (it was a little hard to see what was going on), the NCIS: New Orleans season 4 premiere did a good job painting a psychological picture of Pride. This was one of Scott Bakula’s best performances on the show, and it serves as a nice reintroduction to this world and an opportunity to stabilize some of its characters.

What’s up next on NCIS: New Orleans season 4 episode 2?

Check out the link here, given that we’ve got some more info on what lies ahead there. Also, visit our CarterMatt Facebook page (at the link here) to get some additional NCIS: New Orleans updates. (Photo: CBS.)