Given the terrorist attacks in Paris a week and a half ago, this particular episode of NCIS: Los Angeles which was slated to air last week, was moved to this week. The most terrifying moments come from not knowing when or where the danger is. That is certainly true of this hour’s ISIS storyline, but it is the final minute of this week’s NCIS: Los Angeles that has the most personal effect.
An Uber driver dies with the name of a terrorist in his car. What’s most troubling is that this particular terrorist wasn’t even known of until recently, so this lead is the best chance anyone has had at finding him. The CIA describes him as a charismatic recruiter, one who excels at recruiting westerners. Hetty finds everything about this case troubling. Hetty comes from a time when there were certain understood rules of warfare, some things you didn’t do because you knew they were to your detriment. We all know ISIS isn’t like that. They’re the real-life equivalent of the Joker. To quote The Dark Knight, “Some men just want to watch the world burn.”
The driver picked up a 16-year-old girl named Zara Yacoub and dropped her off at LAX. Her parents report her missing, believing she has been kidnapped, but their fears are misplaced. Zara hasn’t been kidnapped: she has left the country to offer herself up as an ISIS bride. Eric and Nell find a history of ISIS propaganda on Zara’s electronics. Zara seems to have been recruited from a modeling agency, which conveniently only deals in cash that is immediately funneled right out of the corporate accounts. Kensi goes undercover in the modeling agency to find out if any other girls have been targeted for recruitment and see if there is anything they can use to target the top ISIS terrorist.
Sam and Callen track down the man who made the fake passports. He informs them that he made not just one, but three fake passports to transport girls to the Middle East. Kensi blows her cover inside the agency, forcing her to detain one of the recruiters. There is no talking to the brainwashed recruiter. She believes she is doing righteous work. Thank goodness Eric and Nell work fast. The team does make it in time to track down and save the two remaining girls, and Kensi works fast to point out to the girls that these strangers won’t be there for them the way their families will be. Sam and Callen take down the other recruiter and are happily surprised to find Zara stowed away with him. The battle is hardly won, but the good guys won this small round.
As the promo touted, the only thing equally terrifying than the case itself is the frightening ending. This particular case had a happy ending, but the sword that’s been hovering over Deeks since last season finally struck. Deeks is arrested for murder at the end of the hour, leaving his girlfriend Kensi with a last “I love you.”
Until the next NCIS: Los Angeles, when we finally discover why Deeks has been targeted.
[Photo credit: Richard Cartwright/CBS]
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