CBS/Paramount Home Entertainment
Release Date: August 21, 2012
As a fan of the original NCIS I saw the teaser episode introducing the Los Angeles team and when the show stared I was intrigued. Into the first season it was apparent to me that being a fan of one won’t mean you are a fan of the other. NCIS Los Angeles has a totally different vibe and a different focus. The show is very much part of LA and it is also more about covert operations which they play into often. I like the show but for reasons that differ from my enjoyment of NCIS.
Coming into season three we’ve started to get background on some of the characters, the kind of things that are brought into a TV show once they know they have a success. Season three really goes a long way towards filling in back stories. The main focus of the show seems to me to be G. Callen and we find out more about him and his background. We also get a glimpse behind the steel curtain of his ex-Navy Seal partner Sam Hanna as he does double duty on an undercover operation. There is a wonderful two parter that gives us the lowdown on just who Kesie Blye really is and why she’s so driven. We also get more on the rest of the team as well and that is a good way to keep fans interested in the show and makes the characters more important to us.
This season also has a great running sub plot with an international bad ass known as “the chameleon” and he’s played by Christopher Lambert (there can be only one!). The story is not over done and they do a nice job of feeding into the tale leading up to the big season finale, which is a real winner. There was also a nice cross over with the new Hawaii Five-0 and the episode from Five-0 is included.
So far I would say this is the strongest season of the show and I am definitely on board for next season.
Jon
I agree that the background information on the characters is what is making the show more interesting than just finding out if a U.S. Marine betrayed his country or not. On top of that, the writers involve “The Chameleon” so little that I forget about this subplot too. They also handled Hetty’s resignation poorly; my coworker had the same complaint about Hetty’s resignation too, but I saw this rouse coming since Hunt’s contract hasn’t expired yet. Honestly, the way the networks change time slots all the time, I’m glad that I can set my DVR to record all of the network shows. I don’t miss a thing, even if the time or day changes, which makes pay TV worth it for me.