Preview for Random on Purpose

Week 10: Ambush

Ambush (originally aired  November 18, 2009)


Hetty goes to Washington leaving the kids at home alone...big mistake.


Man walking around beach area looking very paranoid. Sees someone hiding. Goes into an aquarium that is under construction and hears someone come in.  He tries to hide, but instead gets strangled and left for dead.

Sam has written an operations report. They discuss positive and negative enforcement.....

And we wonder why they get along so well.


Mike Renko makes an appearance in this episode....

Hetty tells them about the man who was killed in the aquarium. He's a marine reservist and Renko's informant to get information on ELE (Enhancing Law Enforcement). They are even more dangerous with six dragon missiles now.


Director Vance talks to Hetty. She knows that something is up because she's getting the special treatment and makes a remark about leaving the kids alone. Director Vance asks "how much trouble can they get in 8 hours?" Really?!? Have you met the kids? He assures her that this is not a witch hunt which she reminds him that's what she told Macy before she went in front of a committee and look where she is now.

Kensi, Callen, and Sam go to the aquarium where MacKaye was killed. Callen sees someone putting a para sail and asks Sam if a Dragon Missile could fit in a Sail bag. Eric goes over the video with Sam and Callen and see that they check the car but don't check the sail bag on the roof of the car. Kensi is at Riley's apartment and goes to check the sail bag on his car. Riley attacks her from behind and Kensi kicks his ass. Just as he tries to use the knife on her, Renko steps on his wrist. Makes a remark about starting without him and how he rescued her (yeah right).


Kensi questions him at the boatshed. Nate asks if she should be in the room with Riley alone. Renko remarks that the guy may be bigger and stronger but Kensi is meaner. She comes out and knows that he killed MacKay but they all agree that he is not a leader but a follower. Kensi and Renko take Riley, who gets put in the back of the truck.  There is Callen as a prisoner and Sam as an MP.


So in order to get this guy to think that Callen has the same views, he starts talking about how he's a patriot. Him and Sam argue about their views of the military and Callen tries to get Riley on his side. Riley wants nothing to do with it. Callen is trying to get this guy's trust and proceeds to tell the following BAD JOKES

Callen: "How many MPs does it take to screw in a light bulb? 50.  One to screw it in and 49 to stand guard."
I agree with Nate “That is the worst joke I ever heard.”

The one joke that does work is this: "Why don't MP's take showers before they go into battle? Because they're just going to wash up on the shore anyways."  That one gets a reaction out of Riley.

Momma Hetty calls home to check on the kids...

Dom finds that on the map is a list of potential targets on Riley's computer all are immigration processing centers.

A Truck comes up beside the armored truck and gets Callen ‘rescued'. Callen 'shoots' Sam and goes to escape. Riley wants to go with him and says that he has friends who have the same views that he has. Callen agrees to take him and they drive away. Kensi and Renko get Sam and they follow them.


Callen drives up to a gate in the woods and he starts to complain about how he doesn't want to go camping. They pull up and they get shot at. Riley goes out to talk to the shooter who is a kid named Jay. Callen says “You got to be kidding me. I’m being shot by a Jonas brother and I think I’m going the rest of the family." Riley and Jay get in the truck. This is when Callen and this kid start the "At least" game:

• Callen: At least where I come from they have bathrooms, and TV and Fun!
• Jay: At least where I come from we know when to shut our mouth.
• Callen: At least I don't have an Appalachian goatee.
• Jay: At least I can grow one.

Eric shows Nate a file about an agent Sullivan that Hetty personally recruited him ten years ago and was killed by an militia group. They look at his file and Sullivan was a lot like Callen. Hetty interrupts the meeting where Director Vance is in to talk to him.  He assures her that Callen is not Sullivan and everything will be alright.



Kensi Sam and Renko pull up to the entry to where the group is. Kensi sees that Callen's earwig on the ground he's worried about being searched. Callen, Jay and Riley pull up and he meets Malcolm and Bordinay. Renko Sam and Kensi in the woods sees the dragon missiles in the cabin. Bordinay is not thrilled with Riley bringing an outsider to the group. Kensi calls Dom tells him they need backup now. Bordinay kills Riley and Sam kills Bordinay before he shoots Callen he then tells Renko and Kensi not to shoot unless it is necessary. Callen takes Jay as a hostage claims he has no idea who is in the woods just wants the keys to the truck and he’s gone. Malcolm tells him to go ahead and shoot the kid he’s willing to die for the cause. Jay's facial expression says otherwise.


Nate gets on the phone to get director Vance and says that maybe Hetty's right. Eric replies with "Yes Hetty is always right!" DUH!


Sam then has an idea....

Callen wakes up and Sam tells him what is going on. Callen wants the gun and the hostage back (I would too). Director Vance pulls Hetty out of the meeting and lets her know what was going on.  Tells her that they have Callen and Sam and the LA office is doing everything they can to get them out. Renko asks Kensi how her Morse code is. While Callen is trying to get himself free of the handcuffs with a bobby-pin he had been carrying since the nineties and Sam sees a red laser flashing on Callen's forehead.  He gets Sam free and Sam responds with the reflection off of his watch.

Hetty calls Eric says “Please don’t yell” (LOL Eric I would be saying the same thing.) They tell her what Sam says about "Maskelyne" and she knows what he is talking about.  Basically they give the ELE the illusion that there are more people than what there is. Kensi and Renko move Nate, Eric and Dom get on the frequency and act like they are the ATF, Hetty talks to the Secretary of the Air Force and asks for a small favor.

ELE gets on the frequency and hears the 'ATF' talking. Callen wants to make a run for it. Jay comes in and Callen tells him that "you should be playing guitar hero and being with your friends or picking up chicks on the beach. Not camping out with a bunch of the Hills Have Eyes psychos . Jay comes running out and tells Malcolm that he saw ATF people coming in. F-22's go overhead freaking everyone out. Malcolm gets in a truck and drives away (big surprise)
Sam and Callen go after Malcolm. Knowing that he is not going to stop and probably hit them they shoot at him and the truck crashes.  

Callen tells Jay that he talked to the agent in charge and who spoke to attorney general and they said that he could go home for now. They do the "At least" game one last time with Jay telling him "At least I finally woke up and saved your behind."

Vance tells Hetty that the F-22's were a nice touch. She tells him that he knew that if Hetty went to SECAF that he would do it for her. They talk about Agent Sullivan and he tells her that she saved two agents today and she should be proud.

Next weeks episode “Random on Purpose”

Preview for Ambush

Week 9: Pushback

This weeks Episode is "Pushback" (Originally Aired November 10, 2009)

This episode solves the mystery on why Callen was shot almost six months ago.

     We start off with a couple on a boat being watched by someone in an apartment.  The person doing the surveillance is listening to music and doesn't know that someone comes in gun drawn.  As they try to light the cigarette they are shot in the back of the head.  The man with the gun calls the man on the boat and lets him know that it is done.  The man on the boat leaves (still not seeing his face)  and the shooter finds video equipment and deletes the pictures on the laptop.  Pictures that are deleted are of the man on the boat and of Callen.

      
     Sam is making tea for Hetty.  Callen mentions that it smells moldy.  Hetty asks Callen if he wants some.  He says he's fine with what he has and Hetty replies “and you can’t taste the paper?” the look on his face is hysterical.  Sam tries the tea and tells her that it is delicious (but his face says otherwise).  Hetty then tells Callen that Director Vance is on the phone for him, walks away and the phone rings. Callen asks Sam “how does she do that?” (HELLO it’s Hetty!) and Sam tells him that was the worst tea he ever had in his life.  Hetty tries it and says “oh! Moldy” and pouts.
 
      Director Vance tells Callen that a woman was killed and had a flash drive hidden in her ball cap.  Had pictures and files and LAPD called him because when identifying the people in the pictures Callen’s name came up. LAPD lets them take care of it and the team looks at the pictures.  They are taken at his old apartment about four days before he was shot.  They then look at the crime scene pictures and he looks at the woman’s face. Guess who it is?

Remember the Russian girl?

  

     The oldest photos on the flash drive are eight days old the most recent are from the day before.  Nate walks in to find out what is going on.  He goes to Hetty to see if there is something more about Callen's in the personal file about his shooting he’s hoping that it can help heal old wounds. Sam, Callen, and Kensi go to the apartment where the “Russian girl” was shot.  Sam and Callen go “old married couple” to the point where when Callen leaves Kensi says to Sam “How long have you two been married?” THANK YOU KENSI!!! They go in and see that what she had was "fold and carry" meaning easy to pack up and get out.  She was not a professional because her back was facing the door.  The apartment manager claims he had no idea she was there but how did she get in? Kensi poses as a person who just needs a place to crash....

   

   
     So the manager then SUDDENLY remembers after he finds out that they are NCIS that he did let the Russian girl stay there and didn’t delete the security footage.  They find the person who shot her walking in and leaving covering his face knowing that the security camera was there.  Dom tells them that she backed up everything on the server.  Callen notices a name on the screen they open the “Cossack” file a mission that he was on about ten years ago in  Europe against the Russian mafia.  A three man team Ethan Stanhope with the CIA, Ricky Taylor and Callen both worked with the DEA.  Eric looks them up and sees that Stanhope and Taylor are both dead.  Murdered on May 5th the same day that Callen was shot and should have died.

     Eric has the traffic cam footage of both Stanhope and Taylor’s shootings.  Stanhope’s was in Las Vegas and Taylor’s was in Chicago and were also drive by shootings like Callen's.  No one had been charged for the murders.   The three of them were on a  joint operation with Russia where there was a syndicate trying to manipulate the flow of oil from the Black Sea into Europe and someone let them know that they were coming. Taylor and Callen were out from the DEA because they both spoke Russian.  CIA set it up and Stanhope was their point person but they only saw him at a bar eating caviar and drinking expensive vodka. They never did find out who betrayed them.  The Russian contact was an Arkady officer in the KGB, which Eric looks him up to see that Arkady is now living in LA.
 
     Kensi works with Nate to see what Arkady has been doing   Hetty has met Arkady and Nate read about him in Callen’s file.  90% of the information about Arkady is redacted.  Hetty is able to let them see an uncensored copy of his file.  Arkady is a security consultant now. Callen and Sam go to talk to Arkady.  Eric calls and tells them that Arkady has a very high level security system that even he cannot break but he’s on the road to go to a local market place.  Callen sees him gets out of the car with bodyguards. Callen goes with Plan B.  Leaving Sam to do his "Plan B" which I think is one of the funniest scenes in this episode.
  

  (Special Thanks to my partner in crime for helping me out for this footage! writing about it would not give this scene justice.)

     The one bodyguard that took Arkady gets him to the car and there is Callen with his gun out. Arkady tells the guard that it’s okay and that he knows Callen.  Says that he knows that Callen probably thinks that he is responsible for the deaths and him being shot and tells him that he is not.  Tells Callen that he sent someone to warn him and the others that they were in danger. Callen asks who it was he sent and he tells him a Russian girl.  He didn’t tell Callen himself because he know that he didn’t trust him after what happened ten years ago. Callen asks why he would think he would believe some Russian girl and Arkady tells him that he knew her. She was at one of the foster homes Callen was in as a kid the girls name was Alina.

     Callen told Arkady about Alina when he asked him about how he knew how to speak Russian Callen told him from a little girl named Alina Rostoff.   He called in a favor and got the address where she was living and knew that if Alina talked to him that he would know her.  She was going to greet him by saying “My big brother” in Russian.

     He remembers that she tried once but he scared her away.  The second time was just before he was shot.  Next week the mafia will be signing a billion dollar contact with an American oilman named John Cole.  Cole maybe part of the syndicate or the syndicate and they didn’t want the members of the team to be around when the deal was signed. He had Alina find out everything that she could about Cole.  She found him on the yacht and he set up surveillance and helped her because she wanted to avenge Callen.  She found out where Cole was and one day later she was dead.  Arkady gives Callen a flash drive with everything about John Cole.

     Hetty sees that Nate is worried about Callen.  His file is only a page with no family history or next of kin.  He tells Hetty that he could put in a physiological assessment to the director telling him the reasons why he didn't want Callen on the case but he doesn’t want to lose the trust of everyone on the team.  She tells him that this could be okay and could be clues to his life. If she is wrong then Nate gets to tell her that he told her so, Director Vance gets to rip her a new one, and Callen does what he always does which is survive.
 
     The man on the yacht is John Cole. He is the owner of an oil refinery company which he bought seven years ago.  The friend/bodyguard (who killed Alina) is Max Tyrus.  Eric cannot find anything on Cole so he looks into Max Tyrus.  Pulls up the phone records and the last call was to a jet charter company.  Callen calls them up posing as Tyrus to confirm the details.  It’s a one way trip that leaves in four hours.
 
     Callen and Kensi go in as EPA inspectors for a surprise visit and Sam as back up. Nate has the opportunity to tell Callen that he shouldn’t be on the case but doesn’t.  Max Tyrus tells them that the EPA has already been there and tries to make them go away.  Cole comes over to see what is going on and sees Callen and says “They said you were dead.” Callen replies with "They said the same thing about you” John Cole is Ethan Stanhope.
 
     Callen mentions that he actually thought Arkady did it because he was the only one left alive.  Stanhope tells him that he was going to try again next week.  It was all about the oil the deal is set for next week and he was going public. If anyone who was on that operation was alive it would be embarrassing and costly.  Stanhope asks how many hits he took Callen tells him five. 
They go chasing after them.  Max is shot by Kensi and falls off the catwalk and is dead.  Callen continues chasing after Stanhope Sam blocks off his way, Callen gets him and Stanhope is arrested.
 
    Nate and Hetty talk about Callen's time in foster care.  From the time Callen was five to the age of eighteen he was in thirty-seven foster homes.  Some for a couple of weeks some for just a few days.  The longest time he spent in a home was three months and that was with Alina’s family.  The parents have died and Alina still had the house. Hetty finds Callen making tea, and he tells her that he was tasting the paper.  She hands him an envelope that has a picture of Alina and him when he stayed there and the address of where they lived.  He goes over there and has memories of the time he stayed there.

Nitpicks:  Okay I saw this picture when I started working on this on this back in May.  This was on the set of "Legend"

   

   

   

Now while watching this episode about a month ago I had to go back to this picture because of this:

  

Stanhope: How many bullets did you take?
Callen: Five. Thanks for asking.

Five?  Are you sure?

My Count is SEVEN!

Music:

Normal Man by Duff Dugan

Next Weeks Episode is Ambush

Preview for Pushback

Week 8

Hello!  No Rewatch this week!  On vacation with family (sadly not at the beach!)  But will be back next week.

Week 7: Keepin' it Real

Keepin’ it Real (Originally Aired November 2, 2009)

A party on a rooftop of a hotel hosted by Brandon Valdivia  He meets up with a friend and hands him something that looks like a counter.  Brandon takes a phone call and is upset about being accused of something.  We then see him falling off the roof.  

Callen and Sam walk into the building having a discussion/argument on if agents are made not born.  Hetty joins in the discussion then tells them that they are late.  Brandon Valdivia, Corporal in the Marines, fell to his death the night before.  LAPD is ruling it a suicide because three months ago he was diagnosed with PTSD after getting back from Iraq.  The reason why they are called in is because Valdivia’s family are close friends with a Congressman.  

He did not have any type of record, in service or out.  Sam and Callen go to the apartment he recently got off base. They find receipts for 160 copies of Guitar Hero.  He got them at “mom and pop” shops and paid for them in cash. They also find no sign at all of a suicide.
Eric tells them that when Brandon died he landed on his back with his arms out.  He also had a broken jaw with no bruise so the hit was fresh.  The suicide just became a murder.

Callen and Kensi go to the hotel to speak to the events coordinator, and she tells them that he’s had parties there for the past three weeks.  The last one cost about twenty seven thousand dollars and was paid in cash.  They didn’t question it because, “who questions cash?” Amy the waitress said that he was not drinking that night, was a nice guy and mostly hung out with his friend Alex.

Both Brandon and Alex were assigned to the supply unit of Camp Pendleton.  Sam talks to Gunnery Sergeant Jerrold Mulhearn or “Gunny Pallet”  who tells him that the men were not the brightest guys and a week ago they got into a fight about something.  He tells Sam that Alex went to sick bay this morning.  Callen checked sick bay, and Alex was not there.  Callen calls Eric to having him look for Alex’s car.  Kensi and Dom look into resale for the video games.  He has an account but was buying the games high and selling them at a low price.  The small operations that he bought them were all over LA and they are members of the Secret Service Counterfeit Currency Alert. Eric calls Callen and tells him that Alex’s car just went off a pier.

Sam and Callen go to the scene and see divers looking for the body.  They are informed by   Eric that someone from the secret service is there to talk to them. Agent Natalie Giordano looks at the bills and tells them that it is not photo shopped and the reason why they don’t pass is because of the paper. She flirts with Callen who turns her down. Callen tells Sam later that he doesn’t date law enforcement. Eric shows them the footage of the car going off the pier and there is no one in it.  Everyone is looking at the car in the water and one person is leaving, it’s Alex Walder.  They find him on the roof.  When they go to question him, he runs.  Sam gets him before he tries to jump off the building, and they find the counter that Brandon gave him the night before on him.

They question Alex at the boathouse.  Alex tells them that he wanted to honor his friend and did not throw him off.  Brandon was the one who got him through Iraq. He wanted him to stop having the parties and spending the money.  That’s why they had the fight the week before. Alex told him he was going to get killed for it.  Callen tells Alex about Jason who was his foster brother in one of the foster homes he was in as a kid.  Jason looked out for him one night the foster father got drunk and beat Jason to death.  Callen felt bad because he didn’t do anything to help him and he still does.  So who killed Brandon?  Rick Pargo.  Rick Pargo is well known for counterfeiting and has been charged for it but has gotten away with it.

Alex tells them that while they were clearing out buildings in Iraq they were in a print shop that was being used to print American money.  They took plates home with them.  Pargo found them and someone must have told him.  They gave Pargo the plates and printed off money but the paper wasn’t good enough so Brandon spent the money  The counter that Brandon gave Alex is a serial number generator
 
Kensi, posing as Alex's girlfriend, talks to Pargo.  She shows him a picture of the serial number generator and tells him that she knows someone who can get him the paper. He tells her that his partner is supposed to get the paper and that’s what got Brandon killed.

Callen poses as Gordon Taymis the one who can get him the paper. Hetty suggests that he take Agent Giordano out to dinner after everything is over.  Rick shows up at the bar. Callen tells him he can get the paper because he is a compliance officer.  Rick tells him that he needs a 3 foot stack (2000 sheets) and has a window every 90 days. Rick calls Callen after looking at the website and says that they have a deal.  Callen meets with Agent Giordano and tells her they need paper.

The next day Callen and Kensi go in to see Pargo.  Sam, Dom, and Agent Giordano are in the car waiting. They start printing while Sam and Agent Giordano argue about going in. She has enough evidence for her case, but Sam tells her no because they are working on a murder. Pargo’s partner shows up and its Gunny. Sam goes in telling Dom that if Gunny leaves to follow him.  Gunny gets in the truck and leaves.  Callen and Sam shoot everyone but Pargo who holds Kensi at gunpoint.  Sam gives her the word and Kensi kicks Pargo’s ass.  

Dom has followed Gunny back to Pendleton.  They are swapping the real money for the fake ones.  Dom goes in and gets Gunny to sign some paperwork. Gunny goes and opens up the stack and it is filled with blank sheets of paper.  After Kensi subdues Gunny, he is arrested. Callen gives Agent Giordano back the real money over at the boathouse. She asks him about going out to dinner he tells her that he has a rule about dating cops.  They joke about her taking early retirement.  As she walks out she says “She must have been some cop.” He replies with  “She was.”



Hetty-isms:

HETTY: Take her out to dinner, after the case is over.
CALLEN: Agent Giordano?
HETTY: Mm. Then take Sam the next night. You know how he gets.


Quotes:

Callen: You cannot use the word "conundrum" before 9:30, Hetty.
Hetty: [Checking her watch] 9:31 which means Mr. Callen, you're late. And so are you Mr. Hanna.

Sam : So you think Hetty was born or made?
Callen: Hatched.

Sam: My point is we compliment each other. But I'm natural.
Callen: I'm natural, and you're made.
Sam: I'm the natural operator.
Callen: If you're a natural, I'm supernatural.
Sam: That doesn't even make sense. 



Questions:

So who was “she” and what happened?





NO REWATCH NEXT WEEK!!!! I will be on vacation with my family!  Will be back on Tuesday July 19th with the episode "Pushback"