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NCIS: Los Angeles Season 14 Rewatch: “Survival of the Fittest”

The basics: When a Marine has a seizure, the team investigates a private lab.

Written by: Andrew Bartels wrote or co-wrote "Allegiance", "Zero Days", "The Grey Man", "Humbug", "Fighting Shadows", "Driving Miss Diaz", "Angels & Daemons", "Where There’s Smoke…", "Glasnost", "Old Tricks" "Battle Scars", "Fool Me Twice", "Warrior of Peace", "Reentry", "The Prince", "Smokescreen", "The One That Got Away"/"No More Secrets" two-parter, "Yellow Jacket", "Missing Time", "If the Fates Allow", "Red Rover, Red Rover", "Divided We Fall" and “Genesis”.

Directed by: Eric A. Pot directed “Resurrection”, “Windfall”, “Traitor”, “Internal Affairs”, “Home is Where the Heart Is”, “Forasteira”, “Reentry”, “Hit List”, “The One Who Got Away”, “Kill Beale Vol 1”, “Fortune Favors the Bold”, “A Fait Accopli”, “Imposter Syndrome”, “Indentured” and “Sorry for Your Loss”.

Guest stars of note: Pamela Reed as Roberta Deeks and Natalia Del Riego as Rosa Reyes were both back from “Flesh and Blood”. Dominic Burgess as Herman Cooper, Piper Curda as Lisa Cho, Bobby Hogan as Marine Private First Class James Williams, Cyrus Hobbi as Marine Staff Sergeant Pierce, Jesse Boone as Nicholas "Nick" Embry, Susan Slome as Jordana Hanson and Marcus Antony Brunner as Marine Private First Class Edward Hanson.

Our heroes: Are all over SoCal today - the office, Pendleton, Anaheim.

What important things did we learn about: Callen: Still looking for Hetty. Sam: Jogging against the Santa Ana winds. Kensi: Taking classes at Quantico. Deeks: Trying to balance home life and work. Fatima: Miranda. Rountree: Tackling Marines with ease. Kilbride: Doesn’t envy Deeks’s balancing act.

What not so important things did we learn about: Callen: Pet sitting nephew Jake’s snakes. Sam: Not afraid of snakes, just doesn’t like snakes. Kensi: On the East Coast but the house is still a mess. Deeks: Maker of healthy breakfasts. Fatima: Really is a fed. Rountree: Has snack bars in the Land Rover’s glovebox. Kilbride: Doing retirement wrong.

Where in the world is Henrietta Lange? Callen is looking for her in Syria.

Who's down with OTP: Kensi is in DC so Deeks is Mr. Mom.

Who's down with BrOTP: Very bantering Callen and Sam episode.

Fashion review: Callen is wearing a medium blue button-down shirt. Sam has on a long-sleeve black tee while Deeks has on a short sleeve one. A lovely purple turtleneck for Fatima. Rountree looks like he raided Deeks’s closet for is pale blue long-sleeve tee. The Admiral is doing the Admiral – dark blue three-piece suit, dark blue tie, pale blue dress shirt.

Music: Nothing today.

Any notable cut scene: After two straight episodes with an extra scene, none for today.

Quote: Kilbride: “Agent Namazi spoke up on your behalf.” Deeks: “Yeah, well, she didn't...she didn't have to do that.” Kilbride: “No. And to be clear, this is not an apology for what I said this morning. Regardless of personal circumstances, I have to hold this office to the highest of standards.” Deeks: “Right. Yeah, no, it definitely won't happen again, sir.” Kilbride: “Isn't easy.” Deeks: “S-Sorry, what?” Kilbride: “It isn't easy balancing the work that you do here with the equally important work that you do at home. Speaking for myself, I was never able to find that balance and it is my life's regret. I have every confidence that you will.” Deeks: “Thank you, sir.” Kilbride: “I do not envy you.”

Anything else: Deeks is making a healthy breakfast for Rosa – eggs and bacon made into a smiley face, fresh fruit – when Bertie shows up with vegan doughnuts. Since Rosa isn’t vegan and Deeks would prefer she have a healthy breakfast, mother and son debate doughnuts, Bertie living 84-seconds away and Deeks’s preference that she not just show up unannounced. Bertie tells Deeks she texted Kensi about dropping by but since Kensi in Quantico (“you’d never know it with all the mess,” Bertie notes), Deeks didn’t know she was coming. The doughnut conversation devolves into it being odd that former police officer Deeks doesn’t like doughnuts.

As Deeks yells for Rosa to hurry up and get dressed so she can have his healthy breakfast. Rosa arrives in the dining room wearing her pajamas. She tells Deeks she isn’t feeling well. Within a second, she’s running to the bathroom and vomiting.

In the boat shed, Sam arrives after a long run against the Santa Ana Winds. Callen is on his laptop, looking at satellite footage from Syria. He’s looking for Hetty. Sam assures Callen they’ll find Hetty – “we always do.” There is a hissing noise across the boat shed. Lifting a blanket off an object on the coffee table, Sam sees a large tank with a large snake inside. He is not pleased. Callen is babysitting the snakes – they’re Jake’s. As he says he’s bringing them home with him at the end of the day. Callen remember that Sam is afraid of snakes. Sam disagrees – not afraid, just not a fan. Years and years of evolution put that feeling into everyone. Callen’s phone rings – they have a case.

Deeks gets the same call as Rosa is resting on the couch. The flu is going around the school, Rosa probably got it. Deeks asks if she wants anything. Rosa mentions a soup her Mom use to make when she was ill - caldo de res - and how her Mom would run her hand through Rosa’s hair until she fell asleep. Deeks looks like he was slapped. Rosa apologizes but Deeks tells her there is no reason to apologize. He’s sorry her mother isn’t there, sorry he never met her. Rosa thinks her mother would have liked Deeks – except his hair. She would have combed it until it was neat. Rosa laughs – she thinks Deeks would look terrible with neat hair.

Deeks’s phone rings again – it is Rountree. Deeks updates him on what’s going on and he’s just waiting for Bertie to return. Bertie returns with movies to watch and a new shortcut – now just 43-second to the house if she uses the neighbor’s backyard. Deeks thinks that goes on the list of things to discuss. Deeks tells Rosa he loves her and looking at his mother, he tells Rosa “I’m so sorry.”

In Ops, Fatima has video of the Gladiator’s fight – a corps videographer was recording it for a promotional film. Sam recognizes the pugil stick training – he did it with the SEALs. Fatima thinks it looks like fun. Sam assures her it isn’t. Hanson, the Marine who had the seizure, was rushed to the Marine hospital about two minutes away. He fell into a coma and is now suffering massive organ failure. This is the first seizure for Hanson.

Callen wonders if he was exposed to a nerve agent. None of that showed up in Hanson’s blood work – just a cold virus but the cold virus had a specific enzyme – CRISPR-Cas9 – that is used for gene editing. The Admiral arrives saying that a specific flu was introduced to a member “our armed forces”. The SecNav and Joint Chiefs are all aware of this case – it is their highest priority since this could be the first attack by a genetic weapon.

Deeks arrives, worried that the virus that Hanson was exposed to could be contagious. Fatima and Rountree assure him it is not. The virus itself is rather harmless. What it did was deliver the CRISPR “payload”. They are not sure what genes were targeted but the doctors see that Hanson’s immune system is failing. Russia and Iran have interest in gene warfare while the Chinese used CRISR to alter human embryos.

What worries Rountree is that CRISPR technology can be ordered on the internet legally. A person would need to know a lot about genetic medicine to make anything work. Which makes it odd that if someone is smart enough to create this virus, why test it on Private First Class Hanson and not a general or an admiral. Kilbride arrives for the last word, unnerving Rountree, who says the Admiral is different – he’s retired. If he’s retired, Kilbride thinks he’s doing it wrong.

With Callen and Sam arriving at Camp Pendleton to investigate, the Admiral wants Rountree to speak to Hanson’s mom – she’s just arrived from Indiana to be with her son. Fatima is going to go through the last week of Hanson’s life to see how he could be exposed to the virus. As for Deeks, the Admiral gives him a good dressing down for being late. Then he’s assigned to work with Rountree. Rountree tries to explain that the Admiral has been busy with the Pentagon all day – probably didn’t hear about Rosa being sick. Deeks isn’t interested, they just need to work.

In Camp Pendleton, Callen and Sam speak with Hanson’s Staff Sergeant. Hanson has been struggling to keep up and the Staff Sergeant feels that maybe the seizure was his fault – pushed Hanson too hard. Callen assures the Staff Sergeant that the seizure had nothing to do with the exercise. With the entire squad having to go through a blood test, the Staff Sergeant is worried about his wife and their new baby. Sam tells the Staff Sergeant that there isn’t an immediate threat to anyone but Hanson.

Callen asks for info on Hanson’s prior week. The Staff Sergeant can hand over all of Hanson’s assignments and training but his free time was spent with his roommate, PFC Jimmie Williams – they’re best friends. Hanson was one of the few guys on base with a car – a Camaro and a loud one – so everyone knew when he was leaving the base. Williams always travelled with Hanson. The night before Hanson’s seizure, Hanson and Williams left base. The Staff Sergeant doesn’t ask where his men go if they leave the base – just as long as they’re safe and reasonably sober when they return, it is all good. As Callen and Sam check out Hanson’s bunk, the Staff Sergeant goes looking for Williams to meet with Callen and Sam.

Deeks and Rountree meet Mrs. Hanson outside the Marine hospital. She’s upset – it is difficult to see her son in such a state. She’s surprised NCIS is there to see her – “Eddie” had a seizure. Rountree explains they are investigating why her son had a seizure. Sitting with her, Mrs. Hanson tells Deeks and Rountree that her son was a good boy, called every Saturday at 9AM. She was so proud when he joined the Marines, just like his father. Eddie’s father died in combat. The weekly conversations were about general things including crypto. Mrs. Hanson is into crypto but Eddie wasn’t until recently. She helped him set up an account.

In Hanson’s bunk, there are a lots of bottles of supplements, car magazines and photos with pretty young woman. Sam notices there isn’t a phone and Hanson’s car keys are gone. The Staff Sergeant arrives – Jimmie Williams is AWOL. Security footage has the Camaro leaving the base about an hour ago. Deeks called with the info about the crypto accounts for Hanson and Williams – Callen wonders if the two men were paid in crypto to bring the virus onto the base, thinking Williams may have gotten greedy and is looking for the money for himself. Security video shows Williams going north to LA.

The Admiral is furious on the phone – he wants a helicopter over the freeway between San Diego and Los Angeles looking for Williams. Fatima arrives – Williams was last seen exiting the freeway in Anaheim. Looking at Hanson’s crypto account, he was paying $2,000 in coins to a Xander Yost who lives in Anaheim.

Deeks and Rountree go to Yost’s home but the door is unlocked. There is blood on the handle. Rountree sees Williams in the backyard as he tries to flee the scene. Williams tells Rountree “I didn’t kill him” after Rountree slams him to the ground. Rountree agrees – Hanson isn’t dead. In the house, Deeks finds Xander Yost with his throat cut in a deep freezer. He’s definitely dead.

As Yost’s body is being removed from his house, Deeks is on the phone with Rosa, who is still quite sick. Bertie takes over the call – Deeks’s DVD player isn’t working. This is news to Deeks since they don’t have a DVD player. “Then what have I been shoving my DVDs into,” she asks and Deeks is done. Rountree arrives. The time of death is about two-hours ago, just when PFC Williams was leaving the base. He’s not the killer. Castor is picking up Williams to take him to the boat shed while Deeks and Rountree stay at the crime scene.

Fatima said it was hard to find info on Xander Yost. He dropped out of med school He opened his dark web business, XY Apothecary, where he makes home-made gene therapies, including one to build muscles for $2,000 – what Hanson paid Yost. With Hanson and Williams struggling to keep up, they were likely using the gene therapy to improve their strength and stamina. This isn’t terrorism, they’re trying to enhance themselves. But that doesn’t explain who killed Yost and made Hanson sick.

In interrogation, Williams explains he and Hanson were trying to be better Marines. They found XY and did some shots. They were getting results until Hanson got sick. When the Marines ordered blood tests for the squad, Williams had a panic attack. Thinking he might die, Williams took Hanson’s car to Yost’s home. Sam notes that Williams also took Hanson’s phone. Without facial recognition, Williams couldn’t open Hanson’s phone but if it was in the car, it automatically gave access. Explaining he wasn’t stealing either the car or the phone, he was going to Yost for an antidote but Yost was already dead. Williams ran because he thought Rountree was the killer.

There was nothing in the house connecting Yost to a gene therapy business. Williams suggests talking to Yost’s assistant. Williams didn’t know his name, but he was a young man about Williams’s age. The assistant gave both Hanson and Williams a Fitbit-style monitor to wear after their gene therapy treatment.

In Ops, Fatima and the Admiral review the monitor. If either Williams or Hanson were suffering, the monitor would report it. Checking into the monitors, they were bought in bulk by a company called Open Source Bio, a community lab in downtown Los Angeles. The Admiral knows about these type of labs – bio-hackers/amateurs using chemical and biological tools unchecked. Fatima thinks their goals are noble – making access to medicine easier. While some of the people involved may have noble goals, Hanson is in the hospital for a reason. Kilbride wants Fatima and Rountree to infiltrate the lab. Deeks will be running things from Ops.

Rountree is happy to be back in the Range Rover – he always has snacks in the glovebox. Well, not today, Fatima has the snacks. Neither of them had time for lunch. Fatima has a hard time accessing the building until she sells herself as Miranda – British accent and all – trying to start her own kombucha business. One of the lab partners, Lisa, lets Fatima in – the woman has an RFID chip implanted into her right hand and magnets in her left.

Fatima asks about the lab’s security – Lisa explains they have a lot of chemicals and interesting projects that need to be protected. They also do community projects like making vegan cheese and insulin. The lab is even FDA approved. Many of the members of the lab, including Lisa, are diabetic. They are taking the power away from Big Pharma. Fatima is introduced to the group, including Herman, a human cyborg. Using cybernetic implants, he is attune to radio waves and accuses Fatima of wearing a wire, of being a Fed. Rountree runs from the Range Rover to the lab’s door.

Herman is sure Fatima is a fed even as the others look at both Fatima and Herman oddly. Herman’s previous lab was shut down by the Feds after they though he was making anthrax and sarin. He orders Fatima to take off her hijab. Lisa calls him out – totally out of line. Fatima admits she is wearing an earpiece – it is her earwig. As Miranda, Fatima claims she suffers from hyperacusis, noise sensitivity but would turn off the earpiece if it upsets Herman. Herman likes the idea, Lisa does not – they wouldn’t make Herman remove his antenna.

Lisa has to ready a shipment of insulin. Fatima can walk around the lab and talk to anyone about her project, except maybe Herman. Taking a quick photo of Herman, Fatima sends it to Rountree, who forwards it to Callen and Sam. Maybe Williams will recognize Herman as Yost’s assistant.

As Callen feeds Jake’s snakes, Williams is shown Herman’s photo but he doesn’t recognize Herman. Sam tries to jog Williams’s memory – did the assistant have tattoos, anything that would identify him. Williams remembers a Copperhead motorcycle – Hanson thought it was cool. Callen and Sam call to Deeks in Ops, who admits he’s a fish out of water there. Deeks finds the motorcycle’s owner Nicholas Embry whose license goes back to a closed homeless shelter. Embry also owns a van that was ticketed in a public parking structure.

Fatima asks Herman about his heart monitor – her friend “Nick” was using one just like Herman’s. Herman knows Nicholas Embry, who left Open Source Bio after they did not let him use CRISPR technology. Embry stole a lot of stuff before leaving, including the heart monitors. Herman still thinks Fatima is a fed.

Callen and Sam pull up along Embry’s van. The van locked but the motorcycle is missing. Deeks provides a warrant so Callen and Sam break in. Embry is living the van and has literature about using a bio-weapon to get rid of anyone he deems genetically inferior. Using Yost’s business, Embry experimented on the “weak” PFC Hanson. When it worked, Yost figured it out so Embry killed him. Deeks sends Embry’s work to Fatima – they need someone to review it. She wakes up a napping Herman and admits in her normal voice, she is a federal agent. “I hate being right all the time,” Herman tells her.

Reviewing Embry’s work, Herman figures out that CRISPR didn’t introduce any new virus, it just took the simple flu virus and changed it to make it lethal. Embry is diabetic. Paying for insulin has been difficult in his life to the point that he almost killed himself by rationing his medication. He was suicidal after that. With Lisa out making deliveries, the concern is that the lethal flu is in the insulin.

Callen and Sam find the Open Source Bio van. Embry is holding Lisa hostage. Sam fires a bullet over their heads, causing Embry to drop his knife. With the magnets in her hand, Lisa is able to take it. Sam puts Embry in handcuffs.

In the office, Deeks is packing up his gear. The Admiral comes up behind Deeks. He asks about Rosa, saying that Fatima spoke up on Deeks’s behalf. Deeks didn’t think Fatima needed to do that. The Admiral tells Deeks he isn’t apologizing, just wants Deeks to know he has to hold the OSP to the highest of standards. The Admiral talks about balancing work done in the office with the important work done at home, admitting he never found that balance. “It is my life’s regret.” But the Admiral has every confidence that Deeks will, though he does not envy Deeks doing it.

In the boatshed, Callen and Sam are sharing a beer. PFC Hanson has stabilized. Callen notices the snake - Houdini - is gone. Sam leaves – Callen is on his own looking for Houdini.

Deeks arrives home. Rosa’s fever has broken but she’s exhausted. Deeks is too – he felt so torn all day. He wanted to stay with Rosa because she’s lost so much in life but he has a job and that job included getting yelled at for being late and being punished by working in Ops, “which I’m not built for.” He tried to Google the soup Rosa’s mother made but couldn’t even spell it. Deeks is grateful for Bertie living 43-seconds away so she could watch Rosa and take care of her. They hug. Bertie notices he’s hot and starts taking care of him too.

What head canon can be formed from here: The case of the week was interesting and well done. I thought Deeks’s reaction to the Admiral’s dressing down was interesting. He wasn’t there to defend himself or get sympathy from his Fatima and Rountree. Instead, he did his job. There is the generation divide between Kilbride, who didn’t have paternity leave or bring your kids to work day, and Deeks who probably was glad his father didn’t have either paternity leave or bring your kids to work day.

Deeks wanting to Google caldo de res and not being able to spell it shows where he was with taking care of Rosa. Here’s a recipe Deeks:

Ops Deeks knew Callen and Sam’s next question about Yost's assistant Embry because he would have asked them to Eric/Nell/Fatima.

Bertie dresses up any episode. Again, whoever cast Pamela Reed as Deeks’s mom is very good at their job.

Solid episode that outside of the Rosa storyline, could have run during any season.

Episode number: Season 14, episode seven. Episode 309 overall.

#NCIS: Los Angeles Rewatch #NCIS: Los Angeles #NCIS Los Angeles #NCIS: LA #ncis la #Youtube

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