It's possible that the surprise twist on last night's NCIS: Los Angeles would have worked had Dom not actually gone missing two weeks ago, but probably not quite as well.

With that in the back of the viewer's mind, it was very easy to think when Kensi took three shots to the chest early that it was curtains for her as well, or at least could be.

Then when Sam took one in the shoulder before the last commercial break? Wow. Our episode recap has the basic plot details. Below, TV Fanatic reviews "The Bank Job" ...

Kensi is shot trying to break up an L.A. bank robbery in the opening sequence. She's in there in street clothes, but tangles with one of the gunmen and is overpowered.

Flash back 24 hours earlier. In Iraq, Islamic terrorists hijack a truck with $5 million. The money is traced back to the U.S. and the inside U.S. military man is found dead.

Wearing a very hip bracelet, Kensi (Daniela Ruah) took one for the team.

Sam and G. find a warehouse where three men are planning to rob an L.A. bank even though they already have $5 million. This is because the $5 million is their down payment.

The terrorists want one of their offshore accounts unfrozen, which can only be done at the bank, and which will allow them to access more than 10 times that amount of money.

That's when the episode - and audience fake-out - really got going.

When they're discovered in the warehouse, Sam and G. take out two of the robbers, with one seriously wounded. Through him, they learn who the ring leader of the operation is.

NCIS realizes a guy on the inside the bank has to wire the money out, but don't know who it is. That's the final piece of the puzzle. They rob the bank themselves to make it fit.

In an elaborate ruse to flush out the insider (a young-looking teller with Islamic terrorist ties) and the bank manager who was promised his cut, NCIS is in on the whole robbery.

Before we realized this, though, Kensi was shot three times and Sam twice as the "robbers" tried to escape. As the teller and manager rendezvoused later, they were so busted.

Eric, of course, was in place to retrieve the wired funds before they could actually fall into terrorist hands. That guy is the ultimate puppet master. Well, he and Shane Brennan.

Terrific episode with a twist we didn't see coming. The action scenes on NCIS: Los Angeles are so intense and the plot development so fast-paced that it was masked very well.

RANDOM THOUGHTS:

• Interesting side plot with Kensi's box of stuff from her past that she needs to put away. The episode did a nice job of exploring Kensi's relationship with her dead father. That box of trinkets led to some lighter moments but also deeper ones.
• There were some hilarious Sam and Callen exchanges, mostly pertaining to Sam's prized possession - a sequined Michael Jackson glove from the icon's 1987 Bad tour.
• Hettie holding that enormous rifle and knowing all of its exact specifications by heart, while belittling the bank robbers' taste as less refined than hers? Hilarious.

Steve Marsi is the Managing Editor of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Google+ or email him here.