NCIS New Orleans Season 1 Episode 14 Review: Careful What You Wish For
Kathleen Wiedel
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We're well past the half-way mark in NCIS: New Orleans's freshman season, and only now do we get to learn something about the mystery that is Meredith Brody! (How many of us had to be reminded that her first name is Meredith?)
NCIS: New Orleans Season 1 Episode 14 revealed exactly what happened that fateful day on U.S.S. Moultrie, which has been chasing Brody relentlessly for years.
All I can say is that it's about time!
Let's start off with the Case of the Week. During a protection detail for a Navy admiral, one of the NCIS agents guarding him, Agent Hackett, was shot and killed. Did anyone watching this actually believe for more than a minute the admiral was the intended target of the bullet?
Maybe I've seen too many cop shows, but I was pretty certain from right off the bat the killer hit his intended mark. (Do they ever actually miss on TV?)
It turned out that a senator, Klain, killed Agent Hackett because the senator's illegitimate son needed a life-saving transplant that only he (the senator) could provide. Maybe. And having a child out of wedlock would put a serious crimp in his plan to run for governor. Wait, what? I have a real problem with this rationale.
Klain is willing to let a child, his own child, no less, die a horrible death because he wanted to be governor?! And, not only that, because Hackett found out, Klain got a Winchester and murdered his old high school buddy and then the mother of his child.
Pride: Know that joke? "How can you tell a politician is lying?"
Brody: "His lips are moving."
Pride: That's it. Save yourself some embarrassment.
I guess it sounds so much worse when you spell it out like that. Overall, TV and the movies seem to have a strange idea about politicians (and businesspeople, for that matter), that they always leap to murder most foul as an acceptable first choice of how to deal with their problems. This really doesn't make sense.
This investigation was intercut with the truly interesting material: the Brody story. Agent Anson, nominally present to look into the shooting death of Agent Hackett, takes the opportunity to turn his inquiry into a witch hunt with Brody as the sole target.
Honestly, I'm surprised Director Vance (name drop alert!) gave Anson so much leeway on a matter that had been closed for years, especially since Anson was personally connected to it (having known two of the victims).
Whatever the reasoning, we finally got to see through a crack in Brody's facade. We'd heard mention of the Moultrie incident before this, but really only in passing. Here we got to see it and came away with the revelation that, at the time of the incident, Brody had lost her twin sister to a drunk driver only days earlier.
Deceased family members are nothing new in the NCIS universe, but it's almost refreshing to have one to have passed in a, ah, "normal" manner.
On a more specific note, it's easy to see why Brody was so affected when facing the disaffected Petty Officer Hooper. Twins can share an incredible bond, and losing someone that close to you can be incredibly traumatic.
Even though Brody hesitated less than a second, it was still enough for Hooper to get away and blow up five other people with his bomb.
Brody: Everyone always accuses me of running. But there is a difference between running and putting something behind you!
Loretta: There is. But if you keep avoiding that something, people still wonder if you have your track pants and jogging shoes on.
Honestly, I think Brody was in denial. She may have thought she was merely trying to keep the past in the past, but she certainly wasn't instilling much confidence in Pride, for instance, who openly wondered when he'd be getting her transfer request on his desk. It reminded me of the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special, in which the Doctor spoke with his past self, an incarnation of himself that he'd denied for so long, only to finally realize that this incarnation, the War Doctor, was just as much him as any of his other selves.
But back to NCIS: New Orleans: did anyone else find the Moultrie incident strange? Why was Hooper so disgruntled? Where did he get the makings for his bomb? Why did he run away from Brody instead of blowing himself up right then and there? I wonder whether we might not return to this incident later on and discover something more was at play.
So, what do you think? Did you like this glimpse into Brody's past? Was Brody running from her past or merely trying to put it behind her? Did you find the case interesting? Let's get the discussion rolling and let us know in the comments below!
Remember, NOLA fans, you can catch up on previous episodes right here at TV Fanatic when you watch NCIS: New Orleans online! NCIS: New Orleans Season 1 Episode 15, "La Carnivale de la Mort," airs February 17, 2015, at 9 p.m. on CBS.
