NCIS: Los Angeles

Dom is gone and no one is safe. That much has been made crystal clear by the events on recent episodes and comments from NCIS: Los Angeles creator Shane Brennan.

But was that just a prelude? Are the NCIS: Los Angeles cast shakeups only beginning?

Next Tuesday on "The Bank Job," another special agent and familiar member of the team gets shot during a hostage situation at a local financial institution. It looks grim.

As the promo below says, it's a case that could cost the special ops team everything:

What do you make of this potential development? Could Kensi be getting killed off too? We'd love to hear your predictions as well as opinions on where the show is going.

Click to enlarge some photos from the episode ...

We broke down last night's NCIS: Los Angeles for you in our "LD50" review. Here, we further discuss some of the events from the episode in a Round Table discussion ...

1. What was your favorite scene from last night?

L.J. Gibbs: Sam going undercover. That's normally Callen's role, although it made sense given Sam's Navy vaccinations. You could feel the tension in the room, it was great.

The Barnacle: Chris and LL in the fountain. Yes, it was cheesy and yes, Sam getting there in time is a stretch. But I love the Chris-LL dynamic and the show's lighter side.

M.L. House: Tie: Callen's diving grab of the toxin (sadly a week early for a CBS Super Bowl ad tie-in) and Sam kicking a$$ and taking names after his cover was blown.

2. Who's a better undercover agent, G. or Sam?

M.L. House: This is Callen's thing, along Sam held his own last night, and it was neat to see the shoe on the other foot, as normally he's got Callen's back from afar. 

L.J. Gibbs: Whatever scenario you put these guys in works for me. They've been together longer than most married couples, as G. said, and they act like it professionally and personally. It's pretty much always a treat to watch the buddy cop tandem.

The Barnacle: G. He doesn't even have a first name. Enough said!

3. Did you like the way Dom's unclear status was handled?

The Barnacle: On one hand, I'm impatient about not knowing how this plays out, but on the other, it's classic NCIS. Not everything can be tied up perfectly each week.

M.L. House: I like how Sam refuses to let it go, Callen doesn't even speak of it and Hettie tries to manage everyone coping in his/her own way. Felt very real to me.

L.J. Gibbs: Definitely. The agents seem as clueless and lost for words as we are, which is clearly the point. Also interesting is the promo for next week showing Kensi getting shot. Guess the producers weren't kidding when they said no one is safe!

Last night's NCIS: Los Angeles didn't exactly gloss over the shocking abduction of Dom in the previous episode, but he remains missing, and life goes on. As does work.

For the agents, that meant stopping a potential chemical attack. Not small-time stuff. Our episode recap has the basic plot details. Below, TV Fanatic reviews "LD50" ...

Dead Marines found in a warehouse are not actually dead Marines, just guys posing as such. That will pique the interest of NCIS almost as much as the real thing.

Their cause of death? Poisoning from Botulinum, a lethal neurotoxin and potential bio-weapons agent (somewhat similar to the dirty bomb in play on last night's NCIS).

Sam and G.'s first lead? An elderly woman suffering from Alzheimer's. She was being manipulated by the dead Marine posers because she's a former military chemist.

As predicted by Daniela Ruah (Kensi) in an interview, Sam and G. end up in a fountain.

This sweet old lady has been unknowingly aiding the production of chemical weapons ... but for whom? Eventually, they learn that an arms dealer named the Dutchman is behind it.

They learn that a Filipino terrorist suspect is in town to meet with the Dutchman. They bust him, and Sam goes undercover to the meeting as a buyer "negotiating on his behalf."

But is Sam finally in over his head with this crew?

Continue Reading...

Last week's episode of NCIS: Los Angeles took what has been an enjoyable but often unremarkable NCIS spinoff and really put it on the map with an identity all its own.

Unfortunately for agent Dom Vaile (Adam Jamal Craig), that came at a heavy price. The hour ended without solving his abduction, leaving fans - and the cast - shocked.

"I didn't know it was going to happen; I was surprised," said Daniela Ruah, who plays Kensi.

"But just like on the original NCIS, you never know who's going to stay."

"You never know what to expect. For the audience, it's crazy and keeps people hooked on. For [the NCIS: Los Angeles cast], it can be a little scary here and there."

Executive producer Shane Brennan says Dom is gone and Craig will no longer be a regular part of the cast. But still, he says not to give up hope for Dom's survival.

"We didn't lose him yet; he's missing," LL Cool J, who plays Sam, added. "I really don't know [what's going to happen]. He's missing and we'll keep looking for him."

"I think it will continuously be addressed on the show."

Each team member is going to suffer with Dom's loss in his or her own way, says Ruah: "Even though Kensi is a tomboy and she's tough, she's still a woman."

"Inevitably, there's this sisterly or maternal something in her that worries for Dom."

"I think it's instinct," the actress adds. "She's just very protective over him in a way she doesn't expect. I think Kensi becomes a little more emotional [than usual]."

At the same time, the events of last week's episode, "Missing" will not play out this evening, when the team investigates a potential outbreak of botulinum toxin.

If that's not exciting enough to lure you in, Ruah promises this twist: "We're searching for this guy at the Beverly Center, the clock is ticking and LL and Chris [O'Donnell] end up in the fountain. Together. That could be appealing to the ladies, I don't know."

We broke down last night's dramatic episode of NCIS: Los Angeles for you earlier. Here, we further discuss "Missing" in our staff's weekly Round Table discussion ...

1. What was your favorite scene from last night?

L.J. Gibbs: The closing sequence, with everyone coping in their own way. Without giving away some major NCIS: Los Angeles spoilers here, I will say that the foreboding feeling one got from watching the episode-ending montage was clearly deliberate.

The Barnacle: Definitely the climactic shootout. Loved the surprise of Kensi under the sack and not the faux hostage, and that Callen and Sam once again got out of what looked like an impossible situation. These guys have nine lives ... at least.

M.L. House: I'll go with the only light moment from last night, with each team member recalling the karaoke mastery (and debauchery) from the night before.

2. Were you surprised by last night's twist?

M.L. House: Absolutely. Despite the reports we read about an agent in peril, I didn't expect that it would be Dom, or for the rookie potentially not to come back.

L.J. Gibbs: When he was not in the van I was legitimately surprised. Finding him there would be the natural conclusion to this action-packed episode ... but no!

The Barnacle: It was definitely a new wrinkle, and it's (unfortunately) probably more realistic to have some episodes end this way than with a happy resolution.

3. Will we see Dom again?

The Barnacle: Sadly I think he's done for.

M.L. House: After watching last night I think it's clear this was the shocking, emotional twist Shane Brennan was talking about, and that he'll remain missing.

L.J. Gibbs: I suspect we will. This plot has to manifest itself again at some point, in typical NCIS fashion. Whether we see him again alive is another story ...

NCIS: Los Angeles began and ended last night's episode, "Missing," with the disappearance of rookie agent Dom Vaile. The story was left wide open to interpretation.

Until now. Cast member Adam Jamal Craig (Dom) is leaving the hit procedural, according to Entertainment Weekly, which spoke with snow creator Shane Brennan.

The only question is when. Pretty much the only thing clear after last night was that this is the shocking, emotional story teased by producers earlier this month.

Adam Jamal Craig (Dom Vaile) is leaving NCIS: Los Angeles.

The pilot episode of Lost originally called for Jack to be killed off immediately after establishing him as the main character. Dom is no Jack, but his departure did come out of nowhere, and seemed to be engineered to generate the same kind of shock value.

Tuesday's episode left the character’s fate very much up in the air. Is Dom dead? Will his kidnapping remain an unsolved mystery? Why was Craig written out?

Follow the jump for excerpts from EW's interview with Brennan in which he addresses the fate of Dom and more regarding this unfinished NCIS: Los Angeles business ...

Continue Reading...

Last night's NCIS: Los Angeles began with a mystery involving one of the team's own: Dom Vail has been abducted, is nowhere to be found, and we have no idea why.

Upon the episode's conclusion, all of that is still true.

All of the team's efforts to hunt down Dom were in vain, at least for now. Here's our full episode recap if you missed it, then check out TV Fanatic's review of "Missing" ...

Dom was parked in an alley in a seedy neighborhood of L.A., which probably was not the best idea. He was ambushed and dragged from his car by masked gunmen.

There was a struggle. Shots were fired and a lot of blood was lost. It is unclear what happened beyond that, to the viewers as well as to Dom's co-workers at NCIS.

Callen leads the team investigating Dom's kidnapping, but it's a challenge. Who would take a rookie agent with no enemies? Why was he even parked where he was?

No one knows.

Sam, Kensi and Callen survey the crime scene were Dom was taken.

Whoever took Dom knows what they're doing, too. They can only get a GPS feed from his phone for a split second, which brings them to a random house in Valencia, Calif.

There, a Colombian national is found dead. NCIS ties the guy to a local nurse (his sister), who confesses that her brothers, also Colombian gangsters, brought Dom to her.

She patched up a slight bullet wound he suffered. He's okay. But still missing.

Posing as a gangster himself, Callen calls the Toro brothers and offers a trade: Dom for their sister. The prisoner exchange in an abandoned warehouse goes horribly wrong.

Neither party brought the people in question and after Sam saves Callen by shooting the two brothers, we learn they were hired to kidnap Dom and turn him over for money.

Which they did, and thus, they don't know where he is either.

Continue Reading...

Below are some promotional photos from next week's episode of NCIS: Los Angeles. It's called "Missing," and from the title alone, you can guess what it's about.

What you might not guess? The team rushes to a crime scene after receiving an "agent needs assistance" page and learns that it's one of their own who is in peril.

Click to enlarge the images below, and find out the latest on what's coming up next for Callen, Sam, Kensi and company in our NCIS: Los Angeles spoilers section:

Their dynamic has been relatively unchanged (and awesome) so far. But get ready for a little role reversal for G. Callen and Sam Hanna on NCIS: Los Angeles soon enough.

"Usually it's Sam protecting Callen, but this turns the other way," creator Shane Brennan says of an episode that explores Sam's relationship with a family in the Sudan.

This, of course, dates back to his days as a Navy SEAL, and unlike last week, when Callen was in over his head because of his past, Sam is the one who needs protecting.

"Callen has to watch Sam's back because he's really out on a limb," Brennan says, also teasing a "heart-wrenching episode" that delves more into Callen's personal life.

Callen (Chris O'Donnell) and Sam (LL Cool J) on NCIS: Los Angeles.

"It's only the beginning of something that will be resolved later in the season," he says of that episode, which will apparently introduce a past (or present) love interest.

In the immediate future, the show returns with a new episode next week entitled "Missing," in which the team rushes to a crime scene and learns one of their own is in peril.

Who do you think it is?

NCIS: Los Angeles has just picked up for a second season - and with that vote of confidence from CBS, the freshman procedural is ready to elevate its game.

That's according to executive producer Shane Brennan.

“It has a very, very good pedigree,” jokes Brennan of the NCIS spinoff, before adding “Everyone’s fear was that NCIS: LA would be just a clone, and it’s not.”

To date, NCIS: Los Angeles has regularly retained a massive portion of NCIS' lead-in audience, averaging 17 million total viewers. Even opposite American Idol’s season premiere last week, Chris O’Donnell, LL Cool J and company drew nearly 16 million.

Now that it has established a distinct cast and rhythm from the original and gained a following, NCIS: Los Angeles is ready to provide us with bigger twists.

Just last week, the show provided us a rare peek inside the thus-far mysterious background of agent / undercover specialist G. Callen (played by O’Donnell).

“For anyone who’s interested in finding out more about him, that’s a real treat,” Brennan says of that glimpse at a “revealing and romantic slice” of Callen.

That's just the beginning, however: “The other big thing that’s coming up is a pretty shocking episode that will leave audiences with a big question mark.”

For now, Brennan will not share other details on the incoming bombshell other than to note that the storyline is “something I’m personally very proud of.”

The arc will kick off soon, building up to the season finale: “This story is surprising,” Brennan says, “but at the same time it’s very emotional and moving.”

Any theories on what this NCIS: LA story line might entail?