After pulling off an elaborate scam against the Iranians, the NCIS:Los Angeles team members all took a well deserved vacation in "Recruit," returning to face one of the toughest and oddest cases so far: an international terrorist group hostage scheme.

This case started out fairly routine with them looking into a former Marine David Adams, who was found killed in a U.S. drone strike against a terrorist refuge in Afghanistan. What possible reason could he have been there? 

Did the former Marine turn against his country and go back to Afghanistan to fight with the terrorists? His family, co-workers and even ex-military comrades insisted he wouldn't do that. They thought he had taken a job out-of-state to earn extra money to support his new baby on the way.

NCIS tracked Adams' employment to a company called ATAMA, which Sam and Callen went to investigate. The empty office they found was eerie and appeared to be a front for something nefarious, especially when the lone employee started shooting at them.

It turned out that Adams didn't turn against his country; rather he thought he was going back to Afghanistan on a private ops mission to help. Instead, the company paid a large upfront bonus to recruit former military personnel and then held them hostage. ATAMA dealt in former military human trafficking.

The team immediately set out to save these recruits and bring down this terrorist network with a quickly put together plan. The ease at which they moved through the airport, saved the recruit and knocked out the ATAMA rep was swift and amazing to watch. 

It was only slightly better than the attack on the compound. Kensi was a brilliant diversion in her black burqa. They took down the terrorists in a storm of gunfire. They saved the recruits and the mission was a success. In and out with no problems. 

The gang even got to fly first class on the way home, where Sam showed interest in Deeks' vacation photos saving Kensi from hours of torture. And Hetty could watch them slumber on the plane via remote cameras. Hetty the Spy!

One of the best parts of the episode was the hilarious banter between the teammates. I'm not sure which is my favorite: Touché? The geeks' favorite elements? Blaming a mistake on Mossad? Trained seal? Which was your favorite? The witty writing on NCIS: Los Angeles separates it from the other procedural shows on television. Well, and the car chases and gun fights!

NCIS: Los Angeles has started off its fourth season with a pair of incredible episodes.

Carla Day is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter and on Google+.