Maybe, just maybe, Pride is starting to learn.

He went off the rails again at the worst possible time on. NCIS: New Orleans Season 4 Episode 8.

Granted, he was sorely provoked. Loretta's son Danny was back from a tour of duty and soon found himself in a messy situation.

In a convenient plot device, Danny had fallen for a woman in witness protection, who was ready to testify against an international arms dealer who had previously been untouchable.

Danny tried to surprise his girlfriend but instead got surprised himself, by the killer who had murdered Emily's roommate. He did well to hold his own until the killer ran off, then he got Pride involved.

And when Pride's in, he's really in.

Especially with Danny, whom Prides treats like a son.

The problem was, as Loretta pointed out, Danny has adopted many of Pride's qualities, both good and bad.

An example of the bad would be attempting to rescue Emily by himself without bothering to tell anyone where he was going. He obviously doesn't get the concept of backup, again much like Pride.

Danny ran into the woods to distract the gunmen which kept Emily safe but got him captured.

Well-meaning, going it alone, reacting rather than acting -- does that sound familiar?

Naturally, Loretta blew up at Pride because he is the adult male whom Danny has imprinted upon. In other words, he got many of his bad habits from Pride.

But you have to consider that Pride has been doing this for years and still doesn't always get away with it. (More of his current punishment later.) So Danny was way in over his head.

Fortunately, Danny was a bargaining chip. A beaten and bruised bargaining chip, granted, but he was kept alive to force Emily not to testify, and that almost worked.

That was until Pride did what he does best: go rogue.

He left his badge, a clear warning sign, and headed to Dallas. Somehow in that big city, he found the fancy sports car of that entitled brat Carsen (that's good sleuthing) and set off the security to draw him out.

Admittedly, Carsen held his own for a time, but the more experienced Pride fought dirtier and knocked him out before getting much information out of him. Carsen deserved that for his "do you know who I am" attitude.

Since Carsen didn't know or wouldn't tell Pride what he wanted, Pride went to Plan B. It certainly was ballsy to walk up to Donner's door and set the terms for the prisoner swap.

Pride chose a great location for the exchange. In that field, he could seemingly see for miles, especially any gunmen in hiding.

Running on adrenaline, Pride still managed to bring Danny into a trap, How did he miss all those gunmen following him? In any event, of course, his team showed up in the proverbial nick of time to save them both.

Of course, Pride did all this while on probation, and at the worst possible time, when the NCIS therapist that he had been dodging came to town to corner him.

Danny got rescued, Emily testified and Donner ended up in jail, all good things.

Still, the upshot of all this was that Pride finally figured out, to paraphrase, "I'm too old for this shit."

What transpired was a combination of luck and experience and precious little planning. The NCIS playbook as employed by Pride, Gibbs, etc., is more like sandlot football, a play drawn in the dirt with "you go here, you go there, you go long," hoping that something breaks.

So Pride has decided that he can't keep doing things as he has, or someone he cares about is going to suffer. Still, with the words "Rules are broken" in the trailer at episode's end, I'm guessing it's going to be baby steps.

This decision will thrill the powers that be in Washington. Sure, the ends justify the means to a large degree, but Pride driving a car into an outdoor cafe is just bad optics.

So it's looking like Dr. Christo, the NCIS therapist is going to be a regular fixture for a time, as trying to rebuild Pride is going to be difficult work. That will mean continuing alternating episodes for Percy and Patton, but I guess that's the price to be paid for this storyline.

Let's hope she's not as humorless as she seemed. Maybe she could go to Pride's bar and let her hair down.

Pride's rehabilitation/resurrection is going to be one year-long storyline. With Loretta on the interim mayor's campaign staff, how about something politics-based going into an election year? New Orleans must be a sanctuary city.

SPOILER ALERT: On NCIS: New Orleans Season 4 Episode 9, Pride protects more children, this time homeless kids suspected of murdering a petty officer.

To catch up on Pride's travails, watch NCIS: New Orleans online.

Do you enjoy Loretta and Danny in the spotlight? Is a little therapy going to hurt Pride? If he's sidelined as a punishment, can the team work effectively with LaSalle in charge?

Comment below. 

Dale McGarrigle is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on X.