Mardi Gras came a little early this year to beat the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics.

A lingering storyline even got wrapped up on NCIS: New Orleans Season 4 Episode 14.

The special mayoral election, which has been lingering in the background all season finally took place -- during Mardi Gras of all times. That's just in case the city wasn't chaotic enough.

Stop me if you've heard this before.

On one side were the entrenched powers that be, you had rich old white men wanting to hold onto power to continue Hamilton's legacy.

On the other side, you had Interim Mayor Zahra Taylor as the voice of inclusion.

Only this time, unlike in real life, inclusion won despite Zahra almost being blown up a couple of times.

Yeah, it was heavy-handed as hell (nudge, nudge, wink, wink). But sometimes you have to connect the dots before people in the flyover states can see the whole picture.

The case of the week featured a petty officer who cared for Muslim refugees. Erica Cross got pushed in front of a train because she knew too much.

Yes, terrorists remain pop culture's villain du jour. It could almost become a drinking game (jihad, drink, infidel, drink).

So when insufficient evidence pointed to a young man getting turned into a terrorist, the team jumped to that conclusion.

It ended up being a son just trying to protect his mother and a mother trying to do the same for her son.

Even if it didn't all make a whole lot of sense, Pride had to pursue the possibility of a mad bomber in the midst of the Mardi Gras crowd.

Still slowly, ever so slowly, it became evident that there was more going on than a popular stereotype.

Sharif hated extremists because they had killed his father. He tried to protect both Erica and his mother from harm. It wasn't exactly the behavior of a jihadist.

There were plenty of head-scratching secrets. My favorite was the fake Sharif in the boat full of explosives. Of course, this guy we'd never seen before was drugged and taped into place while the boat was being driven remotely. Most importantly, it made for a great news clip that the opposition could harrumph about.

Pride still had to uncover who had killed Erica and was running around New Orleans with bad intentions. Thank God Patton could track back a signal to exactly the right location so Pride, LaSalle, and Gregorio could bust in and round up the fake terrorists.

And what an efficient idea Pride had to call Loretta's phone so that Sharif could talk with his mother, defusing the crisis at the refugee center.

I'm still trying to figure out why Noora was wearing that suicide vest (and also how did she get ahold of it). It would make sense if she thought that Sharif's captors required it. But she seemed genuinely surprised that Sharif was still alive.

The ending was exactly what you'd expect. The gutsy black female mayor won, and the arrogant, fat white man got hauled off to jail on multiple charges. Again, it's the world of should be, not what is.

I'm glad to see that LaSalle seems to have worked out all the details of running his father's business remotely. After all, it never came up, and we didn't see his pretty lawyer/ old "friend." I'm sure it will be addressed again after the closing ceremony, not just dropped altogether.

After the announcement that Shalita Grant is leaving the series at the end of NCIS: New Orleans Season 4, Percy's schizophrenic behavior starts to make more sense.

Let's recap. She's pissed at Pride for being Pride. She's unhappy at Lasalle for saying "it's not you, it's me" and for introducing her as a co-worker at his latest love interest. Her old partner hinted that she can't stay in one place too long.

I just wonder who gets custody of the dog, she or Gregorio. I'd say, Gregorio, because she needs to continue to soften her edges.

I'm sure her exit is sparking the whole "Where's Percy?" "I'm not telling" dialogue between LaSalle and Gregorio. I'm just hoping they don't have her leaving because of a broken heart. That would be pretty weak for such a feisty character.

And please, no death scene. Let Percy come back on occasion. It can't hurt.

I don't blame Grant for exiting because her character has never gotten fully fleshed out. Her splitting time between here and PBS's Mercy Street didn't help. Still, Patton has gotten more developed in far less screen time.

SPOILER ALERT: So what's next after the Olympics? On Feb. 27, Isler is back in a ripped-from-the-headlines episode on the opioid crisis. That's certainly fertile ground to till.

To catch up during the break, watch NCIS: New Orleans online.

Any surprises for you in this episode? Are you glad Zahra won? How will Percy leave? Comment below.

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