NCIS: New Orleans Season 4 Episode 15 Review: The Last Mile
Dale McGarrigle
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Might this be the end of Isler?
We got to learn more about the FBI agent who will never leave on NCIS: New Orleans Season 4 Episode 15.
There's much more to him than his terrible taste in subordinates -- first Gregorio, then the Russian sleeper agent.
But the writers have accomplished the impossible. They've managed to humanize not only Gregorio but also Isler.
The best thing about this episode is that it had a "Freaky Friday" feel to it. Pride was the responsible one, while Isler was flying by the seat of his pants, and badly.
Hard to believe this was the know-it-all who came on the scene on NCIS: New Orleans Season 3, looking down at the locals and their undisciplined ways.
First Gregorio crossed over to the reckless side, to the point that she's often freelancing more than Pride. Then Isler has increasingly followed that path.
Related: NCIS: New Orleans Season 4 Episode 14 Review: A New Dawn
Maybe it's just New Orleans. With so many cultures all jammed together, maybe there is no one right way to do things.
So Isler returned for the fourth or fifth time this season (it's hard to remember), and this time he was on a personal mission -- to stop a seemingly unrelated series of opioid thefts.
Stop me if this sounds familiar: Isler is on a mission, because of how a friend ruined his life by becoming addicted to painkillers. Now Isler is making up his off-the-books investigation as he goes along, with a heavy dose of trial and error.
Just like Pride, right?
Hs first attempt to insert himself into the robbery gang failed miserably, following gunfire and a car chase that ended up in a construction zone. So naturally, he called Pride, his main contact in the city, from jail.
Before long, he's convinced Pride of his sincerity, and gift-wrapped the investigation for him, since Isler had neither the personnel or the local knowledge to run such a sting.
Fortunately, Bellanger's fancy car got smashed up in that chase, so that it was relatively simple to find him at a local body shop. And points to LaSalle for this season's most creative capture: dropping a car on the felon's arm. He won't be shooting with that arm anytime soon.
Bellanger wasn't the sharpest note in the arrangement. Before long, Pride and Isler had tricked him into spilling what little bit he knew about the operation. He even agreed to give introductions for Isler and Percy.
I loved the Mutt and Jeff pairing of Isler and Percy. All those old ATF identifies of hers certainly come in handy. Isler even managed to summon his inner badass to get them past Cranston's weak initiation. \
If nothing else, this episode proved that law enforcement is too reliant on electronics. Everyone was lost because of Cranston's signal jammer. "Oh, no! Our camera, earbuds and phones don't work! What do we do?" "We could go old school and just peek in the window."
I'm still not exactly sure how Pride and Sebastian found Percy and Isler in time to save the day. Details, details.
But hey, you've got to love the poetic justice of a semi taking out the mastermind of the truck robberies. Very subtle!
And what a great choice for the mastermind: the civil servant who felt he was unfairly passed over in favor of the pill-head who eventually brought him down.
Did anyone take more than a half-hour to figure out that Isler was the recovering addict? It's inspiring that he was able to overcome his addiction and take his rightful place in law-enforcement bureaucracy.
It was amusing that, in the middle of the tense scene when "Charlie" was unveiled, Driscoll and Isler recognized each other, although Isler was literally slower on the draw.
Related: NCIS: New Orleans' Shalita Grant Exits
Also, the easing-Percy-out-the-door campaign continued, with Isler pretty much offering her a job. That's kind of presumptuous since he hadn't really gotten his position back yet. But you can see the writing on the wall for both of them.
Isler returning to DC gives Pride a much-needed mole inside the bureaucracy. Isler dropped the idea that someone had it out for Pride earlier in the season, but it hadn't been picked up again until now.
Will this be it for Isler this season? No way. He'll come back to steal away Percy, and also to warn Pride of impending doom. The only question is whether that means one or two more episodes for him.
Did I miss when LaSalle put the pretty lady lawyer in charge of his family company? That must have happened offscreen already because that hasn't been mentioned for a while. Or maybe they will get around to addressing that again sometime.
To review all Isler's appearances, watch NCIS: New Orleans online.
Have you come around on either Isler or Gregorio? Are you going to miss Percy? Don't you wish there was some kind of worthwhile story arc at this point of the season? Comment below.
Dale McGarrigle is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on X.
