Vengeance is a tricky business.

That was the message hammered home by both plotlines on NCIS: New Orleans Season 5 Episode 14.

The best part of the episode was the return of conspiratorial vlogger Oliver Crane.

Oliver began as a thorn in Pride's side on NCIS: New Orleans Season 4 Episode 22 but then became part of the off-the-books team helping to clear Pride's name on NCIS: New Orleans Season 4 Episode 23.

Oliver is an abrasive, stereotypical journalist but for one thing: he's rarely constricted by facts. Instead, he offers up a lot of theories, few of which are substantiated.

That's why it was funny when Oliver hid a flash drive inside a copy of a prestigious journalism award, which Pride realized immediately was out of place.

It was hard to tell if Oliver has fallen on hard times or if his loft had just been stripped by whoever broke in.

Related: NCIS: New Orleans Season 5 Episode 13 Review: X

This time, Oliver stuck his nose in the wrong place and got shot at, falling into the Mississippi.

Oliver had been looking into a series of murders seemingly committed by vigilantes. The woman he had been planning to meet, an assistant district attorney, was killed.

Even though the team initially treated Oliver as also killed, we all knew that wasn't the case. The river would have spit him out, at the very least.

So it was no surprise when the person trying to get into Oliver's Cloud account was Oliver himself. 

It was enjoyable to watch the various team members react to Oliver.

Related: Watch NCIS: New Orleans Online: Season 5 Episode 13

Pride accepts Oliver for what he is but still has a warm spot for him since he helped out Pride when he was in trouble.

Gregorio is still mostly down on Oliver because of what he initially put Pride through. Same with Loretta.

Sebastian and Oliver are kindred souls, who both enjoy conspiracy theories and other geeky things.

LaSalle seems genuinely indifferent to Oliver.

But the thing was that Oliver was genuinely onto to something. He just required professional investigators to flesh out his theories. Good thing he knew some.

The actual setup drew heavily from Hitchcock's classic film "Strangers on a Train."

A handful of vigilantes who were part of a support group for relatives of murder victims traded off killing those they thought were murderers, whom the police had failed to arrest.

It seemed like a cathartic but very illegal method to deal with feelings of loss. The problem was that faulty data skewed the murder index the group used.

It took Pride and LaSalle no time at all to find the right support group, then to track down the guilty members and put an end to these vigilante killings.

All that led to an amusing goodbye scene in which Oliver campaigned for a more regular role helping out NCIS and the squad essentially said: "Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out."

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Then there was that series of encounters between Hannah and her old partner Liam which led nowhere, at least not yet.

As best I could tell, Liam told Hannah that the man whose actions forced Hannah to send away her family was killed, along with his wife and son, by the CIA, which wasn't what they had been told.

Guilt has caused Liam to fall off the wagon, and naturally, he landed at the Tru Tone, mainly so Jimmy could appear in a couple of scenes.

Hannah was in disbelief at what she was hearing, but she was in the middle of an investigation and didn't have time to process what Liam was saying.

Hannah agreed to meet with a sober Liam, but he never showed up.

That makes me think we haven't seen the last of this storyline, although how you'd work it into New Orleans, I'm not sure.

Having some of Hannah's past catch up with her is a good idea, but this seems like the villains may be among the CIA staff.

The early scene with Hannah and Naomi hints that a divorce isn't a done deal, with Naomi campaigning for her mother and father to live together again.

Ryan didn't seem real thrilled with Hannah the last time we saw him, so maybe that would be a stretch.

Related: Get CBS All Access via Amazon Channels for Hit Shows, Exclusive Originals & Live TV!

Other than Pride wearing a suit, there's been little sign that he's even bothering to show up for his Special Agent in Charge job.

Surely the other teams in the Southeast could use his guidance as well.

I still don't think there's any plan for what Pride will do it that role. It was just a way to showcase Hannah as a leader earlier in the season.

To follow Pride's change of roles, watch NCIS: New Orleans online.

How should things work out for Hannah?

How did you like seeing Oliver again?

Will Liam's visit lead anywhere?

Comment below.

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