Category Archives: 5×02 – Impact

NCIS LA Episode “Impact” Ratings

©CBS

CBS WINS SECOND CONSECUTIVE TUESDAY IN VIEWERS

“NCIS” is the Most-Watched Show of the Night and Tops “Marvel: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” in Adults 18-49

“Person of Interest” Wins Time Period in Viewers

CBS won Tuesday in viewers for the second consecutive week and was second in key demographics, led by NCIS, the most watched show of the night, according to Nielsen preliminary live plus same day ratings for Oct. 1.

NCIS was first in viewers (19.33m) and second in both adults 25-54 (4.5/12) and adults 18-49 (3.4/11) – both placing ahead of ABC’s “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D”. NCIS was the night’s #1 program in viewers.

At 9:00 PM, NCIS: LOS ANGELES was second in viewers (14.79m), adults 25-54 (3.5/08) and adults 18-49 (2.7/07). NCIS: LOS ANGELES was the night’s #2 program in viewers, behind NCIS.

At 10:00 PM, PERSON OF INTEREST was first in viewers (12.16m) and second in adults 25-54 (3.0/08) and adults 18-49 (2.0/06).

For the night, CBS was first in viewers (15.43m) and second in adults 25-54 (3.7/09) and adults 18-49 (2.7/08).

NCIS Los Angeles “Impact” Memes

©CBS

“You put a surveillance camrea into a garden gnome?” ~Hetty Lange
“Yes, we call it the Hetty cam.” ~Eric Beale

©CBS

“It’s like America and France had slow, sweet love and then had a party baby.” ~Marty Deeks

Decidedly Deeks Developments – Impact (5×2)

Deeks_Developments_5.02
>> read the text version of the post here <<

Interview with Patti Yasutake by @Phillydi

Patti Yasutake and Jonathan Frakes go way back or should we say far into the future? This week the two former colleagues reunited when Patti guest starred on Impact, the latest episode of NCIS Los Angeles, which was also directed by Frakes. Yasutake and Frakes once worked together on the long running series, Star Trek the Next Generation where she played Nurse Alyssa Ogawa. This time Frakes was behind the camera and we had a chance to talk to Patti about her experience on the NCISLA set and working again with Frakes. Patti has had a long career in television and film which includes her work on The Closer, Bones, Grey’s Anatomy T.J. Hooker and Star Trek. Patti has recently come full circle upon returning to the stage after a long hiatus. Let’s find out more about her career and the time she spent on set. Welcome Patti Yasutake to the NCISLAfamilia!

You have been quite busy throughout your career working in both film and television. What pulled you towards the performing arts and how did you get started in the business?

I have always felt profoundly connected to the performing arts, because they can reveal, illuminate and most uniquely share our humanity like nothing else can. As both a woman and person of color, I felt limitations, so the need to express was all the greater. I was a bit of a ‘jack-of-all-trades’ and didn’t seem to have a passion for one particular thing. But I found the performing arts invited using everything you could possibly bring to the creative process, and so that process became the passion. I had graduated UCLA Theater Arts with honors, but didn’t see a professional future. I ended up working on the business side of entertainment for major managers and producers. I missed theater, so I returned to it at night with East West Players, the premiere Asian American theater and now longest running professional theater of color. I quit my day job and for 6 years worked with them, doing everything from acting in over a dozen shows to doing staff, crew and Board work. All the opportunities they provided to gain experience and network helped me obtain my professional footing. I earned my union cards through them, which led to working for top regional theaters, and in film and television.

You are best known for your role on Star Trek TNG as Nurse Ogawa. (Always a reassuring presence in sickbay!) What are some of your memories working on that series?

Feeling humbled by spandex! Not so much the padded bras, but definitely the spandex. When they realized I was coming back often enough to warrant a personal uniform – zipper in the back, not in front anymore – I got such a custom fit, I almost passed out the first day I worked in it. I also remember it became my own curiosity to see how many other places besides sick bay my character would appear. I never got transported, but maybe I would’ve ended up the one who didn’t come back, so perhaps just as well. I’ll always remember my first day working on that show – when I entered the soundstage, even though I first saw all the sets from behind, it was still wondrous and exciting to walk around to the front of them and realize I was on the Enterprise.

Can you tell us a little bit about your character on NCISLA? Which members of the cast do you work with on screen?

I play Chief Howard of the NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board), who’s in charge of the crash investigation. My main scene was with Callen, who’s conducting their investigation. Chris O’Donnell was so nice, and I appreciated how he looks to enhance each moment creatively.

What was your experience like on the NCISLA set? Can you share any fun stories about your time on set?

It was fun, and I enjoyed it. Everyone from cast to crew was warm and supportive. On such a pleasant set, it was easier to ignore things like how hot it was. It was amusing that some of the crew were surprised to see me cast in the role, because their expectation of “Chief Howard” was a tall, older Caucasian male. I love when casting sees and reflects how diverse people really are, especially when they inspire and challenge what is possible.

What was it like reuniting with Jonathan Frakes as director? What is his directing style like?

I LOVE working with Jonathan Frakes! Pretty full circle, since the first scene I shot for Star Trek TNG I was acting with him, and the last TNG scene I shot was directed by him. It had been years since I saw him, but at the audition he gave me a big wonderful bear hug! He epitomizes the everlasting TNG family feeling. I always enjoy seeing something he’s directed because in his storytelling he mines the personal connections between characters, especially with humor. And there always seems to be an energetic rhythm in his work, which seems to reflect his calm efficiency and focus coupled with his playful enthusiasm and creativity, which is wonderfully infectious.

What’s up next for Patti Yasutake? Tell us about your next project?

After many years, I returned to the stage. I’m in the last 2 weeks of an Asian American version of “Steel Magnolias” at East West Players in Downtown Los Angeles. I’m playing “M’Lynn”, whom Sally Field portrayed in the film. The play has a very different feeling than the film, because it all takes place in the beauty shop. The audience is like a fly on the wall to the sanctuary of the shop, where the women can be their most raucous and personal selves. In fact, our most vocal responses have been from the men enjoying being privy to that world. What most people don’t know is that there are a great many Asian Americans living in the South, so this version is grounded in the truths of that experience. It’s another full circle event for me, given that I started my career at East West Players. The company’s big goal back then was to have a professional union house, and now I’m playing it. It’s been a joy to be back in the theater exercising the full range of comedy to drama, which this play wonderfully provides. It brings me back to what I love about the performing arts – sharing our most heart-felt humanity

Many thanks go out to Patti for taking the time to drop by NCISLA Magazine and answering a few of our questions. You can find out more about Patti by going to her IMDB page.

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Impact (5X02) Review by Phillydi

@cbs

IMPACT (5X02)

WRITTEN BY: Sara Servi and R. Scott Gemmill
DIRECTED BY: Jonathan Frakes

Last week’s episode was an emotional roller coaster rider for most fans of the show. If I had to go by the comments from my last review of Ascension, I would say you were all pretty taken back by all the raw emotions (or lack thereof by certain team members) that were displayed on screen last week. But frankly, Deeks’ reaction to the violence he encountered hit a nerve with everyone on that team, even if they all had different ways of showing it. According to Shane Brennan, Impact takes place four months AS (After Sidorov) and Deeks is not handling the ordeal any better than when Kensi first found him in the Mission carrying that box around in a dazed stupor. It’s time to bring in the big guns, and Nate Getz returns to grace the Mission halls once again in order to help the team get back on its feet. But will it be enough?

But life goes on and the team has to concentrate on their new case…the death of a former maverick Navy Admiral and journalist who were killed in a plane crash. Sam feels ready to take on the new case but Hetty has sent in Nate for one finally screening of the durable Sam Hanna who is tired of shrinks and ready to serve. But Hetty knows the downside of not being fully vigilant when taking care of the body and convinces Sam to meet with Nate. Sam wants the whole thing to be over and done with and feels uncomfortable by how nice everyone has been to him….actually too nice. Nate tries to explain how trauma works but Sam is a practical man. To survive is to let go. Although he fears what any future damage can do to him….for now the hard part is over. Not so with Deeks.

Hetty has a little visit with the off the grid Deeks and tries her best to understand what horrors he is still reliving. (Will somebody please tell me what she was doing hiding behind those curtains?) In the end she has to lay her cards on the table. She needs Deeks back or the team will have to go on permanently without him. But Hetty is worried and realizes there is a violent storm going on in Deeks’ head. He’s going to need more than relaxation tapes and Hetty doesn’t want him back if he can’t return as the Deeks we all know and love. That could be a tall order.

Meanwhile, Kensi is partnered with Callen at the scene of the crash and laments that she can’t get through to Deeks, even leaving cronuts on his doorstep. Callen tries to reassure her but neither of them really knows the full toll the violence has taken on their respective partners.

At the crash site, the plane’s black box is missing. Nell discovers that there was also a journalist (Jason Carter) on board who had been writing about the war in Afghanistan and was also the ghost writer of the Admiral’s memoirs. Eric is right….someone doesn’t want this book published. Callen and Kensi finds Carter’s apartment has been burned and gutted and his stunned girlfriend has no answers as to why someone might want him dead. Eric discovers that all of Carter’s virtual information has been erased leaving the man a ghost of his former self. On top of that, the block box was stolen proving that the crash was sabotage.

A digital recorder is found in the plane debris with talks of cover ups and war crimes by people who would kill to keep those kinds of secrets. The culprits were able to sabotage the tower’s communications systems and the jet’s instrument systems. Even Eric is amazed by their tech savvy. Callen decides to bait the killers by using the media and Carter’s girlfriend as the source for further damaging information. No surprise the killers take the bait and the sting is a success. I loved Callen being able to read the mind of one of the assassins…he must have been right on by the look on the guy’s face! The raid caught the small fish which hopefully will lead them one day to the larger fish and ultimately those responsible for the crime.

Solving this crime was just the backdrop to the larger issue of trying to get the team back on it’s feet again as a working unit. After Sam, Nate knows he had his work cut out for him. The conversation been Deeks and Nate was real and very raw. Deeks knows he’s in big trouble and has no faith in Nate’s help because he can’t even help himself! Deeks has always been able to survive on brains and instinct his whole life but this is a different ballgame. The trauma is bringing up everything now, even events that go back to his childhood days. The Post Traumatic Stress is kicking in big time and Nate tries to explain how it works and how long it will last but his explanation is not very comforting to Deeks. Nate tries to draw Deeks into talking about his partnership with Kensi and what it means to him. It seems finding the answer to that question may be Deeks way out of the long dark tunnel he’s in. Is he too close to return to Kensi? Why? Is he ashamed as to what happened? Is this what this is all about? It was a heartbreaking conversation all around.

Food, horror movies and cronuts…the recipe that finally gets Deeks to sleep. I assume Nate later encouraged Kensi to visit with Deeks and Deeks took Nate’s conversation to heart as well and opens his front door to let her in. But why didn’t Kensi think to do this a whole lot sooner?? She might have saved the poor man months of sleepless nights! There were so many great lines between the two of them here…too many to record. The most important thing was Kensi was able to reestablish the trust that was lost between her and her partner, allowing Deeks to relax and drift off into sleep. This was probably the sweetest scene ever filmed between the two of them and it warms the heart. Such a huge contrast to the last few episodes. But don’t let this fool you. Deeks still has a long ways to go…and there’s a long season ahead of us too. So what happens next? I hope it’s a love story but at least for now we can all take a big breath in and exhale.

Show Highlights:

Eric trying to walk in big boy pants had me reliving an old Monty Python sketch. So much fun!
There was a lot of tough love going around in Hetty’s heart-to-heart with Deeks. More of a maternal talk than supervisor, wouldn’t you say?
Eric certainly does have a death wish after calling the cam hidden in the garden gnome a Hetty cam! Miss Lange was not amused!

Best Lines for the Show:

Deeks: Hetty! What are you doing?

Hetty: I thought I would brave the monsoon to come check on you?

Deeks: Storm sounds make it easier for you to fall asleap..so…

Hetty: Are you having trouble sleeping?

Deeks: Yeah, I’d say I have a little case of insomnia.

Hetty: Probably all that clenching and releasing. Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, you’ve been busy!

Hetty: Always eat your carrots, Mr Hanna!

Eric: This is some serious voodoo. I’m talking black bag, Kung Foo, ninja warrior assassin black bag.

Callen: Do you have any idea what he’s saying?

Kensi: I really don’t but I think it’s bad.

Callen: Either that or his motherboard is fried.

Sam: I want a job where it’s an accomplishment to leave my pants on.

Eric: I have sensitive thighs.

Callen: He has sensitive thighs.

Bromance Moments:

Glad to see the banter is back and in full force with Sam and Callen:

Callen: What did Nate have to say?

Sam: Same old shrink mombo jumbo

Callen: If you ever had sexual fantasies about your mom, do you ever wear her clothes when she’s not home, that sort of thing?

Sam: What? What the hell are you talking about? He asked you that kind of stuff before?

Callen: Yeah, but that’s normal shrink stuff?

Sam: Are you messing with me?

Callen: I’m not messing with you!

Sam: Don’t be messing with me on my first day back!

Densi Moments:

So what’s going on with Kensi? Is she really thinking of dating and did she already forget Deeks’ kiss or words of endearment from four months ago? Kensi is a complicated woman, and you can’t judge her by her outward actions. The real stuff is hidden deep under all that emotional armor. Besides the abandonment issues leftover from Jack and her father, Deeks has also told her he just wants to get away from everything and everybody. Kensi is probably thinking… oh boy, here we go again. So, she forgets the kiss ever happen and marches on like a good little soldier instead of getting hurt. What complicates Kensi’s actions even more is that she is also a federal cop who keeps the world safe by being invulnerable. Vulnerability equals death…so most law enforcement officials armor up, both mentally and physically in order to go out and perform their jobs affectively. When loves enters the picture, it’s sometimes hard to remove that cloak of invulnerability but in Kensi’s case she wraps it around closer, shuts down and isolates herself from all emotions. Kensi finds it easier to push back on Deeks’ declaration of love… his vulnerable side, than to go to that scary place. She will have to learn that to wake up every day and love someone is a very soul bearing thing to do and she is just not able to make that happen yet. In the last scene, Kensi takes a bold step forward in removing that cloak of invulnerability. If the two are ever to have any chance of love story together she has to continue to let Deeks see that other side of her that she keeps hidden deep inside. The question is… is it too late for any hope of a relationship due to her inability to express her love or is Deeks too damaged to accept it? And the speculation continues…….

Neric Moments:

How cute was Eric sneaking his head around the post to try and listen in on Nell and Kensi’s dating conversation? Is Nell trying to make Eric jealous or is she having a hard time convincing herself that there’s a future with her colleague in Ops?
When Eric continues the interrogation of Nell’s dating habits in Ops, the two come close to taking that first step towards a date, but Eric chickens out… afraid of what answer he may get. This is going to take some time folks!
Eric and Nell are starting to behave like an old married couple. Nell has no problem calling him on the whole pants ordeal:

Nell: Eric, they are pants. People have been wearing them for thousands of years.

Eric: Oh, no….not my people! The Beals of the clan McBeals…

Nell: Now you’re Scottish?

Eric: As heather and haggis!

Nell: So why don’t you wear a kilt?

Eric: I do, I did, I used to until this little incident with Hetty. It’s easy to forget how short she is…her eye line is lower than you think….

Nell: I got it!

@cbs

It was great to find Jonathan Frakes behind the camera again. Check out our interview with Impact guest star, Patti Yasutake who reunited with Frakes in this week’s episode. Patti played Nurse Agawa on Star Trek, The Next Generation and she has some warm memories regarding working with Jonathan on the STTNG set and now together on NCISLA.

Come back next week for my review on Omni (5X03). See you then!

I can be found on Twitter: @Phillydi

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