It’s been previously revealed that LL COOL J was returning to the role of Sam Hanna that he created on NCIS: Los Angeles and was bringing it to NCIS. That episode, entitled “After the Storm,” aired tonight with a shocking reveal. Sam Hanna is no longer an NCIS agent, but rather a suit working on Capitol Hill.
The action began when a trio of combat vets was found murdered in a D.C. motel room, Torres (Wilmer Valderrama) and Knight (Katrina Law) tracked down a suspect who refused to talk to anyone but XT5256. They’re confused at first, not knowing what that meant. But then they realize XT5256 is a badge number, and it belongs to none other than Sam Hanna.
But what they didn’t know was that after Sam’s Elite Team was killed in Hawaii, he requested a leave of absence. He said he wanted a change of pace. And Sam picked a far more dangerous battlefield than war: Capitol Hill.
He joked, “Even a Man of Steel has to dress like Clark Kent once in a while.”
But when NCIS called, Sam answered, especially since he and Mark Davis, the alleged suspect, went way back. But when Sam got to NCIS headquarters, it turned out that the man there wasn’t Mark Davis, but his brother Roger. He told Sam that Mark was in danger and Sam was the only man he trusted to help him. Of course, as bad as things looked for Mark, Sam believed he was innocent, and it turned out to be true. Mark was trying to prevent Iron Horizon, a private military company, from their illegal activities, and they had kidnapped him and killed the other veterans that had worked with Mark to ensure that word didn’t get out.
But that’s not the interesting part of the episode for longtime fans of the franchise. What made it special and worth watching was all the personal information that was revealed about several other former characters.
For example, in addition to the fact that Sam is now working on Capitol Hill, we learned that he and Jimmy (Brian Dietzen) and his teenage daughter Victoria (Elle Graper) have a standing weekend karaoke date now that Sam has moved to Washington, D.C.
Jimmy tells Parker (Gary Cole) that Sam sings, and Sam demurs, “I sing a little bit.”
Then in a conversation with Knight in which she said Sam’s new job makes him a lone wolf, which sounds like a Callen (Chris O’Donnell) thing, Sam told her, “Funny enough, but G is not a lone wolf anymore. He and Anna [Bar Paly] are expecting a new pup.”
At the end of the episode, there are two more references. The first is when Sam brings in Malassada, a Portuguese fried pastry from the Azores, for the crew.
“I asked Tennant for the recipe, and they’re better than anything you get on the shelf,” Sam said, referring to Jane Tennant from NCIS: Hawaii.
Parker replied, “Hard to believe Jane Tennant is baking.”
Sam explained, “She’s got a kid in college and a 15-year-old daughter, so let’s just say, this keeps her out of trouble.”
And then in Sam’s final meeting with Director Vance (Rocky Carroll), Sam told him, “I’m quitting my job. Seeing your teamwork shoulder to shoulder, reminded me how much I miss it.”
Vance said, “There’s always a place for you back at NCIS.”
Sam said, “I know. I have some things to take care of first.”
And the director said in another NCIS: LA reference, “Hetty [Linda Hunt] has been spotted on the wrong side of the DMZ”
