#sallen

[liar-or-lawyer]

Does it ever drive you crazy

Just how fast the night changes?

[ncisla-source]

NCIS: LOS ANGELES (2009 - 2023) Season 14, Episode 21: New Beginnings, Part 2 (Series Finale)

[thjslove]

I love you, man. [...] I love you, too.

[glenncoco4]

A/N: Just a little something I’d like to see in the last few episodes. I was inspired.

••••

“Hey, Kens. Where’s Deeks?”

The brunette offers the team leader a smile before taking a seat at her abnormally clutter-free desk. “Oh, he had to go change. Had a little spill on the way in this morning.”

“Spill?”

“Yeah…there was some touching and-”

“Stop right there.” The former Navy SEAL interrupts, eyes staying trained on his newest origami creation.

A smirk curls at the corner of her lips as she pulls out her laptop, knowing her husband would be proud. “You know, I’m really gonna miss making you two uncomfortable.”

“Oh, I’m sure you and your hubby will find a way to do it even from two and a half thousand miles away.”

Kensi’s eyes go wide in surprise as she turns to her desk mate. “I’ll take this one.” Callen’s brow furrows as he turns his attention to his partner. “And you know the exact distance because?”

“Yeah, Sam Dawg, you gonna miss us or somethin’?”

A little startled that he didn’t notice the investigator approach his desk and sit down the muscular agent turns to his right, laughter immediately dying at his lips.

“What the hell are you doing?” Sam can feel the blood drain from his face as he’s met with a white face and a painted-on smile all accentuated by a big red nose. Slowly, oh so slowly, he stands, eyes not moving from his shaggy teammate who looks more like Annie now with his big red curls. “This isn’t funny, Deeks.”

“Come on, babe. He’s scared.” Kensi ‘tries’ to coarse her husband to stop, unable to keep the laughter out of her voice.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen the color drain from his face that fast.” The team leader has a look of intrigue and humor written across his face.

The former SEAL looks down and is yet again met with overly sized objects that are red…not the shoes. “If you stop, I’ll let you drive the Hellcat.”

“Eh, this is more fun.” Deeks shrugs as he begins walking towards his desk mate, arms stretched wide. “Now give Uncle Marty a hug.”

Kensi shakes her head, making her way over to the coffee station as her husband chases the man that’s like a brother to them around the bullpen.

“Get away from me, Shaggy, I mean it.” Sam tries to hide behind Kensi but she quickly sidesteps him, moving out of the way and allowing Deeks to go in for the kill.

A look of betrayal crosses his face…he should’ve known. “Oh, I see what this is. A little Densi prank.”

The investigator shares a look with his wife and then the team leader. “Did he just…”

Callen huffs out a laugh in disbelief. “Did you just ship name them?”

“If I admit that I did, will you get him the hell away from me?” Sam looks at his best friend with pleading eyes.

“I dunno, man, you really do look like you need a hug.” Callen gets up from his desk walking towards them but instead of stepping in he stretches out his empty mug towards Kensi.

Killbride takes a sip of his lukewarm coffee as he watches the scene play out from above. Shaking his head he can’t help the small smile that spreads to his lips.

“You’re gonna miss them.”

His brow pinches as he turns towards his door, as expected being met with his assistant who has a smile on her face. “I assure you, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“It’s okay, Admiral, your secret’s safe with me.” Shyla sends him a parting smile before walking back towards ops leaving him alone once again.

Rolling his eyes, the former Admiral turns his attention back to his team downstairs as Deeks’ sudden shrieking fills the entire mission. An uncontrollable huff of laughter escapes as he looks back down and sees Sam now with Deeks’ clown shoe in his hand, pointing it at Kensi whose barricaded between the two and their team leader reading the paper with a smile on his face as the chaos ensues. “Guess he’s over the clown thing now.”

[chrisodonline]

Kraina and I have been chatting, not surprisingly, about Sallen since last night. (Well, last night my time. Later her time.)

I told her that I feel like Callen's relationship with Sam is such a bigger (and truer) indicator of his growth than his romantic one.

The finale seems to be acknowledging how important their relationship is/was, and I was just reading Chris O'Donnell's interview with TV Insider, and he seems to realize how important the duo is, too:

What is your favorite moment from NCIS LA that is really representative of your character?

Chris O’Donnell: Hard to pick one moment, but I know it would be a scene with LL [Cool J]. Our relationship/chemistry was really what made this thing work. It was that way from the first episode, and I enjoyed every day we spent together. 

For all the important moments and journey(s) Callen has had over the years, even the man who brought him to life for 14 years feels that Sam would be involved somehow in the ones dearest to him.

At the end of the day, this relationship is what the show pivoted to after the conception (as reiterated by Gemmill in a recent interview) that sold stakeholders on it.

Oops, this turned into a novel, so here's a Read More:

I remember getting to read the script for the first part of the backdoor pilot before it aired thanks to a friend with some connections. Some things were changed from the script, including that Sam was originally doing the Renko undercover role. I'm guessing they knew they couldn't just hide LL Cool J's role with OSP so they changed it. But Shane Brennan also recalled how they were about to shoot the first scene with Chris and Todd, and they were talking in the van. No one knew if it would work or not, and so everyone on the other side of the camera held their breath and then "Action." And it worked instantly.

The show was about the things that shape your identity, and who you are, with the exploration of how the roles we play in different parts of our lives impact that. G Callen could not have had a more polar opposite partner in that area alone. G never felt like he could settle into being someone without knowing his past, and he always felt like something was missing. He was incomplete and broken. His undercover work only benefitted from that: a blank canvas not committed to anything really, who also probably tried out different traits when he was in character.

Enter Sam Hanna: a man who couldn't be more self-assured and aware of who he is. He's confident with great strength of character. Who you see when you meet Sam Hanna is exactly who Sam Hanna is. He's a mountain of morals, honor, and duty. In a way, yes, his service and career are a big part of who he is, especially since he was raised by a father who was also in service. But it's less that that life gave him those character traits and more that they fit so well into them. Sam never faltered on undercover work, but it was, for obvious reasons, not an obvious choice for him. It created a natural challenge, and at that point in his career, Sam needed one. He never likes to go without a challenge for too long because you should always keep growing.

They made for a great pair to complement each other at work. G had a tendency to go too far in and lone wolf into danger, and he was allowed to do it because he got results. But Sam Hanna's job was to be a partner and get the job done. And he was not about to let G go too far in. There was a balance of pulling each other that was so organic it couldn't help but creep into their personal lives, as well. G needed to learn to let someone in, and Sam Hanna was persistent with a huge heart. Sam had been surrounded with people with traits similar to him for so long, that it didn't hurt to mix it up and even created a challenge -- which we know Sam loves and is always up for. They challenged each other. They helped each other. And they cared for each other.

For a show that was no stranger to "testosterone undertone," toxic masculinity territory is always a danger. Most of the characters on this show definitely have bases in tropes, especially network procedural tropes. However, the people they cast have helped make them so much more. What follows is an opinion, but I stand by it. (Also, while I'm talking about Callen and Sam specifically here, this extends to other characters on this show, especially the male ones.) They ended up with Chris and Todd, two men who are extremely frank about feelings and emotions in real life, and who aren't afraid to hug and say they love each other in interviews. Often the Sallen banter just rang so true to conversations Chris and Todd had probably been overheard having on set, so it makes even more sense that their offscreen traits and relationship made their way into the show, as well. I seriously doubt we would've ended up with so many casual "I love you's," hugs, and HAND HOLDING between two grown men in this career if they had different actors.

I cannot overstate how important it is that this relationship not only existed, but existed for 14 years on a network channel, specifically the one with some of the most traditional overall values in their shows.

And there endeth the essay I didn't expect to write today.

[herveiwfromthefloor]

I love that Sam still calls Grisha G even after finding out his name, it just sounds right and it would be weird for both of them if he completely changed how he called him

[chicgeekgirl89]

“You did this. *turns head slightly*”

Oh my god. I am going to miss these doofuses SO. MUCH.

[68preto-branco]

[wally-b-feed]

Anthony Fineran, Sar Ro Sallen, 2024

[chrisodonline]

Just as it began. <3

Dagnabbit! I am going to miss them. I don't think it's fully set in yet.

i was so scared it was going to end with sam & callen being separated forever :( but it ended with them and going on a mission.

[liar-or-lawyer]

Health concerns have kept everyone's favorite operations manager off set for the last two seasons, but she's never far from this cast's heart.

[thjslove]

You and I have been through a lot together over the years. I would not be here today if it wasn't for you. No, you would not. Aren't you gonna say you wouldn't be here without me, either ? Well, I don't want to lie to you. Especially on your wedding day.

[glenncoco4]

So now that it’s apparent that Callen is with Sam hunting the ghost of Hetty in the jump I have a few different theories.

The jump is only a few months and Pregnant Kensi is the kinda team leader/manager along with Deeks. Rookies are out in the field with maybe some new transfers, whether that be people we already know or not. And then Sallen is obviously in Morocco I believe it was. Then Kensi goes into labor and then she has the baby.

⬆️ but then there’s another small jump after she gives birth where they’re all together again.

Densi is at home or their new job (cuz obviously they have to work together) with baby Densi. Sallen is in Morocco. Rookies…Fatima working with that one chick from that one episode and Rountree buying his first house in LA? Killbride moving in with his son.

[glenncoco4]

This is my biggest worry too. That Callen obsessed Gemmill will have made it mostly about Callen. I’m trying to stay positive but it’s hard when that’s who he always seems to put his focus on. And what gets me is that he says they’ve been planning for it to be their last season every season for a few now so why would you wait last minute to close these things up? They could’ve had him and Sabatino (cuz I imagine he’s probably a subject too) do this Pemebrook thing while Densi and the others worked on something else like I don’t know maybe start a freaking arc for the end? I’ve been let down before and this feels like it’s gonna happen all over again.

Only thing I guess we can do right now is continue to hope for the best and that they did their do-diligence for all the characters (specifically the other half of the fantastic four) and gave them a good amount of screen time.

Okay, so I knew we were going to have to have an episode to wrap up the Callen stuff. I think my biggest wonder/worry is now that we had this episode that was 95% Callen, does that mean the rest of the team will be more focused on in the last two episodes?

Like obviously when it was written they didn't know we were coming up on the end, but usually, the last 3-4ish eps of the season usually contain a Callen-centric ep, a Sam-centric ep, and a Kensi/Deeks/Densi-Centric episode.

Back in the early days in the 24-episode seasons, Densi got ep 21 or 22 most times (Plan B, Neighborhood Watch, Resurrection, etc), the something for Sam (Imposters, One More Chance), then Callen's big arc stuff to end the Season. Sometimes they did flip around the order though, with Sam having big season ender eps with Descent and Talion.

(I do realize the past few seasons, and this season in particular, have done more "split-focus" episodes, but this combined with the missing episodes, has just left the show feeling more uneven and disjointed than ever.)

Anyway, I digress. If this is the big Callen episode, are we still going to get nice episode moments/closure with the rest of the team in the last 2 hours? Because we know there still will be SOME extra focus on Callen given him having his wedding and all. Plus whatever ends are getting tied up re: Hetty. And we'll have to establish everyone's future going forward, so there's more time split between everyone.

Also I kind of hate that the case for this last episode is dealing with yet another outside agency and their BS. And guess what they're dealing with? ANOTHER "MISSING" person! I really hope they stick to the finale episode formula they've used the past two seasons and make the actual case like 20 minutes long, and make the other 40 minutes team stuff. Well, in this case, times by 2 eps, but anyway.

Part of me wonders if a lot of the end stuff with Pembrook was actually supposed to be delivered directly by Hetty instead of the "thru the messenger" version we got. I feel like that would have made a lot more sense. Makes sense given what has happened over the past few seasons.

I just really would like to have a finale I will enjoy as a collective whole. Not just like selective scenes here and there to rewatch.

As always, I got rambly and probably forgot half of what I was going to say. I'll add more if I think of it.

[chrisodonline]

Now I only want to hear the Damascus story.

"What's up, Sam? Other guy."

I literally laughed so damn hard.

"I'm a devil for punishment." Nina on getting married even though she doesn't think anyone should.

I love how she's like, "I know about your wedding. I don't mind screwing with you if it means I get to look at Sam Hanna: my favorite mountain of a man."

Red velvet and Ladyfingers. You two are DIRTY. I love it. Sam better take Cake Boss Lady as his date!

Callen: I don't get to flirt anymore, and you have the audacity to do it in front of me.

Sam: Stop being jealous, cupcake.

That was altered dialogue except for SAM CALLING CALLEN CUPCAKE. MY GOD. THEY ARE SOMEHOW OUT-SALLENING ALL PREVIOUS SALLEN.

[alienstage]

this is still one of my fave pics of sally i've ever drawn. he's soooo cutesies here