NCIS: Los Angeles: “Keepin’ It Real” – Review

Marine Lance Corporal Brandon Valdivia, living well above his pay grade, plummets from a rooftop party to his death shortly after receiving a phone call. Given Valdivia’s psychological profile, the LAPD writes his death off as a suicide, but his politically connected family gets NCIS to open an investigation.

“Keepin’ It Real” was the most complex episode of NCIS: Los Angeles yet. The team quickly determined that Valdivia’s suicide was actually murder, but the bigger surprise was Valdivia’s connection to a large-scale counterfeiting scheme. The usual technology helped the team track down Valdivia’s best friend, Alex Walder, after he tried to fake his death. Walder pointed the way to Rick Pargo, who supplied the press used to mass-produce the fake bills, but no one player knew the full extent of the scheme—a great subtle way to hold my interest.

To get answers, the team had to consult Secret Service Agent Natalie Giordano (Monet Mazur) who had an eye for Callen. Kensi and Callen also had to go undercover—Kensi as Walder’s girlfriend and Callen as a paper company executive—convincing Pargo to deal with them in Walder’s place. I may be getting used to the actors, but I think their undercover performances have improved, especially Callen’s Nervous Nellie.

Valdivia’s killer turned out to be his superior at Camp Pendleton, who was in charge of moving currency overseas every ninety days. JAG, NCIS, and now NCIS: Los Angeles build up the reputation of the military most of the time, so it’s harder to predict when a military character is a villain. I didn’t predict it here, which made for a thrilling final chase.

I knew Monet Mazur would be playing a possible love interest for Callen, but that didn’t spoil their chemistry. I think it’s smart to pair Callen with someone who brings out more of his personality, if not his backstory. This episode, we learned Callen was previously involved with a female cop, and losing her caused him to make a rule against dating “cops” such as Agent Giordano.

In closing, “Keepin’ It Real” had the right mix of technology, old-fashioned deductive reasoning, and undercover work. I look forward to more episodes like it.

About Gerald So

Gerald So covers THE BIG BANG THEORY, BONES, BURN NOTICE, NCIS, NCIS: LOS ANGELES, and PSYCH each week for BSCreview. His personal blog is If You Want to Know About My Life.