Review: 'NCIS: New Orleans' - 09/22/2015

Even when a television series has had a successful rookie season, building on that success in season two can be a challenge. Creatively, the first year resembles changing tires on a moving car. You're struggling to find the right tone for the show, tweak the cast chemistry and build a foundation for the stories that will drive the rest of the show's run. You don't have much time for gentle adjustments and changes. Every decision is huge, because in the end the overriding goal is to do well enough to justify a second season.

But as season two approaches, you have time to think about the longer term success of the show. Does this character work in the overall chemistry of the ensemble? Are the stories too ambitious or do they need to be opened up? Do we need some new settings for scenes? Are there some ways we can make everything just a little better?

It's clear from the season two premiere of NCIS: NEW ORLEANS that showrunner Jeffrey Lieber spent a lot of time thinking about where the show was headed in season two. Helming an NCIS spin-off comes with some built-in advantages and NCIS: LOS ANGELES is proof that even a creatively flawed spin-off can thrive in the ratings. But in its rookie year, NCIS: NEW ORLEANS beat the bell curve by being a show that started solid but improved nearly every week. The show beefed up its ensemble with additions such as Darryl "Chill" Mitchell's techy character Patton Plame. There were a lot of experiments with tone and the show wasn't afraid to discard storylines that weren't working. Season one was very good, but watching every week you got the sense that there were improvements to be made.

On the plus side, Scott Bakula is the perfect lead for an NCIS series. Like Mark Harmon, Bakula has a steady persona that provides a rock solid base for everything else in the show. It took a couple of episodes for me to completely buy into his slight Bayou vibe, but by midseason I couldn't imagine anyone else in the role. Likewise, CCH Pounder is an acting goddess. She's great in every show she's part of and if I have a complaint about her role as Dr. Loretta Wade it's that she sometimes isn't given much to do.

Lucas Black and Rob Kerkovich fell into the "improving throughout the season" category, but in both cases they've clicked into where they need to be in the show. In the case of Black's Special Agent Christopher LaSalle, he just had a lot going on in season one and all of the undercurrents of angst over his brother and everything else going on in his life seemed to be a distraction. The storylines with his brother had emotional resonance and were worth doing. But as much as I thought they filled in LaSalle's personal backstory, they were also ultimately a dead end. In the case of Kerkovich's character Forensic Scientist Sebastian Lund, the big problem was that Lund was a great character without the right person to push against. His endless conspiracy theories and offbeat genius made his scenes with Wade a bit awkward. But adding Daryl Mitchell as a foil made him a more interesting character while it added a great new member of the ensemble.

The biggest question about the show moving in season two was Zoe McLellan's Special Agent Meredith Brody. McLellan is a good actress and I'm not sure that anyone could have done a better job fleshing out the character. But Brody never quite seemed to click in season one, even though the show did focus several episodes on her in an effort to make it work. For a lot of complicated reasons Brody has continued to be more of a collection of traits and backstory than a fully-functioning three-dimensional character. 

And as the first season progressed, it seemed at least from the outside that efforts were being made to readjust her character and compensate for the difficulties inherent when you have a main member of your ensemble that isn't working week-to-week. Several different female guest stars made appearances in the second half of season one and each one seemed to be an audition for the show. (Speaking of which, when is Diane Neal going to get her chance to lead a show?). Ultimately, Shalita Grant was added to the show in a regular role for season two and while it doesn't appear that she's there to ultimately replace Brody, she does seem to be there to address some of the uncertainity in Brody's ability to carry her scenes. In a lot of ways Zoe McLellan reminds me a lot of Sasha Alexander, who was part of the first couple of seasons of NCIS. She's a fine actress and some day she'll find that role that will allow her to shine. But Brody doesn't seem to be it, even if she does start season two with longer hair and a slightly softened look.

So what should you expect to see in the season two premiere? "Sic Semper Tyranis" sends Scott Bakula's Dwayne Pride undercover with a violent right-wing domestic terrorist group in an effort to retreive a stolen military weapon. The domestic terrorist group storyline is a bit overused in procedurals, but Lieber's script does a good job of planting some nice twists into what could otherwise be standard primetime shoot-them-up episode. What's most interesting about the episode is how it sets up the direction of the show for season two. Shalita Grant is an integral part of the episode and her chemistry with Lucas Black offers a lot of promise for upcoming episodes. The end of the episode also introduces a new location for the cast, as Pride decides where he's going to invest the money he gets from the sale of the house owned by he and his now ex-wife. And hey, there's an appearance by Dr. John, which is always a treat.

I enjoyed NCIS: NEW ORLEANS a lot in season one and ultimately the season two premiere delivers a solid hour of television. I look forward to seeing where this show is headed and even though I'm not quite sure what the show will look like at this time next year, I'm confident fans will be happy with the results.

The season two premiere of NCIS: NEW ORLEANS premieres on Tuesday, September 22nd, 2015.