ScreenWorm Watches!- NCIS- "Crescent City"

ScreenWorm Watches!

NCIS

“Crescent City Parts 1 and 2”

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NCIS or Naval Criminal Investigative Service, is a television program based on the adventures of Leroy Jethro Gibbs and his team of federal agents who investigate crimes that relate to the United States Navy and/or the United States Marine Corps. Crescent City is an episode in the show’s eleventh city and served as the backdoor pilot to the second spin-off NCIS New Orleans. 

The Story: The body of a Congressman and former NIS/NCIS agent washes ashore in New Orleans with the leader of the NCIS: New Orleans team, Agent Dwayne Cassius Pride arriving in D.C. for help on the case with both teams working together alongside the FBI to determine if the murder was politically based or linked to McLane’s most well-known case, the arrest of the Privileged Killer, a serial murderer who targeted military and public servants.

The Good: Scott Bakula, who is known to the Worm for starring as Captain Jonathan Archer on Star Trek: Enterprise, is a great actor and can really pull off the range of emotions that such a role requires. He is more open than Gibbs or Hetty but pulls of enough emotional baggage to make the audience interested in him. 

The character of LaSalle and Brody are well done. We get a good glimpse into what they are like even if they have only been on screen for a short amount of time. Lasalle is a party animal from Alabama but there is more to him than meets the eye. Brody, while not a rookie, is by the books and not quite used to the atmosphere of New Orleans. 

The setting is great. New Orleans is a very vibrant and diverse city and to put a tv show in it is very great, especially when it seems that every other crime drama takes place in New York City. There is a great deal of atmosphere in the show that takes a city so steeped in history and brings it up. New Orleans is an old city, where the past still carries a lot of weight. The city becomes as much a characters as King or Brody. Compared to cities such as Los Angeles or Washington DC who are much more cosmopolitan. 

What is notable about both episodes is the music. New Orleans and great music go together like green eggs and ham and in almost every scene in the city, live music is being played in the background. This really gives the city life on the small screen and makes it fell more real even though all of it is staged. 

Crescent City also shows another glimpse into the past of Gibbs which are always compelling stories and Scott Bakula is a very compelling actor and the bond they share feels very authentic. 

The Flaws: One of the criticisms of the episode as well as the show in general is how things tend to be whitewashed. New Orleans is known as melting pot city that has gone through many fluxes since Hurricane Katrina. On top of that, Louisiana one of the country’s poorest states and the show has yet to really deal with crimes that result from poverty or unsolved racial tension. Then again…this may not really be the point of the show, it is meant to entertain us, but it would be nice to see the show tackle real social issues. 

Crime dramas tend to oversimplify the actual real-life ongoings of real criminal investigative services and Crescent City is no exception. Its hard to be believe that there are only two agents in one of the country’s most important port cities. Still, the reasoning behind this is in order to emphasize the brotherhood between King and Agent LaSalle, so it can be given a pass. 

Perhaps to some, the accents used by the characters could seem forced. The character of Dwayne Pride is said to be a New Orleans native, whereas Scott Bakula is from St. Louis, so this is pretty important to get right. 

Agent Brody is a good character but some parts of her can get annoying such as the crossword puzzles in head thing. This can happen a lot in pilots as the show and characters are still vaguely defined and little details can really be the only way to develop the characters enough. Thankfully, this detail about Brody was dropped in the tv show. 

Final Verdict: When the Worm first watched Crescent City…he hoped that it would be made into a full show and he got his wish. Crescent City is a unique spin on the NCIS Franchise and tv crime dramas in general. The characters are full of potential and the setting is as vibrant as they come. This episode oozed with atmosphere. 

Two things the Worm wants from NCIS: New Orleans: References to Star Trek and episodes that deal with Hurricane Katrina. Other than that…so far so good!

Five out of Five Stars 

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