NCIS: New Orleans – Follow the Money - Review: “Which Team Are You Playin' For?”

NCIS: New Orleans – Follow the Money - Review: “Which Team Are You Playin' For?”
3.10 - “Follow the Money”
Directed by Stacey K. Black
Written by Christopher Silber
Reviewed by Kelly Anne Blount

This week’s episode starts off with a bachelorette party on a yacht (which apparently, I struggle to spell) named the Golden Girl. While the ladies party, the yacht is in the process of getting pulled over by the Coast Guard. According to the Coast Guard, they are sitting in dangerous water where a lot of smuggling activity goes on.

The bride-to-be apologizes and says that she’s sure the captain has an explanation. Guess what? The captain isn’t at the wheel. Instead he’s below deck standing over someone with their neck cut.

When the Coast Guard Officer named Swanson asks him to put his hands up, he complies, but only so someone else can ambush her from the back. She ends up shooting and killing the captain. The person who attacked her from behind appears to be very scared and puts his hands up.

Swanson looks familiar… Can anyone else place her?

Pride and Sebastian have shown up to the Golden Girl. Sebastian is sea sick, even though they are docked. Sebastian is off to agent training soon and Pride wanted him to have some first-hand experience, allegedly. Does anyone else have a feeling that Sebastian isn’t quite ready to become an agent yet? I have a feeling something is going to go down and he’s going to change his mind, at least for the time being. This will allow Gregorio to come in, save the day, and join the team full time. What do you think?

Anyways, the Coast Guard Officer Swanson (CGIS), informs Pride and Sebastian that the yacht was down on the South American coast for a bachelorette party. When LaSalle says something along the lines of, “Like a girls gone wild party,” Swanson puts him in his place. Interesting scene. What did you all think of it? She reminds me of City Mouse.

Loretta is already examining the bodies. The man who had his throat slit was the waiter. He was killed with a fancy razor blade, which is identified by Sebastian. Further proving he’s better suited to be a tech? Let’s find out!

The Captain has three bullets to the chest, which the Coast Guard Officer claims were on her.

Pride wants to know why they were called in. Guess why? The yacht is owned by Javier Garcia, the head of the cartel.

The team continues to comb the yacht and finds an area where they believe cash and/or drugs were held. They think one of the first mates escaped off the boat and took off with the money and/or drugs before the Coast Guard arrived on the scene. Whatever they took off the boat is most likely on its way to the shores of New Orleans.

Pride is surprised by Eliza West, the bachelorette. She drops a bomb on Pride, she is engaged to Javier Garcia! BOOM! West and Pride know each other from a past case. They remained close afterward. Turns out her family has a lot of money. Perhaps Garcia marrying her is a power grab in NOLA?

Gregorio is dropping her own bomb on Eisner, she wants to be transferred to NOLA full time. He can’t believe that she wants to leave, especially with the cartel case is still open.

Pride calls and shares some good news. The man they arrested on the boat gave up Ernesto Blanco, a cartel lieutenant. Although Blanco escaped before the Coast Guard arrived, the man tells the team Blanco’s intended location.

Gregorio is going to grab a team and work with Pride on the case. Is it just me or are they purposefully not showing her midsection? Is she hiding something in real life? You know how they always have Bones hiding her stomach with clothing or props, I swear they just did that, to Gregorio. She sure doesn’t look pregnant though!

Ooh, Pride doesn’t tell Eisner about Eliza West being on the yacht. He wants to keep her safe, which probably means she’ll be put in danger before the end of the episode.

Gregorio and LaSalle are watching Blanco. They catch him smuggling cash and a lot of it. A white cargo van pulls up and Gregorio thinks they have a chance of catching Garcia’s whole operation in progress. She doesn’t want the bust to go down, instead she wants to catch Garcia red-handed.

LaSalle asks if Gregorio wants to pitch it to Eisner first. She fires back, “Would Pride pitch it to Eisner first?” The obvious answer there is, “NO!”

Okay, I just saw Gregorio from the side and she does not look pregnant. Must have just been a weird shot before.

Gregorio and LaSalle are explaining why they haven’t busted Blanco with the cash. Eisner isn’t having it and he wants them to take Blanco down now. Pride tries to talk Eisner down, but he’s interrupted when Eisner sees Eliza. Uh oh!

Eisner demands to know why Pride didn’t tell him Eliza was on the yacht. Pride tells Eisner that Eliza isn’t involved. Eisner isn’t buying it, but Pride asks as a courtesy, to leave Eliza alone for right now. He hesitates, but agrees.

Pride thinks that Javier is using Eliza. He says, “The less she knows, the safer she is.”

LaSalle and Gregorio have stopped outside of a warehouse. They think that Blanco is going to switch vehicles. He has different plans; he is going inside the warehouse. Gregorio is freaking out, she knows if they lose the cash, they are majorly screwed.

Javier Garcia has come to pick up his fiancé. Pride and Eisner are grilling him before they let him see Eliza. He claims that he had nothing to do with the murder that took place on board.

Swanson has identified the other man in the cargo van as Emile Rojas, who is a Columbia national, connected to the cartel and loads of murders in South America.

Gregorio and LaSalle think Rojas is either there to because Blanco hired him to take out a target or to kill Blanco. Patton pulls up video, but it’s too late, Rojas killed Blanco and he gets away with the cash.

Meanwhile, back at HQ, Javier gets a text and must go. Surprise, surprise! Swanson drops the bad news on Eisner and Pride, Rojas killed Blanco and got away with the cash.

Eisner is P-I-S-S-E-D! He chews out Gregorio. Pride reminds Eisner that Rojas is the key. Eisner benches Gregorio for acting too much like an NCIS agent. Eek!

Pride waits for Gregorio to leave before telling Eisner that Gregorio is a good agent and that the team needs her. Pride does something strange… he refers to Eisner as the boss and says that they have to work together. I mean, Pride is all about working together, but something strange is going on here, don’t you think?

Uh oh… Swanson (I like her, what do you think?) and LaSalle have made a connection from the docks where they think Javier received a shipment to Eliza West’s ranch. Eisner immediately says that he’s pulling a warrant. Pride says she has nothing to hide.

Eisner and King go to Eliza’s ranch. The FBI is sweeping the ranch and looking for evidence. King and Eisner tell her that Javier is part of the cartel. She’s floored and can’t believe it. She says and I quote, “He is NOT a drug dealer!”

A few moments later, they find three million dollars hidden at the ranch. Eliza is in trouble with Eisner. He says that she’s a person of interest. Pride tries to convince Eisner to let him speak to Eliza, she trusts him and is less likely to ask for a lawyer if he’s involved.

Back at the morgue, Gregorio tells Loretta that she’s responsible for Blanco’s death. Loretta basically tells her to buck up buttercup. I think Gregorio feels a little bit better.

Gregorio is crossing her arms and they are being weird about her midsection again! I swear! Maybe I’m just going crazy. Does anyone else see what I see? She doesn’t look pregnant but the clothing (i.e., the way it fits and the dark colors), gestures, stance, etc. all make it look like they are trying to hide something. I’m so confused!

Any who, Sebastian has found something! He found traces of Chinese drywall on the weapon used to kill Blanco. Loads of it was brought in after the hurricane (FYI – Chinese drywall is the absolute worst! I knew a lot of families who dealt with it in the Hampton Roads area when we lived in Virginia. YUCK!). But guess what? It was all destroyed or ripped out except for one location. Gregorio knows the location because her ex-husband was the developer, she admits this to Loretta and Sebastian, further cementing her place in the team.

Gregorio calls LaSalle to tell him about the building and she brings Sebastian along for more “field work.” Something is going to go down with Sebastian, I just know it!

Pride is talking to Eliza. He shows her graphic pictures of the cartel victims. She doesn’t look convinced yet, but she asks Pride, “What do I have to do?”

Pride is talking to Eisner and Swanson about Garcia. He is trying to convince Eisner that Eliza doesn’t know about his criminal activities. Eisner is being a jerk!

Eliza did tell Pride about a special computer that Garcia uses for business. According to Swanson, (Who is sure in this episode a lot, any theories as to why?) that Garcia’s computer is highly protected and hacking in isn’t an option.

Eisner is still being a Grade A jerk wad. He wants to use Eliza to get intel on Garcia, which is super dangerous.

LaSalle, Gregorio, and Sebastian head to Rojas’ last known location. Per Gregorio, “It smells like someone recently lit a fire.” They find burned up money in a bathtub. Uh oh! Rojas is still in the building! He hands it to Gregorio and then some! Sebastian picks up a gun and points it at Rojas, who has a knife to Gregorio’s neck. She screams, “SHOOT HIM! SHOOT HIM!” Sebastian freezes (told you something would happen). Luckily, LaSalle bursts in from a different direction and shoots Rojas, saving Gregorio’s life.

Sebastian is shaken up and still has the gun in his hands. Gregorio tells him, “Lower the weapon, Baby.” Interesting choice of words, huh? BABY! Okay, I’ll stop!

Uh oh, Eisner isn’t happy. Blanco and Rojas are dead. He wants Eliza to copy Javier’s hard drive and she wants to help.

Pride stops by Garcia’s house with a bottle of whiskey. He fake apologizes for all of the trouble he’s caused Garcia recently. In reality, he’s there to help distract Javier while Eliza copies his hard drive.

Elixa sneaks into his office, she appears to be very nervous and is taking her sweet time. Hurry the heck up! Patton, who has Eisner standing over his shoulder, is helping her hack into Javier’s computer. DANG! HURRY UP, ELIZA!

Uh oh, Javier gets suspicious. Good thing Pride is packing heat. Eliza gets the info just in time and claims that she wanted to find the crystal whiskey glasses. She claims that she can’t stay and that she’s late for a meeting with her family trust. She leaves as Pride and Garcia sit down to enjoy a glass of whiskey.

Swanson is there to pick Eliza up and says that she could use a drink. I like Swanson. If they would have introduced her instead of Gregorio in the beginning as the new team member, I think things would have gone a lot smoother, what do you think?

Pride gets a text that Eliza is safe with Swanson. Javier asks if everything is okay. Pride says, “Never better.” They tap glasses and throw the whiskey back like they’re lifelong friends. If Javier only knew, right?

Back at HQ, LaSalle finds Sebastian in a bad state. He feels like it’s his fault that Gregorio almost died because he didn’t shoot Rojas when he had the chance. LaSalle gives him a pep talk and tells him the reason he didn’t shoot was because he wasn’t ready to do that yet. LaSalle tells him that’s what training is for, i.e., to practice scenarios like this and to figure out the best way to respond. Sebastian doesn’t look convinced. He tells LaSalle he’s going to stay and go through the evidence they found and see if he can figure anything out. Do you think he’ll still go to training or is he done in the field?

Gregorio is back at FBI HQ. Pride is surprised to see her there, seeing as she disobeyed Eisner’s orders again. Good thing he has the hard drive in hand, which apparently makes him a lot more forgiving.

Gregorio wants Pride to be there when they take down Garcia’s entire network, but he has more important things to do, like make sure Eliza is safe. Wouldn’t her actions put a ginormous red X on her head? Ah, Pride says that the FBI is going to take her to a safe house until Javier and his men are all put away for good. Um, I still wouldn’t feel safe. What about you? Something about the way she left has left an uneasy feeling in my stomach… I think she is going to get seriously hurt or killed.

Uh oh! BIG PROBLEM! Eisner said that while all the info on the cartel’s businesses, etc. is on the hard drive, none of it connects back to Javier Garcia. OH NO! He tied everything to Eliza and her family members. Talk about a perfect cover up! How did he do that when they aren’t married yet?

Eek! Even worse news! Rojas wasn’t the only hit man at the hide out! The other hit man, Marcos Velasco, has a target and that target is Eliza West!

Pride and Gregorio sprint out of the room while Eisner stands around with his hands in the air like a moron. No, no, no! Eliza answers the phone, but it’s too late, the hit man is already there. He kills the FBI agents and Eliza. Pride is completely shattered.

Eisner tells Gregorio that her career is over. He blames her for the entire operation failing. I hate him.

Pride is playing the piano and drinking. LaSalle checks on him. King tells Christopher that it was his fault. King says that he’s going to make Javier pay! He doesn’t know how, but he vows to bring Garcia to justice, for Eliza’s sake.

*******
My Thoughts:

WOW! What an intense episode! Honestly, this episode had it all, cartel action, betrayal, love, and death.

My heart is absolutely breaking for King right now. I hate Eisner on a whole new level and you know what? I really liked Gregorio in this episode. What a surprise!

I think things are about to get real dicey for King and his team. I’m hoping it all comes down on Eisner and that, I can’t believe I’m saying this, and that Gregorio joins the NCIS: New Orleans team. Shhh! Don’t tell anyone I just said that, but honestly, I think I mean it. 0_0 #WhatIsHappeningToMeRightNow?

What did you think of the episode? Leave me a comment below!

Also, have you missed an episode or two? Need to catch up or just want to refresh your NCIS - New Orleans memory? You can access all of my SpoilerTV reviews and interviews by clicking on the following link: https://spoilertv.pages.dev/search/label/KA