NCIS: New Orleans - Identity Crisis - Review: "Plucky Dog"

NCIS: New Orleans - Identity Crisis - Review: "Plucky Dog"
4.12 - "Identity Crisis"
Directed by Gordon Lonsdale
Written by Taylor Streitz
Reviewed by Kelly Anne Blount

The episode opens up at a party. Everyone is dressed up in costumes and playing videos games. They are so wrapped up in what's going on that they do not see a man in a cape bleeding out from a wound in his abdomen.

Back at HQ, Gregorio and Percy want LaSalle to play a game with him. They ask him when he lost his virginity, was it in high school or college? LaSalle is saved by a text from King, who is hanging out with his daughter in Baton Rouge. Unfortunately, before the team can duck out early, Sebastian announces that they have a case. The murder took place at "Game Con" and Sebastian declares that these are, "his people."

The victim is Nate Carr, was in the Navy. He was attacked upstairs in his hotel room, but somehow escaped and made it downstairs.

Turns out that Sebastian has heard buzz from someone on a message board called, "Plucky Dog," about unsettling behavior at Game Con, but he thought it was just run of the mill paranoia. He directs everyone to complete specific tasks while he sneaks away to look at a Batman poster. Oh, Sebastian!

LaSalle shares pictures from Carr's room. His laptop wasn't taken and there is a lot of blood. The killer was most likely in the room either looking for something or planning to kill Carr as soon as he walked through the door.

Pride comes back. The team is glad to see him.

Percy has footage of Carr leaving his room and a suspicious looking wizard, who Sebastian thought was staring at him over at the crime scene, entering it afterward. What's up with that?

Plucky Dog is reaching out to Sebastian. He says that he's scared for his life and that he needs Sebastian's help.

Sebastian shouts out orders as Pride visits Patton. Turns out that "The Jackal" a.k.a. a world class hacker has wiped Carr's computer clean. "The Jackal" is wanted by the FBI. There's no way to get the info back from the laptop, but Patton says he may be able to trace where the virus came from, which could lead them to the hacker.

Sebastian and Gregorio head out to meet Plucky Dog. Gregorio thinks that there are too many people leading anonymous lives online and basing their lives on social media, not real-life interactions. Ha ha! Sebastian asks her, "What do you really think, though?"

They head into the abandoned warehouse that Plucky Dog has designated as their safe meet up spot. Gregorio and Sebastian get separated as the elevator suddenly receives a boost of power and brings him up to a new floor.

He enters the open space with his gun drawn. A woman comes out with her hands drawn and tells Sebastian that she is Plucky Dog. Sebastian recognizes her and calls out her name, Adrian Cohen. She says that she is terrified and that's why she contacted Sebastian.

Before they can talk any more, the FBI officers burst in through the windows with their guns drawn. Looks like Plucky Dog is in more trouble than meets the eye.

One of the FBI officers tells Sebastian that they think Adrian is "The Jackal." Gregorio tells the FBI officer that Adrian is her suspect and should be in NCIS custody. She warns Sebastian that he better be right about his high school friend, Adrian. If not, they are in a lot of trouble.

Well, that didn't take long. Back at HQ, Isler tells them that they are in a lot of trouble. He wants their suspect back. Pride, Gregorio, and Isler talk it out while Sebastian brings Adrian out into the courtyard. Pride suggests a join investigation.

Adrian tells Sebastian that she didn't do anything wrong. Pride and Isler lead her into an interrogation room. Gregorio thinks that there's a "vibe" between Sebastian and Adrian.

Isler says that there's a hacking program on her computer. Adrian says she barely even uses her computer. She says that she and Nate were working on a gaming app, but Nate was convinced that someone was trying to steal it.

Adrian says that she reached out for Sebastian for help. She said that she was worried he would think she was paranoid if she told him her real identity.

Uh oh! Looks like someone deposited three million dollars in an offshore account in Adrian's name from her IP address. This does not look good.

Patton traced the location that the virus was sent from. It leads them back to Adrian. Patton says that this whole situation doesn't make sense. Why would "The Jackal" break through Patton's firewall and digital security fortress only to make it incredibly easy to trace where the virus came from? That just doesn't make sense. It points to Adrian being set up.

Pride convinces Isler to give them the rest of the night to prove that Adrian is being set up and that she isn't the murderer.

Carr, who worked at Belle Chasse, hadn't raised any red flags at work. Percy and LaSalle are following up with Loretta at the morgue to see if she can give them anything to help prove who murdered Carr.

Loretta found skin cells under the victim's fingernails. They belong to ex-con, Martin Farrel and not to Adrian.

In the morning, they don't have evidence to clear Adrian, so the FBI swoops in. Sebastian thinks that "The Jackal" is connected to Farrel. They need to continue to work the case together. Isler agrees. Pride is proud of Sebastian.

Uh oh… Sebastian and Adrian are riding together in the back of an FBI driven SUV. I have a bad feeling about this ride… Aw, Adrian and Sebastian catch up in the back of the SUV. She asks him why he never asked her out. He tells her that she was out of his league. Darn! Unfortunately, I was right! Two armed men shoot at the FBI officers driving the vehicle. Sebastian and Adrian duck out and run. Sebastian turns around and shoots at the SUV, which promptly blows up and takes out the bad guys.

Back at HQ, they want to find out what happened. They want to know why "The Jackal" is attacking Adrian. First, he set her up, now he's trying to kill her. Isler and Pride want to know how the hacker was able to find Adrian. After all, everything is supposed to be incredibly secure.

Patton enters the room and tells everyone to unplug their computers, dump their phones, and their digital watches. "The Jackal" has infected everything and has listened and watched every single move they've made. Does anyone else have anxiety watching everyone throw their phones in the garbage can? I do! Eek!

Pride gives instructs to use a pay phone to alert Sebastian and Gregorio. He tells LaSalle to tell him that the case is over and that they are going to go celebrate. Interesting!

Pride tells them that they are going old school and that they are going to solve the case without technology.

Sebastian smashes his cell phone. Again, my heart. Adrian is really scared, but Sebastian does his best to comfort her. They are seriously flirting, which could be great, or it could be a huge mistake. Adrian calls Sebastian a "bad ass" and he is all about it!

Over at Pride's bar, he has some old school technology for the team to use. Gregorio is doubtful. Patton thinks the cue is finding Farrel first, while finding out what "The Jackal" wants. Patton thinks it must be a lot of money, which is directly related to Adrian.

Patton and Pride figure out where Farrel was just before the shootout, a highspeed internet café. He sends Gregorio to tell Percy and LaSalle that they need to stake out the café.

Meanwhile, Sebastian has brought Adrian to a computer lab. He thinks that they keep using different computers, "The Jackal" won't be able to find them. I'm not so sure about that… What do you think?

Adrian and Sebastian continue to flirt. She tells him that she would have gone out with him in high school, if he would have asked. He mutters, "Stupid," under her breath.

Adrians finds out that "The Jackal" stole Adrian's game, not Nate Carr's data and files. Adrian tells Sebastian that her game featured artificial intelligence. Basically, it can learn how players play the game and take over, if the players want it to.

Sebastian thinks "The Jackal" can use Adrian's game to take over bank defense systems and do other bad things. Not good! He and Adrian flirt some more. They are adorable, I hope she isn't involved with the bad guys.

Percy and LaSalle spot Farrel coming out of the café. It looks like they've been spotted by "The Jackal." He pulls his laptop out and literally kills LaSalle's vehicle. A jackal pops up on the computer screen in their SUV as they are stuck in traffic.

Patton is impressed with "The Jackal's" skills. Pride tells Patton about Adrian's artificial intelligence app and his mind is blown.

Isler tells the team that "The Jackal" has hacked into the Atlanta airport. He is demanding twenty million dollars. If he doesn't get his money, he is going to start crashing planes into one another. What a terrible person!

Patton has a thought. "The Jackal" would need some serious bandwith to pull of the hacking job. They think he is near a cell tower with fiber optic cables. There aren't many in town, so the team heads out to search each site. He also adds that Adrian should kill her app, which could stop "The Jackal."

Sebastian tells Adrian the plan. She needs to destroy her game. Adrian thinks that she can create a backdoor to her game. She starts working away on the computer, as Sebastian worries that "The Jackal" will be able to find them and have them killed.

Patton finds "The Jackal." Turns out he isn't by a cell tower with fiber optic cable. He's at a nearby airport. He is using that air traffic control there to hack the Atlanta airport.

Pride and Isler take off. Sebastian calls Pride's bar and says that he needs back up. Patton tells him that he's the only one there.

False alarm, Pride and Isler find computer's with "The Jackal's" signature, but he isn't there.

Uh oh! "The Jackal" is at the high school with Farrel and two additional gun-toting bad guys. As Sebastian tells Adrian to pick up the pace, but bad guys shoot through the windows of the computer lab.

Sebastian gives Adrian his gun, which seems like a weird call. He flips over a desk for cover and attacks two of the bad guys with a fire extinguisher. Farrel is still out there and shooting at them! Be careful, Sebastian and Adrian!

Phew! Percy and LaSalle save the day and shoot Farrel. The bad news is, they still haven't caught "The Jackal." Luckily, Adrian believes that she can find him thorugh the backdoor in her app.

As "The Jackal" is driving down the road, he gets a phone call. A few seconds later, Sebastian kills his car and pops up on Facetime and tells him that he's busted. An FBI helicopter swoops in from above and "The Jackal" is officially caught.

The team celebrates at Pride's bar. They toast to Sebastian for slaying the case. They want to know where Adrian and why Sebastian hasn't made his move yet.

The episode ends as Sebastian shows up to Game Con to ask Adrian out. She says, "Yes, I'll go out with you!"

*******
My Thoughts:

I really enjoyed this episode! Sebastian's character has continued to show steady growth and the writers are really handling his lines well. He's hilarious and his scenes with Gregorio are some of my favorite.

It looks like Percy is back to her old self, although she wasn't featured very much during this episode.

I also really liked the Game Con aspect of the show. I went to Comic-Con for the first time last year and I had a blast!

What did you think of this episode? Leave me a comment below with your thoughts!

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