New Shows and Me

So, apparently my new MO when it comes to television is to stumble upon shows either at the end of their run or after their run has concluded.  I got into Leverage 3 years after it’s last season, for example. The problem has compounded itself with Netflix where the last 3 series I started ALL had their conclusion planned for within 10 days of when I began them.  It was not intentional, and I’m certainly not cursing any shows because apparently all those conclusions were announced long before I started but…I guess I just have weird timing.

Anyway.

The TV show that I really didn’t intend to love and now really do is NCIS: Los Angeles.  Absolutely, positively NOT the original NCIS — I find one of the characters on it completely unwatchable.  But NCIS:LA works for me.

It has a Hetty.

Hetty Lange, played brilliantly by Linda Hunt, who is a PHENOMENAL actress, is a tried and true Cold Warrior, a spy who played the games of the Cold War, has stories and contacts all over the world, and basically became a legend and a terror to her enemies in the days of spy games.  Now she runs a team in LA and offers them tea, sage advice, and fierce backup.

The whole show is delightfully written, well-acted, and generally accurate in its portrayal of human intelligence tradecraft (the hacking stuff is ridiculous because of course it is).  But I pretty much watched 1 episode and fell completely in love with Operations Manager and all-around badass Hetty Lange.

Here’s 48 seconds to show you why:

I’ll probably geek out at you another day when I complete the fic story inspired by this series, but for now, I highly recommend this one.  As procedurals go, it’s better than most. As portrayals of national security and tradecraft go, it’s way better. (Also, let’s just note that this is a show where one of the main characters actively thwarting terrorism is himself a devout Muslim.  It doesn’t get all the identity politics and social justice right, but it is clearly making an effort.)

And they have a Hetty.

That’s pretty much enough for me.

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