Did ‘NCIS: Hawai’i’ Just Kill Off 3 Agents Ahead of Series Finale? (RECAP)
Spoiler Alert
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for NCIS: Hawai’i Season 3 Episode 9 “Spill the Tea.”]
Compound X is no joke, as an entire team learns by the end of the first part of the NCIS: Hawai’i series finale.
Sam’s (LL COOL J) read Jane (Vanessa Lachey) in about the Elite team when he had her interrogate the Chemist. Ernie (Jason Antoon) found out about it when Sam had him look at an encrypted laptop and he found that when Elite accessed it, their system had been compromised. And now, Lucy (Yasmine Al-Bustami) may or may not have dislocated one of the Elite agents’ shoulders when he tells her to get in a van; inside already are Jesse (Noah Mills) and Kai (Alex Tarrant). They’re taken, blindfolded, to Elite’s secret holding facility, where they’re told the Chemist was found murdered that morning.
Swift (Henry Ian Cusick) has been the one interrogating him, but fortunately, he’s fine, though they do confirm it was the tea they’d been drinking that killed the Chemist; he was severely immunocompromised due to the chemicals he’d handled over the years, so a health food supplement added to his tea over time was poison to him. (Whoever killed him knew he had a weak immune system and therefore knew him well.) One person connected to the secure facility is MIA; when Kai and Lucy head to his place, they find his “college friend” “Barry” there … and he throws a knife at them and jumps out the window. He’s with the Bratva, but why would the Russian mob try to break him out of prison only to then kill him? Did they not want anyone else to use him? Whatever the case, it’s bad news because he’s the only one who can help them stop this mysterious Compound X, which is nearly incurable.
After IDing Barry and tracing his movements on the island, the agents discover he and four others from the Russian mob arrived 10 days ago. Both Jane and Sam’s teams hit where they’re staying and take out the five men—and find a hostage. Dr. Annalisa Cruz, who has a PhD in organic chemistry, was the Chemist’s assistant, and though she claims she didn’t know what he was doing at first, the very stressed and sleep-deprived Swift keeps pushing her, to the point that Jane has to intervene and pull him out of the room. But Cruz was the one to tell the Russians about the Chemist’s immune system.
Ernie gets into the laptop the Russians had and finds the full catalog of Elite’s interrogations of the Chemist—they knew he was talking—as well as research notes about Compound X. Cruz confirms that X tricks the immune system into attacking itself; it’s odorless, tasteless, airborne, and a small amount released in enclosed space can kill thousands in minutes. Rewatching Swift’s interrogations of the Chemist as well as tracing his movements do get the team a location: Belgrade.
Sam and the Elite team, as well as Jane, Jesse, Chase (Seana Kofoed), and Cruz head to Belgrade; Cruz can help contain the compound. There are multiple possible locations for the fourth lab where the compound is, however, but it turns out to be a not totally bad thing that Jane’s contact confirms to Federov, the Godfather of the Bratva, that she and the others are there. Jane walks into the restaurant where the Godfather is and, through their conversation, learns he wasn’t responsible for the Chemist’s murder (it’s not good business to kill a profit maker); did have the Chemist make X but wanted nothing to do with it after (he’s a businessman, and you can’t do business with the dead); and the location of the fourth lab (in exchange for Jane owing him a personal favor).
Sam leads the Elite team and Cruz into the lab, and Cruz secures the canisters in a case (Chase is on the plane waiting to secure them for travel)…. but that’s when things take a turn. The Bratva’s Godfather reveals that Cruz was already in Hawai’i and had been for weeks, whereas they thought she’d been kidnapped and brought there. And then Cruz, after Sam leaves her and the others to check the exit out, drops a canister and puts on her gas mask. The rest of the Elite team isn’t so lucky, and Sam, having been warned by Jane and locked outside the room, can only watch as the three die…
What did you think of the first part of the NCIS: Hawai’i series finale? Did you suspect Cruz? Let us know in the comments section, below.
NCIS: Hawai’i, Mondays, 10/9c, CBS
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Comments are closed on this story.
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A
DON'T CANCEL NCIS HAWAII!
24 1
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C
DO NOT CANCEL NCIS HAWAII
22 1
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G
I am very sad they are canceling NCIS Hawaii
15 1
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G
The only thing Compound X needs to kill is NCIS Sydney.
12
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G
Please don't cancel NCIS Hawaii.
12 1
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G
Yes, I had a gut feeling that Cruz would double cross them.
I am NOT HAPPY this show is being canceled. Probably because they want to slot Origins in before NCIS. I can’t get into Sydney at all.
11
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G
Don't cancel the show. Love it and the cast
9 1
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R
I didn't watch the whole episode, so I don't know how it ended. I thought the whole super-secret "Elite team" thing was stupid. Elite, really?? Lucy took down one of those "elite" guys without a problem. I feel like the concept of the Elite Team--which we haven't heard of in all the years of NCIS-- is a last-ditch effort to make this show interesting. (BTW, anyone remember NCIS Red? Same thing.) And Rosemary and Thyme? Who was the driver, Parsley or Sage? (If you don't get the reference, look it up.) Anyway, the episode was boring, I don't care about the chemist or whoever the guy was, I found the storyline unrealistic, and ended up switching over to a rerun of FBI on cable.
Sorry, Hawaii, but I won't mourn your show for long. I'd rather have Todd back next fall.
9 3
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R
Totally agree!!!!
1 1
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R
I think the writers should be canceled (fired), what dumb, and I mean DUMB ending of a show that was coming together finally. CBS probably forgot that NCIS was slow in building their brand, but I guess after 21 seasons CBS forgot that!!!
Get rid of the writers not the show!
NCIS Elite my ass, Lucy is ELITE!
3
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C
I think putting Sam (LL Cool J) on the show at the beginning of the season to make sure Jane was ok made sense. But to make it a full season arc and introduce a brand new team and perhaps kill them off made no sense. I would have made the season ending thing to have Jane and her team helping Sam, Callen and their friends to save Hetty. But that's why I am not a showrunner.
7 4
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O
The writers killed the show with stupid plots.
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O
We are so disappointed that they cancelled NCIS Hawaii and yet are keeping NCIS Sydney. Love the characters that have been developed on Hawaii- stable Jesse, tenacious Jane, quirky Ernie, strong, silent Kye....the list goes on.
We were also huge fans of the 2 previously cancelled NCIS' spinoff (New Orleans and L.A.) but cannot find much to like about NCIS Sydney. Character development seems non-existent so far and those characters aren't very likeable. CBS seems determined to drive off the NCIS faithful. Is their quest to save money at the viewers expense or just to increase their profits while turning to mediocre programming?
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G
Wish it was staying and not being canceled bringing in agent Hanna wasn't the right move he walks around like everyone should bow to him they should have stuck to the original cast
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R
Sad to see one of the best shows, being cancelled..
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O
I'drather keep Hawaii and let Sydney go. Love Jane and the team. Had great hopes of Sam joining in a permanent spot. And how many episodes can origin actually have? At some point it's going to hit the original show. We need our ohana! I still miss Hawaii 50!
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K
Stupid plot, outside the realm of reality. They should not have cancelled NCIS Hawaii. The characters were becoming more and more accepted and cherished. On the other hand, they should give up on Sydney. Those characters are just not relatable and it doesn't have that NCIS feeling.
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J
Yes, she had a sneaky look about her. Let me just say I am so disappointed at CBS canceling this shoe. Why not NCIS Sydney?
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B
Rather than continuing to complain about NCIS Hawaii's cancellation--What does CBS need to bring the show back?
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G
I HATE that NCIS Hawaii' has been cancelled ! This is a great show in my humble opinion.
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C
Yes I knew she was shady
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C
They should not cancel NCIS Hawaii. This is a really good show. They should cancel NCIS Sydney that show is awful.
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C
Don't cancel ncis hawaii!!!!!!
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R
If was very confusing and so many new characters that I had to keep rewinding to remember who was who!
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O
Just happened to begin watching this NCIS version when Sam Hanna joined. Knew he was going to stick around.
This episode was like an old B movie or camp out of the 80s. It was obvious Cruz was a major bad guy from her 1st moment on screen. And Compound X? Every time it is said expect to hear its own music theme.
Hope the next episode brings us back to 2020s.
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T
What, an, utter, waste, of, a, Season. You literally had the perfect opportunity to explain what happened to Hetty, and you waste it on a team that gets killed off?!
I haven't witnessed this kind of idiocy and disrespect since NCIS LA's last 2 Seasons!!!
No wonder this stupid show is ending. Good, Riddence!!!
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O
I hope Sam is dead. Didn’t like LL Cool J coming in and taking scenes away from the original cast.
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R
I agree ll cool j took away from the original cast. I read the show wanted budget cuts but they brought in ll cool j another actor to pay didn't make sense
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