Review: NCIS New Orleans ‘Boom-Boom-Boom-Boom’

We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post.

Warning: Post contains spoilers

“NCIS: New Orleans” killed off a main character in Special Agent Chris LaSalle (Lucas Black). Now, his friends and co-workers grapple with his passing while investigating a deadly bombing in “NCIS: New Orleans” episode “Boom-Boom-Boom-Boom.” A man runs out of a movie theatre with blood on his face while a woman screams. The unidentified man sprints towards the concessions stand and bellows “Hey! Hey, look I need a refill!” It’s a clever subversion of viewer expectations. Rather than the typical murder which so often kicks off “NCIS NOLA” episodes, it’s a popular horror movie screening, and fans have dressed up. But just as the popcorn finishes, an explosion ricochets throughout the threatre.
The unnamed man killed in the resulting blast is identified as a Naval officer by Jefferson Parish medical examiner Loretta Wade (CCH Pounder). As such, Loretta calls in the NCIS NOLA outfit to investigate. Special Agent Tammy Gregorio (Vanessa Ferlito) reports that NOFD suspects a natural gas accident, Agent Sebastian Lund (Rob Kerkovich) observes the pipe doesn’t look corroded. Instead, Sebastian suspects foul play. It turns out the attack was brought on by a hack carried out on a New Orleans gas company. Investigative Computer Specialist Patton “Triple P” Plame (Daryl “Chill” Mitchell) informs Special Agent Dwayne “King” Pride (Scott Bakula) that NOLA Gas has been hacked and is offline. Confused, Pride wonders “I thought city services weren’t connected to the internet strictly to avoid that happening.” Patton confirms this is true, adding that the hack must have come from the inside.

Armed with this information, Pride, Gregorio, and Sebastian head to City Hall to meet with Mayor Taylor. Soon, a mysterious call comes in from an unknown caller self-identifying under the alias “Spartacus” and claiming responsibility for the explosion. Spartacus demands $5 million, or else more attacks will happen. This leaves the team scrambling to find out who Spartacus is and where his next attacks will be.

Observations:

“NCIS: New Orleans” season 6 episode 7 “Boom-Boom-Boom-Boom” is a solid whodunit. It’s a bit more formulaic than its predecessor in “Matthew 5:9,” but that’s a welcome change after the shocker in which LaSalle died. Its name is a reference to both the explosions as well as the opening theme song, a cover of John Lee Hooker’s Blues song “Boom Boom” by Big Head Todd and the Monsters. I enjoyed the return to normal, or as normal as “NCIS: New Orleans” ever gets. There are no surprises, merely an engaging thriller of a plot.

Special Agent Hannah Khoury (Necar Zadegan)  gets more screen time. Hannah was notably absent earlier during the investigation into Cade LaSalle’s death, and the aftermath of Chris LaSalle’s murder. Although this made sense, because Khoury didn’t really know Chris as well as the rest of the team, it’s nevertheless delightful having more Hannah.

Interestingly, the victim takes a backseat to the villain during “Boom-Boom-Boom-Boom.” There’s little talk of the dead sailor, with the onus falling mostly on finding Spartacus. Unsurprisingly, Pride and his team succeed in thwarting the killer before it’s too late. Admittedly, the final confrontation is a bit cheesy with a last-minute save, but it’s nonetheless exciting.

Meanwhile, Pride, Sebastian, Gregorio, and Loretta grapple with LaSalle’s death. Although Hannah isn’t unaffected, she’s simply didn’t know LaSalle as well and therefore lacks the emotional attachment of her colleagues. Notably, Loretta takes Chris’s death particularly hard. In a touching final scene, Pride checks on Wade, finding her in the church LaSalle attended, and where Loretta visited for a Sunday service with Chris.