Review: NCIS New Orleans ‘The River Styx, Part I’

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Warning: Post contains minor spoilers

The search for Apollyon and Avery Walker finally comes to an epic crescendo in “NCIS: New Orleans” season 5 episode 23 “The River Styx, Part I.” Raymond Isler (Derek Webster) leads his special task force into South Ossetia where intel suggests Walker is holed up. With NCIS Special Agent in Charge (SAC) Dwayne Pride (Scott Bakula) monitoring the mission from afar, Isler and company commence the raid. But as they enter the compound, it becomes clear that the task force is headed for an ambush. Sure enough, they’re taken by surprise, and camera feeds switched off.
“Intel led the task force to a compound over the border in South Ossetia. Walker was supposed to be there. It was an ambush,” Pride explains to Special Agent Hannah Khoury (Necar Zadegan). At first, Pride remains reluctant to read in his team. It’s clear there’s a double agent. But the astute Special Agent Chris LaSalle (Lucas Black) questions Khoury. Pride then loops in LaSalle, Agent Sebastian Lund (Rob Kerkovich), and Special Agent Tammy Gregorio’s (Vanessa Ferlito).

It’s a true team effort with Patton “Triple P” Plame (Daryl “Chill” Mitchell) and coroner Loretta Wade (CCH Pounder) proving instrumental in uncovering information. At first, it seems Isler’s task force member Will Kirby confided in Delta Force veteran Thomas Dixon, who in turn made a deal with Apollyon. But Dixon may have been a patsy.

Observations:

“NCIS: New Orleans” S05E23 “The River Styx, Part 1” pits Pride against Walker, reunites Dwayne and Isler, and shoves LaSalle overseas in the field. It’s a blast watching Chris and Dwayne on a covert mission. LaSalle employs his experience in that region from his first NCIS assignment. Similarly, the reunion between Isler and Pride is, as to be expected, brilliant. “Dwayne, what are you doing here?” Isler wonders upon seeing Pride and LaSalle. “Had a bunch of vacation days saved up,” Dwayne quips.

“The River Styx, Part 1” is easily the season’s most tense episode to date. Miraculously, “NCIS: New Orleans” manages to incorporate its entire cast. Whereas many episodes this season struggled to fit the entire team in, and often featured highlighted characters, “The River Styx, Part 1” satisfactorily squeezes everyone in. Asset Luka Osman lends a delightful guest spot as a smooth-talking, morally grey character. Hopefully Osman returns for the follow up in “The River Styx, Part 2.” With a quick pace, it flies by pretty fast. As the title suggests, S05E23 leaves more questions than answers, though that’s no surprise at all. I’m quite excited to see how the Apollyon plot wraps up in what promises to be a fantastic season finale.