'NCIS: Hawaii'i' Episode 1: What do we know about Jane Tennant and her team so far?
This article contains spoilers for 'NCIS: Hawai'i' Episode 1
'NCIS: Hawai'i' was off to an impressive start and comprised of all the elements that go into the making of a perfect police procedural. There was some high-octane action supplementing a crisp storyline, impressive characters who promise to get better by the episode, enough backstory to lend depth to their arcs, and of course, romance. The pilot may have ended on a happy note, but it surely packed enough to set up some interesting plotlines in the episodes to come.
Created by 'NCIS: New Orleans' producers Christopher Silber and Jan Nash, along with Matt Bosack, the latest spin-off joins 'NCIS: Los Angeles' and 'NCIS', both of which are in their 13th and 19th season respectively. The pilot sees Special Agent Jane Tennant (Vanessa Lachey) and her team exploring the crash of an experimental Naval aircraft on Oahu and attempt to catch the person behind it before classified state secrets are exposed. We attempted to see what we knew about the key characters so far:
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Special Agent Jane Tennant: Badass boss and doting mother
The episode opens with Special Agent Jane Tennant (Vanessa Lachey) coaching her daughter's soccer match before being whisked away Jack Ryan style to a scene of the crime. The years of experience on the force help her make astute judgments and she deduces the experiment plane's crash was actually a crime. On the other end, she is also a team leader who is firm and equally considerate. In the first episode, it is established that she is loyal to the team and the response from the team is pretty much the same.
Special Agent Jesse Boon: Mr Dependable
Noah Mills' Jesse is the cool cucumber of the team. He knows his stuff and comes across as a lean tough machine who is loyal to Tennant and also her right-hand man. There's not much light shed on his character in the season opener and that would mean the writers will probably give us a better idea of his personality over the course of the episodes.
Special Agent Lucy Tara: Resourceful
"You might be her second-favorite" Jesse tells Lucy Tara (Yasmine Al-Bustami) in one of the scenes. An example of her resourcefulness is when he pulls a fast one of CIA Rep and presumably former girlfriend, Kate (Tori Anderson) while investigating the case. The deal pilot's reports weren't ready to be shared, but Lucy gets a look at some major keywords that matter and hands in the info to Tennant. Plus, there's that kiss with Kate that shows her orientation in the show along with the fact that she's an efficient member of the team.
Special Agent Kai: Complicated, yet promising
From being arrested by the HPD to eventually contributing to dinner in the final minutes of the episode, Kai (Alex Tarrant) comes off as the guy who can be relied upon, much like Jesse. He's raw around the edges, but the show quickly establishes him as one of the central characters in the pilot. He's a team player and doesn't hesitate to put his life on the line when it comes to saving a member of his team. It appears he's got some daddy issues, but oh well, who doesn't?
Special Agent Ernie: The tech whiz
Antoon's Ernie is the cyber intelligence specialist as Variety described his character as "a polyglot with a keen mind for technology, history, literature and all things Hawaiian. He’s an essential component of the team, who can trace an anonymous IP address or profile a suspect using only their social media footprint. Ernie doesn’t have family on the island so he’s invited himself to join his Team’s families."
'NCIS: Hawai'i' airs Mondays at 10 pm ET on CBS.