'NCIS' Hawai'i' Episode 11 Review: A poker game, some action and a separation

A surveillance mission goes awry and how Tennant and team fix the situation forms the rest of the show
Yasmine Al-Bustami as Lucy Tara in 'NCIS Hawai'i' (CBS)
Yasmine Al-Bustami as Lucy Tara in 'NCIS Hawai'i' (CBS)

Spoilers for 'NCIS Hawai'i' Episode 11 'The Game'

Writers tend to spend an awful lot of time stressing over titles but that doesn't seem to be the case when it comes to the latest episode of 'NCIS Hawai'i.' There is a game involved in this episode but one of the key characters also feels played by the end.

The team's tasked with looking into a cocaine operation which in turn makes them cross paths with undercover agent Ray Carr. A surveillance mission with Carr (Oscar Bustamante) goes awry and he ends up getting gunned down by an unknown assailant and how Agent in Charge Tennant and team solve the murder forms the rest of the show.

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Carr's shady connections are revealed during the investigation and all fingers point towards drug kingpin Trey Santos. To gather more evidence that Santos (played by Nick Gracer) put out the hit, Lucy goes undercover to clone his communications device. She also flexes her poker skills in her first undercover mission, a high-stakes game filled with moments of tension and a cringe-worthy dad joke.

The episode moves at a rapid pace and after a few twists and some action blocks the real brain behind the hit is revealed and the person also meets their end rather swiftly. 

'The Game,' unfortunately is a letdown for 'Kacy' stans, as Lucy swings by Kate's place and meets Cara, who introduces herself as "Whistler's girlfriend from DC." This makes Lucy storm out from there and any attempt made by Kate to reach out to her goes in vain. The episode ends with Kate trying to make amends by justifying Cara's appearance and her not telling Lucy about Cara only to be turned down by Lucy. 

'NCIS: Hawai'i' airs Mondays at 10 pm ET on CBS.

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