‘NCIS: New Orleans’ Season 7 Episode 3: What will happen to Hannah? Impending meeting with top boss bodes ill
Spoilers for ‘NCIS: New Orleans’ Season 7 Episode 2 'Something in the Air: Part 2’
With its second part, the first good story of ‘NCIS: New Orleans’ Season 7 comes to an end. And in many ways, it was told well. We got to see our main characters not just deal with the physical and emotional toll of a global pandemic, but also solve a case that had to do with murder and shoddy PPE.
In the first two episodes, we got to see the stories of Dwayne Pride (Scott Bakula) and others, and especially of Dr. Loretta Wade (CCH Pounder) told well. We got to see their arcs develop even further and we got to see some good old-fashioned ‘NCIS: New Orleans’ dynamics. The second episode saw Gregorio (Vanessa Ferlito) and Carter (Charles Michael Davis) solve the case from a humanitarian ship run by the NGO Eternal Hope. It also saw Pride reunite with longtime love interest Rita (Chelsea Fields), who finally moved back to New Orleans to be with her man.
What we did not see in this episode, however, is curious, and possibly what will play a big role in the story ahead. The season 6 finale of ‘NCIS: New Orleans’ saw Hannah Khoury (Necar Zadegan), while unofficially investigating Deputy Director Van Cleef (Richard Thomas), stumble across some disturbing truths -- the man had a sexist track record. Despite Van Cleef lying in the face of the insurmountable evidence, Hannah had a victory and Van Cleef was let go of. The season ended with Van Cleef leaving Hannah with an ominous warning.
In season 7 episode 1, the new deputy director, a woman, called Hannah and told her that she wanted to "get together and talk about your future” soon. And that felt extremely ominous, even though Pride assured her that the new boss was a fan of Hannah's.
Fan or not, Hannah is in a weird position right now, unsure of what her future in the organization holds. No law enforcement official likes doing an internal investigation, especially not against someone senior. And despite the gravity of the crimes uncovered, the investigator is always seen with cautious eyes by their colleagues (and even bosses).
The new deputy director may not hold the same biases as Van Cleef, and may certainly not share the man’s grudge, but a meeting with the top boss is never something to shrug off. This is why absolutely no reference to that in episode 2 felt a little jarring.
But it might also be because what is about to come is big. The first two episodes set up the new season with a pandemic in the air. But the story, even with two episodes, did not have adequate time to elaborate on this particular story. That only leaves us with the idea that whatever may be revealed about Hannah’s future in the next episode requires a huge chunk of the storytime.
Hannah has been one of the most solid characters in the show -- almost as solid as Pride himself. Naturally, what comes next for her will set the tone for the story ahead.
'NCIS: New Orleans' airs on Sundays at 9 pm only on CBS.