It was time to resurrect one of the many lost storylines of NCIS: Los Angeles.
The Body Stitchers returned on NCIS: Los Angeles Season 14 Episode 3.
Last seen on NCIS: Los Angeles Season 9 Episode 17, the group of serial killers made their name by sewing together body parts into a new complete corpse, an act that they considered art.
This gruesome bunch belonged on Criminal Minds, where they would have fit right in with all the other lunatics.
They didn’t belong on NCIS: Los Angeles, as this was far, far outside the OSP’s bailiwick.
But when a series has been around for almost a decade, the writers risk repeating themselves. So why not crib from another successful show?
It wasn’t what viewers wanted from NCIS: Los Angeles. They had other series that gave them unsubs dispensing grisly deaths when that was what they were looking for.
So now it’s five seasons and many episodes later. Criminal Minds is currently off the air. So why not dust off the Body Stitchers? Everything old is new again, right?
Not really. It still comes off as a B movie for which nobody would want to pay. You know, the kind that used to be called straight-to-video. Would it be called straight-to-streaming now?
It became apparent that the Body Stitchers were an open wound to the veteran OSP agents. That was why they seemed glad to hear from FBI Agent Rand again. It was another crack at that quartet they had let slip through the fingers.
Fatima and Rountree were properly appalled by the Body Stitchers. They must not have had time to check out the significant, unsolved cases of the OSP, although Rountree had heard about it as legend while at the FBI.
In retrospect, Kilbride should have gone with his gut. Like too many of its cases, his squad’s connection to the Body Stitchers was tangential at best.
But Kensi made an emotional appeal, and Kilbride caved, with the understanding that he would recall the team if something better came along. It honestly never did.
Even though Kilbride demanded that Rand be in charge, his agents did most of the legwork, not Rand, Collins, and their nameless colleagues.
It was evident that Jeffries was somehow involved with the Body Stitchers, no matter how much he downplayed his connections.
With his work as a day trader, his being their finance guy made sense, although that connection was never established. As was eventually proven, he was much more than just a sick fanboy.
After his mother’s corpse was located, he did a great job of acting the frightened innocent, even though he was simply playing his role for Vincent.
The tiny scrap of information that Jeffries gave up was enough to suck the combined task force into Vincent’s grand work of theater.
Didn’t it seem like the killers were discovered way too quickly, even if the agents had to search a whole cineplex? If Vincent didn’t want the Body Stitchers found, he could have planted them in the 15th theater, which would be among the last ones searched.
But instead, the plan was for the various feds to remove the weak links among the Body Stitchers. One got shot, one killed himself, and the third wouldn’t talk. They were zealots who were all disposable.
And everything played out just as Vincent had planned. He kept his favorite killer and added a new one, and back underground they went.
Was his plan for a short resurgence of his group, long enough to lose the dead weight? Or did he have to change things up on the fly when the FBI got close too quickly?
For the Body Stitchers to stay hidden for so long, they had to have someone protecting them on the inside of law enforcement.
And Collins/Vincent appeared to be the likely candidate from the get-go. He spent too much time examining the unsubs and ended up becoming one.
Sam pieced together what Collins was up to a little too late and let Rand know his theory. Now, will they do something with that information sooner than another five years?
This grim story of the week worked poorly with the other storyline, which featured Raymond becoming friends with Arkady.
This storyline certainly rang true, as the two men both want to enjoy their golden years. Arkady has proven that for years now.
Sam treated Arkady as a bad influence, which he certainly has the potential to be. But Raymond has been around enough to make up his own mind about Arkady without Sam talking down to him.
This storyline was less than it should have been for a couple of reasons.
First off was no Callen. Indeed, Sam and Callen could have had some entertaining riffs about Raymond and Arkady hanging out together. But that didn’t happen with Callen offscreen for some unspecified reason.
The second was no Arkady, who brightens up every episode in which he appears. Wouldn’t it have been great to eavesdrop on that poker game? Something happening offscreen offers no entertainment value.
To revisit Arkady’s greatest hits, watch NCIS: Los Angeles online.
Had you been waiting for the reappearance of the Body Stitchers?
How soon were you suspicious of Collins?
Do you want to see the Body Stitchers in a future episode?
