The Last Mile is the fifteenth episode of the fourth season of the police procedural series NCIS: New Orleans which was aired on February 27, 2018.
Summary[]
FBI Special Agent Raymond Isler asks Pride for help with an off-the-books opioids theft investigation he is personally invested in. Also, Percy is sent undercover as a getaway driver with Isler as the muscle for a job tied to the case.
Plot[]
The episode opens up with Raymond Isler sitting at a dinner with a young man named Cyrus. Isler appears to be undercover and the young man is really nervous. Isler tells him to, "Eat your biscuits and gravy, you'll feel better!" Good advice, Isler.
They are waiting for a man named Donny Bellanger to show up. Isler tells Cyrus that he's there solo and off the books. This makes Cyrus even more nervous.
Bellanger shows up and is immediately wary of Isler a.k.a. Ray Jones. Bellanger announces that he needs help from a wheel man for a job tomorrow. Being the newbie undercover operative that he is, Isler tells Bellanger about a "shock and awe" crew that robbed a place in West Virginia. Bellanger immediately points out that the only people who refer to the crew as "shock and awe" are the police. With that, Bellanger gets up, shoots Cyrus in the chest and runs away.
Bellanger takes off in a black Charger with Isler on his heels. The police join in the pursuit, putting on the pressure for Bellanger to make a drastic move. He drives his car off of a makeshift ramp in a construction zone. His Charger miraculously flies through the air and lands on the other side with some damage, but the car is still drivable, so he manages to get away. Isler on the other hand, stops before the ramp and is apprehended by the police.
Down at the NOPD police station, Pride walks into the jail and finds Isler sitting alone on a bench in a cell. Pride wants to know what's up. Why was Isler going off the books and acting as an undercover agent? Isler says that the reason he asked the police to call Pride and not the local FBI field office, is because he couldn't trust anyone besides Pride. Talk about a full circle moment here, people! He tells Pride that he's on a big case and he needs Pride's help, off the books. This makes Pride nervous, but Isler says, "This is important. I need your help."
They head back to Isler's apartment. It is bare. Pride gives him a hard time for not making his place feel more like home. Isler says that he'll, "but a plant," when the case is over.
Isler shows Pride why he's brought him to his apartment. He has a wall with a map filled with pins and string, photos, and more evidence. He says that a robbery crew is stealing opioids directly from trucks who pick up the medications from the manufactures. So far, they have stolen over 30 million dollars worth of drugs and every single robbery points back to New Orleans.
The FBI hasn't gotten involved yet, because the robberies don't appear to be connected. When Isler asked for help, they told him to back off and, "stay in my own lane."
Isler tells Pride a story about a close friend at work, who got hurt on the job. He was prescribed pain medication and became addicted. Isler says that the pills destroyed his friend's life and he lost his job because of it. Pride gives Isler a knowing look and agrees to help.
Isler tells Pride that Bellanger is hiring drivers for the next heist. Isler needs Pride to sanction the investigation. Isler has an overdose case of a young man at Belle Chasse, who most likely died from pills stolen during one of the heists. If Pride accepts the case, he will be able to investigate the opioid robberies.
Pride tells the team about their new case. Percy is skeptical and appears not to want to make any waves with the higher ups. LaSalle points out that Isler has helped them in the past, they need to return the favor. I agree, Christopher! Gregorio is all about the irony of Isler needing their help. Me too, Gregorio. Me too.
Ah, good! Pride already talked to the FBI field office in New Orleans and has their permission to work the case.
The team goes over what they need to do and what they already know. Turns out that Bellanger used to be a NASCAR driver a.k.a. he has a thing for fast cars.
Pride sends the team out to look for Bellanger while he heads to the lab with Isler.
Loretta proves that the chemical makeup from the pills the officer at Belle Chasse overdosed on were an exact match to the pills stolen in one of the heists. She says that he isn't the only one to die from this batch of pills. There are six other victims.
Sebastian is at the lab watching car chases for research. He and Isler have a moment where they fanboy over the Fast & Furious movies. Sebastian points out that the car Bellanger was driving was modified. He also tells Isler, Loretta, and Pride that Bellanger's car was damaged during the getaway. He will need a new oil pan and oil for his car before he can go anywhere else. Luckily, he uses super fancy oil and there are only a few shops in New Orleans that carry it.
LaSalle and Gregorio head over to one of the mechanic shops that carry the special oil. They find Bellanger, who makes a run for it. Thinking on his feet, LaSalle hits a switch and drops a car on Bellanger. With Bellanger's hand pinned underneath the front tire of a care, LaSalle looks at Gregorio and quips, "Pretty sure he ain't going anywhere, New York!" Points to the writers for that one!
Isler and Pride interrogate Bellanger at NCIS HQ. They want to know who Bellanger was working for and the names of everyone involved in the heists. Bellanger tells them that he doesn't want to talk to either of them. He wants to see a doctor for his broken arm, which was stabilized by the EMTs on the scene. Bellanger says, "I'm terrible with names and I don't respond to threats." Pride offers to make a call to the Head Orthopedic doctor, if Bellanger helps them out.
Bellanger caves. He tells them that he doesn't know a lot. He says that a friend from Angola, Hal Cranston reached out to him last week about a big job. They are supposed to meet up later in the afternoon to go over the plans. Bellanger tells them when and where the meeting is, in exchange for Pride's help getting him in to see the orthopedic specialist.
Gregorio informs the team about Hal Cranston's background. He's a "stick up guy" with a background in "smash and grab" robbery. They determine that he isn't smart enough to plan the heist, so he's obviously working for someone else.
Pride wants Percy and LaSalle to go in undercover, as driver (Percy) and muscle (LaSalle) to work with Hal. They can work with him and get him to give up his boss. Isler says that's a good plan, but one thing has to change. He wants to be the muscle.
Percy thinks the idea is ridiculously. She says, "You were made in a minute at the dinner. You reek of cop."
Trivia[]
- Sebastian Lund mentions during his research he was watching "The Fast and the Furious" movies and starts to talk about The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006) before he is cut off by Loretta. Lucas Black (who plays LaSalle) starred in Tokyo Drift, appeared in Furious 7 (2015), and will be back in F9 (2021).
- Goofs: When Sebastian kicks in the door of Driscoll's house, you can see the edge of the door and it is just a solid piece of wood, there are no cut-outs for the door latch or dead bolt. The door would be unable to be latched/locked to the door frame.
Quotes[]
- Raymond Isler: Eat your biscuits and gravy, it will calm your nerves.
Cast[]
Main[]
- Scott Bakula as Dwayne Pride
- Lucas Black as Christopher LaSalle
- Vanessa Ferlito as Tammy Gregorio
- Rob Kerkovich as Sebastian Lund
- Daryl "Chill" Mitchell as Patton Plame
- Shalita Grant as Sonja Percy
- CCH Pounder as Dr. Loretta Wade
Recurring[]
Guest[]
- Sue-Lynn Ansari as NOPD Officer
- Alex Livinalli as Hicks
- Bob McCracken as Former FBI Special Agent Roger Driscoll
- Shawn Parsons as Donny Bellanger
- Frankie Smith as Cyrus
- Jaime Lincoln Smith as Hal Cranston
- Mike Young as Event Attendee
Related Pages[]
| v - e - dNCIS: New Orleans Season 4 |
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