NCIS New Orleans Round Table: Who Won War of the Greens?

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Happy Thanksgiving!

On NCIS: New Orleans Season 1 Episode 9, a stolen gun lead the team to solve a 40-year-old cold case involving the murder of a Navy recruiter in a story of bigotry and jealousy.

Meanwhile, LaSalle, Brody, and Sebastian got into a competition about whose greens are the best, which will be decided at their traditional Thanksgiving feast, and Laurel introduced her new boyfriend to her father after warning him not to get too friendly.

Join TV Fanatic Round Table panelists Doug Wolfe, Amanda Wolf and Kathleen Wiedel below as they share their insights on all that went down this week...

Family plays a large role on NCIS: New Orleans. This week, we learned that Agent Pride's father is in prison - any thoughts?

Doug: I must admit I was surprised. I’d like to know more - and no doubt we will. I wonder if his father’s lawlessness acted as a trigger for Pride to get into law enforcement in the first place?

Amanda: It is both a surprising and exciting bit of information that leaves a lot of room for potential story. I agree with Doug on wondering if the actions of Pride's father were why he got into law enforcement, and with that warning from Hamilton I think we can expect to hear about some of that history.

Kathleen: There's clearly some history there, and I agree with Amanda that we're probably going to learn more in the future. I'm curious as to how the Hamilton-Pride feud got started and whether what Pride's father did to land himself in jail the beginning or a continuation of that feud. Could this be some sort of "Hatfields and McCoys" thing going on? That might be really interesting, actually.

What do you think of Laurel's complaint about Agent Pride "bromancing" her boyfriends?

Doug: That was a bold and different way to write a father-daughter relationship. I actually don’t think Pride’s friendliness had anything to do with Laurel shutting out so many of her boyfriends. I think it was her fear of relationships - or more accurately, her fear that her relationship might end up like that of her parents.

Amanda: I thought it was a a refreshing way to go with a father-daughter relationship in a cop show. I was confused as to why exactly the fact that her father was so cool with all her boyfriends was such a big problem, the alternative could be so much worse. I have to agree with Doug again here that it seems like Laurel was shutting out her boyfriend all on her own by sending him home.

Kathleen: Laurel's insecurities are pretty obvious, aren't they? It was refreshing to see a father-daughter relationship with the dad getting along with the boyfriends. I can understand Laurel's frustration with the situation, but at the same time she really has to move past that insecurity and take control of her feelings lest she intentionally sabotage a perfectly fine relationship, as she did with Orion.

Besides family, food is another recurring motif on this show. The team's Thanksgiving dinner featured the War of the Greens. Though the episode ended before the victor could be announced, who do you think won?

Doug: To be honest, I didn’t pay much attention. And really, without actually tasting them, I don’t imagine it would be easy to determine a winner anyway. I just liked the look of that feast. Had I been there I’d have made a beeline for the turkey. As for greens, I lean toward Ron Swanson’s (Community) take on it, when he said that he doesn’t eat food his food eats.

Amanda: After his previous failures, I like to think that Sebastian won this round.

Kathleen: All hail the king, I'm going with LaSalle as the reigning victor here, with an honorable mention to Sebastian for greatest comeback.

If you could invite one of the NCIS: New Orleans team to your Thanksgiving dinner, who would it be and why?

Doug: It would be a toss-up between Pride and LaSalle. Both would be a lot of fun, but I think Pride might have more great stories to tell.

Amanda: I would absolutely invite Pride over for Thanksgiving. He can cook and is also apparently really cool to hang out with.

Kathleen: Oof! I'm with Doug: it's a tough choice between Pride and LaSalle! LaSalle has his 'Bama charm working for him, and he'd be great fun at the table, but Pride is an epic cook and storyteller - plus, he's capable of getting along with anyone (aside from the Hamiltons, apparently). I'll go with Pride for the dinner, and LaSalle for the after-party.

Was there anything in this episode that just didn't work for you? Why?

Doug: I have trouble accepting that Councilman Hamilton gave Pride his dad’s hairbrush so he could test for his DNA. Hamilton hates Pride - I think he’s made that clear more than once. No way would he provide the DNA without a subpoena.

Amanda: I agree with Doug that I don't think Councilman Hamilton would have handed over that hairbrush. Sure, he admitted that his father is a no-good racist, but I just don't believe he would potentially hand over his father to someone he despises.

Kathleen: It was rather odd, wasn't it? I kept waiting for the team to discover that Hamilton had handed over a fake DNA sample (i.e., DNA from some random person who was not his father). Not that I suspected for one moment that Hamilton, Sr., was the killer (that would be far too easy), but the councilman just seems to love being obstructive for the sake of simply messing with Pride. Simply handing over the brush doesn't jive with this prior established behavior.

So, what do you think, NOLA fanatics? Did "Chasing Ghosts" make a fine Thanksgiving entry for NCIS: New Orleans? Were you left craving more about Agent Pride's father and his history with the Hamiltons?

Who would you invite to Thanksgiving dinner? Let us know in the comments below!

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NCIS: New Orleans Season 1 Episode 9 Quotes

Pride: "Lynching," "hate crime": different term, same sentiment.

What do you want me to do? Give him that Clint Eastwood stare your grandfather gave me when I started dating your mother?

Pride