In criminal dramas, banters between characters do not receive the same recognition as dramatic speeches in detrimental moments or technical dialogues, yet if they fail to fill the gaps between important scenes and weave them together, the scenes will become dull, imposing the risk of bored, unengaged audience. Banters display relations and intentions, and they deserve further observation for the audience to gain a better understanding of character depth and even reveal previously obscure assumptions or notions in the dialogues. In this qualitative study, Nobella Indradjaja probes into banters in the globally renowned criminal drama series NCIS: Los Angeles in her attempt to uncover more than just a humorous, snarky exchange of remarks that the average watchers enjoy. Perceiving the dialogues as a discourse, she wields the Critical Discourse Analysis theory as a dissecting knife to help her cut open, identify, categorize, analyze, and finally learn the many purposes banters can serve, even relating the newfound phenomenon to issues in the society, which in this case, include female stereotyping. This book is expected to provide insight, or at the very least, incite discussions among the series' fans, language academics, researchers and enthusiasts on related fields, or just anyone eager to learn. By understanding the hidden potentials of banters in a script, we can all appreciate brilliant writing, learn about societal issues reflected in the forms of entertainment we consume, or simply be inspired through a contemplative process and become a better audience, observer, writer, and researcher.