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'NCIS': In Which Light Treason Is Committed
How convenient that on the final Tuesday of sweeps, we get a resolution to the mole storyline on NCIS. Will Gibbs ever trust again? Can Abby dial down the caffeine consumption? Will DiNozzo and Ziva hook up? Is Michelle Lee the mole? Probably not, but the ride to the end is most excellent!
These Spoilers have been under a lot of duress.
Under a moonlit night, a man makes a romp through the forest chasing what appears to be Michelle’s daughter. After what seems like forever, he finally catches her and walks off with her limp in his arms, leaving a random shoe on the ground.
At a café, DiNozzo and McGee are staking out in plain sight. While they wait for the sting to go down, DiNozzo learns the fine art of the fake drinking. Gibbs is doing surveillance from the car, less than enthusiastic of this line of conversation. Michelle walks in, buys her coffee and paper, then proceeds to sit down to fold the newspaper and slip in a flash drive. She leaves, followed closely behind by a man in a hat and scarf who picks up the paper and walks out. DiNozzo gives chase but Michelle “accidentally” knocks her coffee onto his shirt, so Gibbs has McGee pick up the chase. Of course, by the time he enters the nearby parking garage, the mystery man is nowhere to be found. Naturally, Gibbs is upset.
At NCIS, Michelle makes an effort to justify her sabotaging the stakeout to anyone who will listen. Lucky for the gang, she’s shuffled off to MTAC and McGee. Once inside, Vance takes his opportunity to voice his displeasure at the whole deal. In an effort to make people happy, McGee shows off infrared and keyhole satellites imagery of the earlier chase, ending with Michelle identifying Amanda. DiNozzo and Ziva head off to the woods. Michelle wants tag along, but there’s no way Gibbs will let her out of sight, leaving a surprised McGee with babysitting duties.
Vance and Gibbs share a moment in his office. He says the SECNAV wants the pickup man picked up at the next opportunity. Gibbs makes sure he knows that’s a bad idea, among other reasons because the trail might go cold if they do. Meanwhile, McGee and Michelle have made their way to the conference room, where she appeals to his emotions. For being so innocent, she’s rather manipulative.
Abby has nothing yet on the pickup man, saying she needs help from McGee more than anything else. Michelle takes the time to play up Abby’s emotions as well, thanking her for help on the satellites. With technology these days, they can narrow down the search based on water district and a hair sample, except she reveals the hair might not even belong to the daughter.
DiNozzo calls McGee, telling him they’ve lost the signal. He eventually finds them six miles from where they started with a random building but 200 yards away. Once there, DiNozzo and Ziva enter to find the place cleared out. If not for her mighty Mossad skills, Ziva might not have found the hidden mystery door. Behind the door is a makeshift bedroom, complete with a dead guy but no girl. Gibbs wants them to bail the scene so as not to tip off the bad guys. Ziva hypothesizes the girl caught wise to the routine and tried to make a run of it, ultimately getting caught and her watcher paying the price. The girl had been held captive so long; she even counted the days by making ketchup tallies. I counted at least 65 days, though there could have certainly been many more.
Ducky reveals to Gibbs that the people behind this are very patient, needing to feel safe before he shows his cards. With all the latest developments, the girl is now disposable.
The next day, Gibbs takes the position inside the coffee house with DiNozzo and McGee in the car. Michelle buys the coffee and paper, but changes up the plan by applying lipstick and leaving her mark on the lid. At the same time, Vance appears in Abby’s lab, apparently for the first time. She’s being über casual with her superior. Seems the dead guy has had his identity deleted. The big reveal is that test results on the hair found at the house shows the girl is in no way genetically related to Michelle.
As Gibbs receives this news, Michelle attempts to conceal her placement of a gun in the paper. The guy makes a move for her but Gibbs arrives to keep her from shooting the mystery man. He’s visibly upset, saying they’re screwing it up and threatening the safety of his wife.
DiNozzo looks on as Gibbs interrogates Michelle. She admits the girl is her adopted sister. The only reason the gang is dealing with this mess is because she thought they wouldn’t care if it wasn’t her daughter. The mystery guy is Ted Bankston, a former NSA analyst. Seems he stole information and has been out of his job for over a year. Just like Michelle, if he doesn’t cooperate with the captors, they’ll kill his wife. He shows Vance hair clippings, saying they’ve held her captive almost a year. Ted has spoken to “The Weather Man,” who wants access to Domino for pure monetary reasons.
Abby tells the gang the hair is indeed from the wife, but it’s missing a protein which reveals the wife has long since been dead.
Vance can’t believe Gibbs is saying the next step is to offer the bad guy the real Domino in exchange for the girl. The ever resourceful Gibbs already has the paperwork ready for Vance to sign, but of course Vance won’t sign it.
They text the guy, lying that Michelle has Domino. The mystery texter makes plans for the drop at a nearby tavern… Domino for the girl. After the gang assemble in the storage room, Gibbs hands Michelle a flash drive.
McGee tells Vance they’re at the drop zone. Vance gets a call from SECNAV, saying the real Domino was hacked… from McGee’s computer. Vance calls him and Gibbs traitors.
At the tavern, Ted and Michelle sit at a table with plainclothes agents all around and Gibbs playing pool. DiNozzo and Ziva are observing from outside. Ted gets a text while Gibbs gets a most angry call from Vance telling him to shut it down. The text tells Ted to place Domino in the menu, which he does once Michelle slides it to him. Abby calls, telling Gibbs that the dead guy is Paul Winton, a witness in an NSA/FBI joint investigation who lived at a safehouse four blocks from the tavern. During all this, Gibbs keeps an eye on the menu containing the flash drive. He has Ziva go to the safehouse with DiNozzo tagging along. They enter the house which contains mainframes. DiNozzo snaps a few pictures and sends them to McGee and Vance, who determines it’s a makeshift Internet hub. Ziva finds a door, behind which contains the girl on a mattress connected to a pressure sensitive platform that if disturbed could overload the computers and destroy all evidence. DiNozzo channels his inner Indiana Jones in an attempt to counter the pressure sensors. The computer system catches the gang in actions, setting off an alarm in the tavern. Gibbs moves to locking down the place and having everyone searched. DiNozzo and Ziva don’t have enough time to figure out the girl’s weight as she wakes up. They do save her before everything blows up, but the computer equipment is destroyed.
Michelle begs to leave, but Gibbs won’t allow it. When he determines the flash drive is nowhere to be found, Ted makes his move, grabs a nearby agent’s sidearm and takes Michelle hostage exiting the back. Shots are fired as he forces his way onto a public bus. Gibbs shoots the tires to stop the bus. He enters and shoots at Ted, who actually hits Gibbs in the right index finger. I must admit watching the blood drip from the finger doesn’t make it any better. He’s having trouble regaining use of his hand. Ted tries to escape out the middle door, but the door won’t open. Gibbs is less than sharp in his faculties, but when he can’t get the clear shot of Ted, Michelle nods in the affirmative that he must shoot through her, which he does multiple times, taking both of them out.
The next day, Vance reveals Ted shot his wife almost immediately after he was fired from the NSA. Vance says Michelle’s sacrifice was probably the best result for her, what with the treason and all. Gibbs then tells Vance that Domino was safe all along, as the real flash drive was contained in a envelope in his office all along.
Ziva is watching over Amanda when Gibbs walks up. She asks where Michelle is. Gibbs takes her by the hand and they walk to the window, where he hands her Michelle’s badge.
Thus ends the story of the mole that invaded NCIS.
Next time on NCIS, the first rule of military Fight Club is that you don’t let NCIS find out there is a military Fight Club.
Are you satisfied with the end result of the mole storyline? Is it plausible to believe DiNozzo and McGee are long-lost brothers? Could a real-world Abby had gotten away with calling Vance anything but by his title?
IN THE "REAL WORLD"...IF ANY REVIEW ASKS AT ANY POINT IF SOMETHING ON SCREEN WOULD HAPPEN IN THE REAL WORLD ...THE REVIEWER IS MISSING THE PURPOSE OF MOVIES AND TELEVISION...ENTERTAIN US
WHOLETRUTHY | Nov 26, 2008 7:31:58 AM | #I was surprised Gibbs shot to kill. Even though his vision was faulty, he could have shot to the left side and done damage rather than "center mass" which is how law enforcement is trained.
OTOH, Lee's fate was sealed so it was probably was okay that she died.
alia | Nov 26, 2008 8:11:53 AM | #I was confused why Gibbs had to shoot Ted and kill Michelle in the process. If he knew the flash drive didn't contain the real Domino, was it really necessary to kill him? I would think it would be hard to justify killing a federal agent, even if she did commit treason.
Allison | Nov 26, 2008 10:21:25 AM | #Didn"t really end the way I would have liked, but at last they have solved the case. I know she had to die. I noticed Jimmy outed himself about Michelle,which will allow him to remain at NCIS. Good, I like him.
Lokeli | Nov 26, 2008 10:27:24 AM | #I thought it was a good, solid episode and wrapped up the mole story nicely. Suspense, surprise (Gibbs faking the computer chip, if only House had been so smart with the gun he returned), Lee opting for death by cop to kill the kidnapper, and a brief moment at the end when Tony looks at Ziva crying for the shippers.
NCIS delivers.
Kat | Nov 26, 2008 10:42:14 AM | #This was not the best episode. The writing seemed haphazard. Do believe this story is not over.
Trupen | Nov 26, 2008 10:42:57 AM | #Yes, I did find it disturbing that Gibbs actually shot Lee - it somehow seems out of character for him - or isn't it..?? All in all, it was a good epi. This show has the Best writers. Of course, at the end of the day it's Mark Harmon [and his GREAT Smile, altho' ever so rare] that makes this show. Must admit that CBS has the BEST Shows for years.
Shanae | Nov 26, 2008 10:56:01 AM | #BTW - Forgot to comment that I still miss Jenny. This new director (Vance) seems like a deadbeat to me - NO Personality, like Jenny had. She really fit in well with the rest of the gang. Hope they will find someone else to fill the void - this Vance guy doesn't do it - not even close... If they were able to find Ziva to "replace" Kate - IMO Ziva has even more persona - then they can also find a better "replacement" for Jenny. So, get rid of this wooden Vance guy already - he doesn't do anything for this show...
Shanae | Nov 26, 2008 11:04:05 AM | #I enjoyed this episode. Lee dying was sad. I don't think that this storyline is over yet. The team interaction was great and I'm curious about what will happen next.
Penny | Nov 26, 2008 11:50:56 AM | #I really like NCIS but in this episode it seems the regular writers were on vacation. It was all over the place and seemed to be lacking the typical episode feeling. Characters were not true to themselves, Michelle Lee's character was completely wrong especially for that situation.
Michael | Nov 26, 2008 11:53:42 AM | #I agree with you,Michael. It seemed sloppy somehow.
I was OK with the episode, but there were a few things that bugged me.
I still don't buy that Lee was acting entirely against her will. A normal person confronted with all that would have asked Gibbs for help immediately. And if she really was completely unwilling, she never would have been as calm as we've seen her - innocent people would have had a nervous breakdown after killing someone, much less killing two peope - one of them an innocent colleague.
Nice touch with the guy they thought was also a pawn being the mastermind. That was pretty cool. But wasn't he there when they were setting up the restaurant meeting? Wouldn't he know it was a trap? Or did he just figure they'd never search him for the drive and he'd walk away? And how did he text Lee at the restaurant without her seeing him? IS there a third person?
I didn't really mind Lee dying, but also think Gibbs could have just winged them (although, if you watch "Life" you learned the three-shot center cluster is the way they're taught to shoot on instinct.)
A little curious about the dead bad guy being in a safe house - almost like maybe Lee had hidden Amanda there herself to back up her kidnap story but knew she'd be safe.
Shanae, I like Vance for exactly the reasons you don't. He isn't part of the camaraderie for a reason - someone has to be the accountable grown-up and that's him. If the director backed every single thing, like Jenny did, there's no tension which adds to the sense of urgency. But he shoots straight with Gibbs and has cut him several breaks, including giving him back his team.
lavona | Nov 26, 2008 12:41:32 PM | #Oh, I just realized - the safe house was near the tavern, not the first house. Well, I still think it's significant somehow!
lavona | Nov 26, 2008 12:43:34 PM | #I love the way Vance is portrayed. He balances out the other characters.
Popcorn | Nov 26, 2008 1:38:14 PM | #Apart from Agent Langer, who was the second "innocent" person that Lee killed?
Facade | Nov 26, 2008 2:00:24 PM | #I think it was the guy whose death they investigated in the series premier, when the new team went out on their first field assignment with Gibbs. That took me awhile to figure out, too. I think Lee took something from that scene that she later planted on the new geek.
I like Vance, too. The big boss isn't supposed to be your buddy, but he should have your back - and I think Vance does.
kittycat | Nov 26, 2008 3:07:38 PM | #I also like Vance. I never liked Jen as boss. I am a woman, but I really didn't think it was very realistic to have a woman in her early 40's being the big boss of a military agency. I think the boss should look like a boss.
I wish Gibbs had asked Lee WHY she didn't come to him when Amanda was first kidnapped. Maybe she would have told him that she never felt like she was a part of the team.
Jen | Nov 26, 2008 5:59:39 PM | #Michelle's character was too inconsistent. In earlier episodes we saw her looking smug and pleased with herself after she had deceived them. When alone she never seemed to be forced to cooperate. Her reaction after shooting the agent was professional and cold.
Regarding her abducted "daughter", I thought they should have checked to see if Michelle had ever given birth as a first step rather than running DNA. Also, afterwards the child looked as though she hadn't endured anything. Although she seemed to be treated well in general, we saw that she had tried desperately to escape. Surely a hospital or social welfare office would be a more likely place for her than the NCIS office. It felt like Bring Your Daughter To Work Day.
Not saying that I didn't enjoy the episode - I always do - but there were a LOT of holes.
Maureen | Nov 26, 2008 6:46:32 PM | #They have to write her off since she's got movies and her character on Dexter....
Not bad an episode, I think.
synical | Nov 27, 2008 7:56:24 AM | #IN CASE ANYBODY'S FORGOTTEN, IM STILL AN ASSHOLE WHO TYPES IN ALL CAPS. MAYBE ONE DAY ILL COMMITT SUICIDE AND PUT ME OUT OF EVERYONES MISERY BUT DONT HOLD YOUR BREATH.
WHOLETRUTHY | Nov 27, 2008 1:08:43 PM | #Wholetruthy, it's up to you to phone a suicide (or other) hotline to get some real help. A TV show messaging board isn't the place.
Peace and sympathy...
Maureen | Nov 27, 2008 7:51:12 PM | #And you don't have to announce you're an asshole...generally, typing in all caps pretty much nails that description quite well. :P
Thorny | Nov 27, 2008 8:24:42 PM | #lavona, when Tony and Ziva found the internet hub at the safe house didn't they say something about messages being sent automatically by the computer.
I agree with Shanae about Mark Harmon. He's sexier now at 57 (can you believe he's 57!!!) than he ever was.
TS | Nov 27, 2008 11:05:40 PM | #TS - Mark Harmon has proven that 60 is the new 50 and I hate him for that since I'm 45 and proven that I'm the new 60. Damn you, Mark Harmon!! ;)
As to Shanea's comments - yes, I, too, miss director Jenny - her character was great and I enjoyed the relationship she had with Gibbs and with Dinozzo (he actually had a female friend! he respected). Jenny also had her own past that interconnected with NCIS' work and got some good stories from that. Vance is this two-dimensional bureaucrat out of central casting. If he's meant to be Gibbs' foil, the writers are failing on making that happen.
Samuel | Nov 28, 2008 3:40:38 PM | #nice show the only show worth paying high actor fees. As for Vance please show me one Tolken Black guy in a TV show that brings alot to a show that doesnt have a black writer on staff.... enough said. BTW hes a great actor to bad hes type cast in these kinds of roles but im sure he likes the money.
lost my job | Nov 28, 2008 4:51:38 PM | #I'm confused. Wasn't Gibbs a sniper? Injured or not, he can't hit the guy in the head from 15 feet away? Or was he just giving Lee an easy out? So let me see, Ms Lee, you've worked for this organization for several years and you know just how good Gibbs and Ziva are in the field and how good at finding locations, etc. that Abs and Tim are. So you don't tell Gibbs AND you kill twoinnocent people? Gibbs was Amanda's only chance at survival (as you saw in the end). So traitor Lee is given the same way out as loyal Jenny? Not very balanced or satisfying.
arial | Nov 28, 2008 11:50:12 PM | #
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