'NCIS': The Lifetime Movie Of The Week

Of all the NCIS series regulars, I most identify with Timothy McGee. Suffice to say that I probably wouldn't have been able to handle time in a women's prison like he did. I already live with an overbearing woman to begin with... heaven knows the last thing I need in my life is a dozen more just like her!

These Spoilers will launch their attack at sunset, so get a move on!

In the woods, "Halloween II on steroids" is in production with a cheerleader running through the woods. The lackluster performance from the actress is predictable, but when she leaves the set only to stumble upon a skeleton, she lets out bloodcurdling screams worthy of the record books.

McGee isn't getting any love from anyone... neither the mechanic on the phone nor Ziva and DiNozzo are showing him any respect. Gibbs saves him from further torment by rounding up the gang for a trip to the park. Once there, Ducky finds the skeleton of the long since dead Lt. Neil Poletto stabbed multiple times while missing multiple fingers. Besting his personal record by a county mile, Gibbs already knows who did it. The M.O. is a perfect match for one Celia Roberts, already serving time for killing two servicemen 11 years before. In this case, all that's needed is a signed confession... a seemingly simple enough task for McGee over the not-so-subtle objections of DiNozzo and Ziva.

Once at the jail, McGee gets his flirt on with a former coworker who's now a guard. They're both nervous around each other to the point where it's kinda cute. In the interview room, Celia is pissed and not afraid to show it, but before she can really bare her teeth comes a ruckus from the visitor's center. The convicted ladies have taken control, complete with one dead guard to boot.

Abby is visibly upset when she hears the news of McGee's situation. The NCIS team rolls to the prison to help. Meanwhile, McGee notes the lack of cohesion between in the inmates. Angela, the lead troublemaker, makes it a point to intimidate the hell out of him in the meantime. Gibbs huddles up with the warden to determine his game plan for re-taking control... not so keen on his methods, but willing to help to end the situation quickly. Out of nowhere, McGee appears as a negotiator, bypassing the prison staff to deal only with Gibbs. The prisoners want NCIS to investigate who killed the guard with the condition that the killer is the only one who receives additional punishment. Once the terms are agreed to, the visitors are released.

Gibbs and Ducky are escorted into the visitor's center to examine the body. McGee does his best to find a murder weapon with no such luck. It doesn't seem to be helping the cause that they have roughly seven hours to sunset in order to solve the crime, lest the warden take control of the situation.

In the meantime, the prisoners try to help McGee in his search for the weapon, leaving him a bit unsettled. He attempts to befriend one of the more level-headed prisoners. She's rather apologetic for her past misdeed. Meanwhile, Gibbs is on the phone simultaneously acquiring information from and calming down Abby. It seems the guard was well on his way to dying anyway, what with the slow poisoning by antifreeze.

Back at NCIS, DiNozzo says no one actually saw the guard being stabbed. He does play-by-play on the surveillance video for Gibbs, but the video ends before the real craziness begins. It's not only the inmates who are suspects, as Ziva interrogates Brenda, the guard McGee has eyes for. As it stands, Brenda and the dead guard used to date, but when it ended badly, she left over 150 less than kind messages. Bitterness aside, she does reveal the warden skipped a mandatory drug test and faked the one before that. Drugs seem to be the name of the game. McGee narrows his search for the right inmate to question, landing on the obvious choice of the nervous Angela. To no one's surprise, she's even less cooperative than Celia, pepper spraying him in the process.

The guards prep for an attack, much to Gibbs' chagrin. He calls the warden out on the drug test and demands the raid be shut down. Methinks Gibbs doesn't like answering to anyone he absolutely doesn't have to. Elsewhere, McGee is clearly fed up with the inmates and isn't willing to cooperate further unless they name the supplier of the drugs. I'm sensing the girls want the trouble to end quickly, as they give him up rather quickly. Even quicker, Gibbs gets the supplier to fess up that the guard was the head of the drug operation.

McGee gets into the guard's email, opening one with quite the incriminating photo of the guard and a teenage girl sitting on his lap. Upon further analysis of the guard's possessions, Abby concludes a visitor of one of the inmates was the one who killed him. Meanwhile, Gibbs questions the girl from the photo, daughter of the inmate with only a year to go on her sentence. The guard was using her to advance the drug trade, with the threat of additional prison time or worse for her mother if she didn't cooperate. As for the antifreeze, the girl cops to that, thinking that's why she was being questioned to begin with.

The warden is ready to move on ending the standoff, much earlier than the sunset time given earlier. Gibbs becomes uncharacteristically agitated, demanding he stand down. Mother Sharon reluctantly gives herself up as the one who stabbed the guard. The others want Sharon to fully give herself up, but Celia is insistent on talking to her first.

McGee exits the prison, followed by Celia, who cops to killing the guard. She's even kind enough to give up the weapon. Knowing she's right screwed no matter what; she covers Sharon by admitting she rid the prison of the bad guard AND confessed to killing Lt. Poletto lo those many years ago. Not only are the drugs and bad guy gone, but Sharon can go home on time to be the better mother she wants to be.

Abby is ecstatic upon McGee's return. With his newfound sense of manhood comes a more confident and direct Timothy McGee... demanding his mechanic get the car done immediately and at the original quote. Speaking of, here's hoping I don't have to get to that point when I take my car in later today.

On the next NCIS, could Ducky be a long-standing war criminal?

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