A Year of NCIS, Day 47: Kill Ari (Part One) (Episode 3.1)

Episode: 3.1, Kill Ari (Part One)

Air Date: September 20, 2005

The Victim: NCIS Special Agent Caitlin Todd.

Emotionally Traumatized, But Ultimately Irrelevant, Witness Who Finds the Body: Gibbs and Tony are hardly irrelevant.

Plot Summary: We open on Ari Haswari who, fresh off killing Kate in Twilight, Episode 2.23, casually takes the elevator down from his sniper’s nest.

I stand corrected.  As Ari hurries over rooftops, we hear gunfire in the distance.  This is a flashback, and we’re going to watch Kate die all over again, but from Ari’s perspective.  Ari watches the firefight at the warehouse.  We see him scope Tony, but then Gibbs gets in the way.  He angles down to McGee, who is kneeling in the street trying to disable the explosive drone with a controller.  Ari takes a shot, but he misses because the terrorist in the warehouse shot at McGee first and McGee moved.  You can see the frustration on Ari’s face.  Ari aims for McGee again, but McGee ducks down behind the sedan.  So, Ari takes out the controller instead.  He clearly doesn’t want Gibbs and intentionally avoids shooting him several times.  But Gibbs is the only shot he has for a lot of the firefight.  He sees Kate take the bullet for Gibbs, but even as Gibbs and Tony tend to Kate, there’s no clear shot at Tony.  Quite simply, Kate is the best target.  So, Kate gets the bullet.

Wow, I bet that was hell to direct.  Nice work.

As in Twilight, Ari says, “Sorry Caitlin.”  And we move to credits.  New credits, with scenes from later episodes in Season 2.  And without Sasha Alexander.

Ducky arrives at a darkened autopsy.  He unzips a body bag and stares at Kate’s lifeless body and tries not to cry.  “Oh, Caitlin.  I am so sorry,” he says as the camera pans back to Kate’s corpse.  They’ve closed her eyes at least.

It’s raining in Washington as we shift to the squad room and Gibbs staring at Kate’s empty desk.  An image of Kate, bullet wound in her head appears and asks Gibbs, “Why me?”  Gibbs talks back and says he doesn’t know.  Ghost Kate mocks his “famous gut” and then loudly asks, “Why did I die instead of you?”

Tony and McGee enter to report that they found Ari’s sniper nest.  Tony notes that Ari didn’t police his brass, so they have shell casings.  McGee tells Gibbs the type of bullets, but then flinches because he knows Gibbs can see that for himself.  Gibbs says he can’t see, actually- not without his glasses.  Gibbs asks if they found bullets, but they have not.  Tony says they left three guys on the roof, but then he stops and says they’ll go back to the roof and braces for a smack to the head.  Gibbs calls him “Tony” and says, “You’re soaking wet.  Go put some dry clothes on.”

Yikes.

Gibbs looks out the window and starts calculating the trajectory of where the bullet that killed Kate might have ended up.  But Gibbs says there was nothing behind them, and no way to calculate how far a full metal jacket would go before losing velocity and altitude.  McGee asks Tony how Gibbs knows it’s a full metal jacket.  Tony asks McGee if he saw Kate, but McGee didn’t want to look.  Tony describes the body and what a full metal jacket will do to the back of a skull.  Weatherly and Murray ace this tiny exchange, Tony speaking with muted ferocity as he looks for something on which to take out his rage, and McGee trying not to cry.

Gibbs wants to know why there are three shell casings but only one hit.  Tony figures Ari must have missed a couple of times while Gibbs was weaving across the roof.  Gibbs says he was standing still when Kate was shot.  McGee lasered the distance at 572 meters (geez, what a shot).  Tony thinks slight shift in the wind and Ari misses Gibbs and hits Kate.  But Gibbs flashes back with his super-recall and remembers there was no wind. 

Tony is confused now.  If Ari wanted to kill Gibbs, why aim at and shoot Kate?  McGee notes Ari’s fixation on Kate and how she said Ari constantly hit on her in Bête Noire, Episode 1.16 and Reveille, Episode 1.23.  Tony says that Kate never told him that and McGee responds, “Gee, what a surprise.”  Which probably wasn’t the right thing to say at that exact moment.  Tony smacks McGee on the back of the head, and Gibbs very calmly says, “Don’t do that, Tony.” 

Gibbs examines the controller McGee was using to try to stop the drone.  “When was this hit, Tim?” he asks.  McGee tells him that it happened while he was pinned down.  Then McGee realizes that the sedan would have prevented the terrorist from hitting the controller from his position.  McGee wonders why Ari didn’t take a shot at him.  Tony’s being a dick about it, but Gibbs says Ari didn’t have the angle.  So, per Tony, McGee owes the terrorist from the warehouse for chasing him out of range and saving his life.  Gibbs thinks the bullet from the controller might have ricocheted into the car.  McGee offers to go look, and Gibbs hands the casings back to Tony and tells him to see what Abby can pull off them.  Gibbs walks around like he doesn’t know what to do next, and then earnestly says, “I’m going for coffee.  Can I get you boys some?”

Yikes.

The boys are spooked and decline.  “He called me Tim.”  “He patted my back.”  Tony doesn’t want nice.  He’s not Gibbs if he’s nice.

Gibbs walks out into the rain, uncovered and past the windows that look down into Abby’s lab.  Inside, Abby is staring mournfully at the sketch Kate drew of Abby looking like a bat, and that we first saw in Marine Down, Episode 1.9.  Kate appears to Abby as a Halloween costumed witch with blonde hair and tells Abby to put on some make-up.  Abby takes her advice and goes with the black lipstick.  Ghost Kate talks about the time they first met and how Kate couldn’t believe that Abby was a forensic scientist and lays out her own prejudices against goths.  Abby tearfully says, “I really liked you Kate, a lot.”  Kate waves it off and tells her to tie up her hair in pigtails.  Then she talks about how Abby talked her into all manner of things she would otherwise never have done, including getting a tattoo on her ass.  Then Ghost Kate freaks at the idea of Ducky seeing it.  Abby giggles, and she’s still laughing when Tony comes in. 

Tony asks if Abby’s OK, and Abby puts the brave face back on and says she will be, as soon as she ties up her pig tails.  Tony says she’s weirder than Gibbs, and then tells her that Gibbs is being nice.  Abby thinks Gibbs is always nice, but Tony points out that he’s only nice to Abby and Ducky.  Abby responds that all the growling and head-smacking makes Tony feel wanted. 

Tony hands Abby the .308 shell casings.  It’s the most popular caliber in the world, so there’s only so much Abby can tell.  Tony wants to know what model gun was used, and he’s pretty short with Abby when she balks at being able to figure that out.  Again, you can tell Tony’s only just holding his rage in check and looking for a fight.  Tony tells Abby she’s the firearm expert, and Abby then agrees and tells him every single thing she will be able to prove about the weapon and the ammunition used to kill their friend, but then she angrily tells him that there’s “no way in hell” she’ll be able to tell him which of the 87 models of .308s was used.  Tony quietly tells her who made the ammo, based on the logo on the casing.  Then Abby hugs his neck and they stay that way while a scope focuses on them from outside Abby’s window.

Gibbs is walking back in the rain with his coffee when a bullet whizzes by and through the window of Abby’s lab.  Because of the distance, the report of the shot comes after (which is cool), and Gibbs is already in motion.  In the lab, Tony has tackled Abby to the floor.  He asks if she’s OK and she says no, because he’s heavy.  Tony gets up and gets moving, dragging Abby to better cover.  Tony pulls his gun and Abby notes that he’s all muscle and has a nice “bootie” too.  Maybe she’s in shock.  Gibbs charges in and kills all the lights in the lab. 

Outside, Ari sits in an SUV, rifle sticking out the window.  He sees the lights go out, throws the casings on to the pavement to be found and drives away. 

In the lab, Gibbs asks if Abby is OK.  He tells Tony to get the area in front of Anacostia Park, across the river, closed off and to tell Metro PD it’s a crime scene.  Tony starts to get up and Gibbs yanks him back down because what if Ari has a night vision scope?  Tony crawls out and Gibbs promises Abby bullet-resistant glass.  Abby says that Ari didn’t hit Kate while aiming for Gibbs, and now he’s after her.  Gibbs tries to reassure her that he was in the line of fire too, but she’s not buying it.

Ducky is still working on Kate, and Ghost Kate expresses appreciation that he has kept her covered in front of the others.  Especially Tony.  She tells Ducky she shouldn’t be dead because she should have killed Ari right there in autopsy (Bete Noire).  Ducky asks Ghost Kate why she hesitated.  She says she saw something in his eyes that made her not want to kill him.  Ducky says “His eyes were like ice to me.”

Gibbs appears and tells Ducky that Ari fired into Abby’s lab.  Gibbs tells Ducky he should have brought in another ME to autopsy Kate.  Ducky pours them some bourbon and says he couldn’t- not for Kate.  Ducky is the only person Gibbs could confide in, so Gibbs tells him that he has lost men in combat.  “You hope you won’t.  You know you will.”  Ducky says this is different, but Gibbs doesn’t understand why.  Ducky thinks he knows- he asks Gibbs if he has ever lost a woman and says that, for old guys like them, women are never going to be equal in their eyes, “until they’re equal in death.” 

And that’s an odd statement to make, for even an old guy probably not on his first bourbon.

Gibbs wants to know why Ari targeted Kate instead of him.  Ducky asks if he missed, but if Gibbs could believe that before, he sure doesn’t believe it after the shot at Abby.  Ducky opines that Ari is torturing Gibbs and wonders what made him such a sadist.  Gibbs doesn’t care.  “I just want to kill the bastard.”

Abby and McGee are working the sedan.  Abby, leaned into the trunk, finds the .308 bullet.  She tells McGee to stop staring at her butt and get her an evidence jar.  He resumes staring at her butt until Gibbs appears and catches him.  Then Abby finds another .308 bullet.  The slugs from the other shooter are .9mm bullets and are clustered in the passenger side of the car.  McGee just assumes Ari missed the controller with his first shot.  But then Gibbs asks McGee to position himself in the spot he occupied before he took cover.  McGee squats down next to the back driver’s side door.  Gibbs looks at the spot where the first .308 entered the car, on a line well above where the controller would have been and tells McGee that Tony was correct, and McGee does owe his life to the terrorist.  McGee flashes back to being shot at.

Tony appears and tells Gibbs that Ari didn’t police his brass with respect to the shot he took at Abby either.  Metro PD is bringing the casing, ASAP, although Tony messes with Gibbs about whether or not he followed up with Metro.  And he says the Director wants to speak to Gibbs in MTAC and gives him a thumbs up.

Abby and McGee want to know why Tony is baiting Gibbs, and Tony says he wants him to stop being nice.  McGee says he likes nice Gibbs and Tony and Abby smack the back of his head simultaneously.

In MTAC, Gibbs sits next to Director Morrow and recaps the evidence.  Even Director Morrow knows that snipers usually police their brass.  Also, is he trying to do a season’s worth of work in two episodes?  Why is he still at the office?  Although, it is raining, so maybe the greens are soggy.  Regardless, he’s at least trying to be useful.  He has communicated with the other Directors about hunting down the sniper.  And he has endorsed Gibbs’s recommendation that Kate be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.  Which is not small change.

Director Morrow wants to know if the team actually saw Ari, and Gibbs says no and explains that he was 600 meters away.  They discuss Gibbs’s background as a sniper, then they pause to watch an aerial assault kill some terrorists.  Director Morrow says, “Where was I?” and Gibbs notes that he was trying awfully hard not to use “Ari” and “sniper” in the same sentence.  Director Morrow understands Gibbs’s anger and need for payback, but says those things are passions the Director can’t afford.  Largely, I suspect, because he doesn’t remember who Kate is anyway.  In fairness, Director Morrow thinks it was Ari who shot Kate, but there are others who don’t.  Gibbs mocks them for losing control of their supposed intelligence asset and makes clear that he doesn’t care about helping them cover their asses.  He’s not bringing Ari in.  Not alive anyway. 

Director Morrow pauses and then does the most Director Morrow thing ever.  He washes his hands of the whole thing and says “You’re not my problem anymore, Jethro.”  Gibbs figures he’s getting fired, but no.  Somehow- blackmail, advantageous marriage, maybe all those golf rounds and drinking binges- Director Morrow has been offered a deputy director position at the Department of Homeland Security.  Gibbs says, “You’d leave NCIS?” but what he really means is “How the hell did you pull that off?”  Gibbs’s next steps turn to his own needs and asks who’s replacing Director Morrow.  Director Morrow smirks and Gibbs says, “Not me!”  Which is funny for lots of reasons, but Director Morrow distills it down when he says, “Much as I like you, Jethro, I would not shoot NCIS in the head.”  Director Morrow leaves and says, “He’s your problem now, Director.” 

A redheaded woman stands in the front row of MTAC and turns.  Gibbs has a steamy flashback to hooking right on up with a redheaded lady.  Normally that wouldn’t narrow it down, but context clues indicate that he bedded this lady.  Who smiles grimly and suggests cutting out the “You haven’t changed a bit bull.”  Gibbs says why start lying to each other now?  The new Director asks Gibbs if he’ll have trouble taking orders from her, either because she’s a woman or, you know because she’s a woman with whom he has fornicated.  Gibbs says the past was six years ago.  He calls her “Jen” and says she was a damned good agent.  And, because I guess someone has to be Tony this episode, he adds, “Especially undercover.”

Welcome to NCIS, Director Jenny Shepard.  It will be nice to have a Director who actually directs.  Or even just appears from time to time.                

And yes, the holiday is over.  Gibbs gets prepared to go do his shoot-Ari-full-of-holes-and-ask-forgiveness thing. Director Shepard not only shuts him down, but beats him in a measuring contest too, telling him in no uncertain terms that he will call her “Director” or “ma’am” on the job.  None of this “Jen” bullshit, regardless of how many times he has seen her naked.  Oh, and there will also be no more seeing her naked.  To his credit, Gibbs does apologize (although then he starts trying to work her rather than blow through her). 

They debate over whether the sniper could have been somebody besides Ari and then Gibbs invites Director Shepard back to his place.  But it’s to discuss the case because he needs to change his clothes and is short enough on time that he needs to multi-task.

Director Shepard briefly meets Tony on the way out.  Gibbs gets an update and tells Tony that nobody leaves the building and McGee stays with Abby.  Gibbs says they’ll be back in an hour and Tony checks out the Director as he leaves and has a sly grin on his face.  This segues nicely into his encounter with Ghost Kate, where she’s finally wearing the Catholic schoolgirl outfit he lobbied so hard for.  Even Ghost Kate is embarrassed, and while she tries to razz Tony for thinking Gibbs is going off to have a nooner (her words), he turns the tables on her and causes a breeze to blow up her skirt and show her panties.  “Tony, I just died, and you’re having a sexual fantasy.”  He admits to sometimes picturing her naked.

Unfortunately for Tony, he’s having this conversation about Kate’s nakedness out loud when a dark, attractive woman appears in the squad room and wants to know if he’s having phone sex.

Ziva!

As a brief aside, I said in the first post of this blog, that while I found the challenge of blogging about this show daily for a year somewhat daunting, I thought I’d at least make it to Ziva David’s first appearance.  Well, she just walked into the squad room for the first time, and…achievement unlocked.

But can I make it to Vance?

Ziva introduces herself as Mossad and she is looking for Gibbs.  She and Tony have an extended conversation about what the hell Tony was doing or saying vis-à-vis Ghost Kate.  After watching Tony push Kate to the edge for two seasons, it’s interesting to see someone like Ziva who can match him for banter, uses sex as a weapon rather than being puritanical (Tony’s word for Kate) about it, and who seizes the upper hand a number of times- particularly when grilling Tony on how he felt about Kate.  The conversation goes on for a while, and the details aren’t tremendously important, but it’s a good establishing shot of these two characters and their interaction.  It ends with Ziva warning Tony that she’s here to stop Gibbs from killing a Mossad officer and an innocent man.

In Gibbs’s basement, where he takes all his redheads, the Director looks upon his handiwork and asks if it’s the same boat.  Gibbs says he burned that one.  Director Shepard is confused for a second and then realizes he burned it because it was named after his ex-wife.  And, as Gibbs tells her, she knows damned well which one.  He couldn’t change the name because he’d sail it and think of Diane.  He couldn’t sell it because then he’d watch some other guy sail off on “Diane,” although Director Shepard points out that Gibbs didn’t care who sailed off on Diane.  Gibbs turns the talk to the Director, and he wants to know why such a good field agent would want to do a politician’s job.  Director Shepard says she’s good at politics and notes that NCIS needs someone who can “shake the money tree on the Hill and work the sister agencies.”  I’d make a joke about Director Morrow here, but the one skill he seemed to have was working the other agencies.  That’s usually the only thing he came to work to do. 

They fight over why she’d give up field work for “rubber chicken dinners;” she says she’ll eat better than that at [some fancy restaurant]; he doesn’t know the restaurant; she says it’s because it’s not take out; he wants to make sure she’s not going to dinner with Fornell; and she says it’s the CBS early show.  This causes Gibbs to pause because he thinks Director Shepard doing this interview will make her an Ari target.  The Director tells Gibbs that important people don’t think Ari is the sniper and Gibbs has no proof.  She has never doubted him professionally, but she has to establish a working relationship with the other agencies. Gibbs asks if it’s him or the other directors and she has the courtesy not to laugh in his face.

McGee is overseeing the installation of bullet resistant glass in Abby’s lab.  She’s playing dirge music, which is what people from New Orleans play on the way to a funeral, out of respect for Kate.  McGee thought people from New Orleans played jazz when loved ones died, but that’s for leaving the funeral.  They squabble and Abby throws him out.  Or tries to, but McGee can’t leave because Gibbs has him on protection detail.  Abby says that’s “so sweet,” but I don’t think she means it.

Ziva has Tony pegged as an East Coast, boarding school educated, rich kid who spent time in the Midwest and Philadelphia; but it’s hard to tell if this is profiling or the effect of her having read his dossier.  Gibbs and the Director arrive, and Director Shepard and Ziva kiss hello and talk.  Gibbs and Tony compare notes on who the women are.  Tony says Ziva is here from Mossad to stop Gibbs from killing Ari.  Gibbs says, “Director Jenny Shepard.  Same mission.”  Director Shepard introduces Ziva and Gibbs.  She and Ziva used to work anti-terrorist ops together, including the one Gibbs got to see in MTAC.  Ziva apparently located the bad guys before NCIS blew them up. 

Ziva takes a phone call while the Director informs Tony that yes, she really is the new NCIS Director.  Then she walks off.  Tony checks her out as she walks away and mouths “Wow.”  That earns him a harder-than-usual head slap, and Gibbs is back, baby.  “Welcome back, boss,” says Tony.

Ziva is chatting on the phone in Hebrew…with Ari.  She’s trying to hook him up with a fake passport and money to help him escape the US before Gibbs kills his ass.  He tells her to use the drop box and not to come see him because Gibbs will have her followed.  She says she doesn’t want to lose him too.  He promises she won’t and that he’ll see her in Paris. 

Ziva hangs up and she and Gibbs talk about Ari.  She is Ari’s control officer, so Gibbs figures it’s her ass if he’s actually a terrorist.  They discuss Gibbs tracing Ari’s location last episode.  Ziva says Ari let Gibbs do that because he wanted NCIS to come find the terrorists and stop them so Ari wouldn’t blow his cover.  Gibbs scoffs, and says only an NSA satellite can track an encrypted phone and Ari didn’t know Gibbs had that asset.  Ziva scoffs back and says, “You give him even less credit than he gives you.”  She asks who hung up first, and Gibbs flashes back to the conversation and realizes that Ziva is correct.  According to Ziva, Ari knows a fix only takes 19 seconds, and then she asks why Ari released Kate after taking her captive in Reveille.  Ziva angrily says that Gibbs has the wrong guy and Director Shepard says NCIS at least owes Mossad proof before they kill their operative.  Ziva agrees, and Gibbs brings up a not at all recent Mossad screw-up where they killed the wrong man in Norway.  There’s some tension.  Directors Shepard tells Ziva to assure her Mossad’s deputy director that even though Ari is a suspect, no action will be taken until NCIS finds proof of his culpability.  She re-emphasizes this to Gibbs, and he storms out.

Abby is testing firearms to determine the rifle used to kill Kate.  McGee is mourning.  He calls Kate his “sweet super-hero” and a leather-clad Action Kate straight out of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back flips over the desk and lands in slow motion in front of him.  She calls him a naughty boy and then changes into a Bondage Kate, complete with a whip.  What the hell is wrong with the dudes on this team?  McGee wonders too because he worries aloud that he’s turning into Tony.  And…well…kudos to Sasha Alexander for agreeing to have this much fun with these scenes. 

As with Tony, McGee gets caught mentally perving.  This time by Abby.  She says she’s thinking about Kate too and they each see their version of Kate- Bondage Kate and Witch Kate.  Evidently, McGee gets a lascivious look on his face because Abby gives him a head smack. 

In the elevator, Gibbs tells Tony “I want you on Ziva’s ass.”  When Tony objects that she’s not really his type, he gets yet another head smack.  Head smacks are falling harder than the rain this episode.  Gibbs makes the point that Ziva has been in touch with Ari or she wouldn’t know so much about the phone call between Gibbs and Ari.  Tony asks if maybe Ziva was right about Ari knowing Gibbs would trace the call and find the terrorists.  Wouldn’t that suggest that Ari wasn’t the sniper?  Gibbs sighs, and acknowledges that Ziva is right.  Ari wanted the team to raid the warehouse.  Ari set Gibbs up, Gibbs walked right into it, and Kate died as a result.  Tony asks Gibbs what he should do if Ziva leads him to Ari.  Gibbs says to monitor him and call Gibbs.  Tony asks if Gibbs is really planning on bringing Ari in, per the Director’s orders.  Gibbs says he absolutely plans to bring Ari in, and then mutters “To autopsy,” as he walks away.

Abby tells Gibbs that she has narrowed the murder weapon down to three.  One is Gibb’s “old friend”- the rifle he used in the Marines.  But she thinks the actual weapon used was a Bravo-51 with hand loaded moly-coated bulets.  Gibbs tells McGee to check nearby sales of Bravo-51 bullets.  Abby says there are no prints on the shell casings.  Then she asks if Gibbs’s gut is telling him something.  He tries to blow her off, but she’s not having it.  Kate was Abby friend, and Abby wants to know what Gibbs knows.  He tells her he was a Marine sniper and he used hand-loaded Lapua, .308 boat-tail full metal jacket moly-coated bullets.  Just like these.  And he tells her that a sniper calls a Bravo-51 a “Kate.”

We shift scenes and we find…

Gerald!

Ducky’s former assistant, Gerald, is re-filling his pain meds.  He gets in his car, and takes a few pills. Before anyone can comment on the unsafe nature of this act, Ari sits up in the back seat, puts a gun to Gerald’s head, and makes any commentary about driving under the influence superfluous.  Just to be a dick, Ari squeezes the shoulder he shot out in Bete Noire (and Gerald has a flashback).  Ari tells Gerald his own shoulder hurts when it rains too (thanks to Gibbs).

In autopsy, Ducky bids Kate’s body good night when the phone rings.  It’s Gerald, who, when Ducky asks, says he’s not doing so great. Pancho Demmings conveys the fear here without completely losing Gerald’s wryness. Ari gets on the phone and says Gerald is having flashbacks.  Ducky doesn’t recognize Ari at first, but then calls him a bastard and starts to make a threat if Ari harms Gerald.  Ari says he has no intention of harming Gerald and that one messed up shoulder is enough for both of them.  He tells Ducky that if he comes alone, he’ll trade Gerald for a professional, in-person conversation where he can prove to Ducky that he did not kill Kate.  Gerald tells Ducky not to do it, but Ari, squeezing the shoulder again points out that while he may have shot Gerald, he has never lied to him.  Ducky gives his word. 

Gibbs is in the squad room, listening to Ghost Kate talk about coincidences.  Director Shepard interrupts his thoughts and says it has been a difficult day for both of them.  Gibbs says that’s what his drill instructor used to say, and he never believed him.  The Director huffs off, but Gibbs stops her and gets her to hold off the CBS interview for a few days.  She probably agreed because he said “Please” for maybe the first time ever. 

Gibbs hears the Director encounter Ducky in the elevator.  He rushes to the elevator to stop Ducky from leaving but doesn’t get there in time.  Which is a little ridiculous, since Ducky’s an old man and Gibbs could easily take the stairs and beat him to his car.

Ari makes small talk with Gerald.  Ducky arrives in his classic car.  I’m not a car guy, but Ari calls it a “vintage Morgan,” and says, “How Ducky,” like they’re old pals.  As Ducky approaches, Ari tells Gerald to roll down the window, and then to go wait in Ducky’s car while Ari and Ducky talk.  Gerald exits, Ducky waves, and Ducky and Gerald walk toward each other in the middle of the street.  The episode ends with Ari’s rifle scope targeting an approaching Ducky.

“To Be Continued…”                      

Quotables:

(1) McGee: How does he know it was a full metal jacket?

Tony: Did you see Kate?

McGee: I didn’t want to.

Tony: Her head was intact.

McGee: Oh, so, she didn’t look bad?

Tony: No, no not at all, Probie.  In fact, a little mortuary putty right here [pokes McGee in the forehead] and she’ll be good as new.  Of course, she was having a bad hair day, though.  Right back here.  Because a full metal jacket will put a hole the size of a grapefruit right about there [smacks McGee in the back of the head] 

McGee: Tony.  Please.

Tony: Sorry, kid.

(2) Gibbs: What don’t I believe in, Abby?

Abby: UFOs, mystics, coincidence, saying you’re sorry, excuses.  I could go on all night. 

Time Until Sexual Harassment: Tony even manages to sexually harass Kate’s ghost.  That’s almost a superpower.

Ducky Tales: Ducky is too sad, and later too mad, to regale us with any tales. Still, he’ll have a good one if he lives.

The Rest of the Story:

-Kate is the second NCIS agent to fall in the line of duty on the show.  Special Agent Chris Pacci was the first, in Dead Man Talking, Episode 1.19.

-Gibbs’s amazing positional recall has been demonstrated before, in The Good Wives Club, Episode 2.2, for example.

-It’s confirmed for the first time that Gibbs was a sniper in the Marine Corps.  Apparently a hell of a sniper because he’s not that impressed with Ari’s 600 meter center forehead shot to kill Kate.  He did two tours, one in Panama and one in Desert Storm. 

-Director Morrow specifically asked if Gibbs served in Vietnam and when Gibbs says he’s not that old, the Director says, “Thought you were older.”  This is funny because Mark Harmon is in fact old enough to have served in Vietnam.

-Gibbs and Director Shepard used to hook up.  Per Gibbs, that was six years ago.  We’ll get more detail as time goes on.  But, remember in Minimum Security, Episode 1.8 when Gibbs grilled Kate on dating co-workers and said it doesn’t work out.  This is where that rule came from.

-One of Gibbs’s exes is named Diane.

-Abby is originally from New Orleans.

-Tony gets a head slap.  Several, in fact.

-Tony saying Ziva is not really his type is funny in hindsight.

-Gerald says he plans to return to work “next week.”  I guess running into Ari again changed his mind on that.  In fairness, I don’t think I could work in a room where I’d been held hostage and then shot in the shoulder, but I wonder if they’ll mention the change of mind.  Because, we won’t see Gerald again after next episode.

-Ducky knows Director Shepard from before.

Casting Call: Rudolf Martin kills it again as Ari Haswari.  The smoothness, the understated menace, the way he’s so charismatic that you can’t help but like him even when he’s threatening Gerald- all of this is a Grade-A performance.

Man, This Show Is Old: There’s nothing particularly dated about this episode.  While Gibbs brings up the Lillehammer Affair in Norway to bait Ziva, hell, that occurred in 1973.  If Ziva and Cote de Pablo, the actress who portrays her, are intended to be the same age, Ziva was -6 at the time of the Lillehammer Affair, so even her anger at Gibbs is sort of silly.  It would be like me taking offense at some Brit carping at me about the Mai-Lai Massacre.

MVP: Ducky autopsied his dead friend, poured his grieving friend a bourbon, and put his life in danger to help his injured and kidnapped friend.  That’s a buddy.

Rating: This episode was filled with set-up and talking, but it’s hard to knock an episode that gives you the first appearances of Ziva and Director Shepard and uses Ari as the bad guy.  The Ghost Kate stuff was weird, and a little out of place for this show, but I get it.  The interludes helped keep the episode from collapsing from the weight of its own grief.  The beginning “mirror image” recap scene was extremely well done and the ending scene created significant stakes for yet another team member.  And Director Morrow finally stopped pretending he had a job.  Hell, they probably fired him months ago and he’s just now telling Gibbs.

Eight Palmers.

Next Time: The hunt for Ari continues.