A Year of NCIS, Day 197: Newborn King (Episode 9.11)

Episode: Newborn King, Episode 9.11.

Air Date: December 13, 2011.

The Victim: Captain Jake Marsden, USN.

Emotionally Traumatized, But Ultimately Irrelevant, Witness Who Finds the Body: It’s Christmas at the Fremont Inn.  A servicemember would like a room at this seemingly fancy hotel, but, it being Christmas, the girl at the desk jokes that there’s no room at the inn.  He says he’s desperate so she agrees to see if the impending snowstorm has caused any cancellations.  She offers him some super-duper suite and he takes it price unseen. 

Our servicemember enters his room and secures the place like he’s on the run.  Then he makes a call.  He says he thinks they’re clear and that he’s on his way down to get whoever it is.  He opens the door and runs into two people.  All we see are two silencers, and the assailants fill our servicemember with lead while Joy to the World plays in the background.

That’s not even close to the most macabre juxtaposition this episode offers up.  Just wait.

Plot Recap: Tony arrives at work.  It’s Christmas Eve.  He drops a toy in the Toys for Tots box in the squad room, and then wonders why his two co-workers are smiling so big given that the team has to work Christmas Eve.  They are smiling because they’ve been snooping Tony’s desk and learned that Wendy, his ex-fiancée, sent him a Christmas card.  Tony says they haven’t talked in nine years.  The card says she and her husband divorced and it invites Tony to Christmas brunch with Wendy and Fred, her seven-year old son.  McGee asks if Tony is going to go.  Tony thinks that’s Christmas Past. 

Palmer joins to interrupt.  He is loudly on the phone with Breena, his own fiancée, and talking about how he’d be thrilled to hang out with her father.  Tony mocks Palmer’s Christmas sweater vest.  Palmer is stressed because he agreed to give Breena’s father, Ed, a tour of NCIS while he’s in town for the holidays.  Palmer says that his future father-in-law laughed and then cried when Palmer asked for permission to marry Breena, so Breena is hoping some bonding will be good for them.  Palmer would like everyone to be especially nice because Ed thinks Palmer is in a dead-end job.

Palmer is lounging on Gibbs’s desk, and the man himself arrives to order Palmer away.  And to tell everyone to grab their gear.  Palmer is pumped because now they have a case, and he gets to cancel with Ed.  But Gibbs benches him because, “Family first.”

At the hotel, Ziva IDs the body as Navy Captain Jake Marsden, stationed in Charleston, SC.  Ducky and Gibbs suss out that the murder was committed by multiple weapons and shooters.  Ziva suspects silencers since no witnesses overheard any weapons discharge. 

Tony and McGee find a bullet-riddled vehicle belonging to Capt. Marsden in the parking lot.  It has been sideswiped too.  They also find a USMC bag, which is weird since the victim is Navy.  McGee, not on task, asks why Tony and Wendy broke off their engagement.  Tony ignores him and finds women’s undergarments in the bag.  Which makes him think the captain wasn’t traveling alone. 

The room phone rings.  The ID says it’s not coming from within the hotel.  Gibbs takes it.  It’s a woman.  She accuses him of killing “Jake.”  And she refuses to believe he’s NCIS.  If he is who he says he is, he’ll figure out who/where she is.

At HQ, the team backgrounds Capt. Marsden, who was single, well-liked, and married to his job.  Tony and McGee have not identified the female passenger.  McGee has determined that Capt. Marsden made the call we saw him make from the hotel room, but he made it to a phone registered in his own name.  It has since been turned off. 

Palmer interrupts again so that the team can meet Ed Slater.  He immediately realizes he has interrupted work, but Gibbs is magnanimous(ish).  Ed seems like a prick.  He insists Palmer call him Mr. Slater and cuts off the introductions.  Gibbs tries to do Palmer a solid and talk him up, but Ed is one of those guys that think government employees are all uninspiring bureaucrats, and even suggests that Palmer isn’t actually going to close the marital deal with Breena if he doesn’t shape up and get a real job.  Ed even insults Gibbs for making the team work on Christmas.  Palmer shuffles Ed off with a whispered apology to Gibbs.

McGee traces the number that called the hotel to a courtesy phone at an outlet mall in Maryland, two hours away.

In autopsy, Ducky is chatting with our dead captain.  Ed is there and unimpressed with Ducky’s eccentricities.  We learn that Ed owns a funeral home and is a professional mortician (actually, I think we at least knew that Breena worked for a funeral home owned by her family.  Mother’s Day, Episode 7.16)).  Ed makes fun of Ducky for talking too much but fortunately Gibbs arrives and gives Palmer the excuse he needs to shuffle Ed out the door again. 

Ducky gives Gibbs something that has dried blood on it.  Ducky isn’t sure who the blood belongs to, but there were no wounds on the captain’s body other than the bullet wounds.  Gibbs thinks it might be the woman’s blood.

Gibbs visits Abby’s lab.  Techno-Christmas music blares from her speakers.  She is hiding from Palmer and his “grinch-in-law.”  Gibbs, a former father of a daughter, is somewhat sympathetic to Ed being a father-in-law to be.  But he would nonetheless like to move on to case-specific subjects.  Abby has the mall security footage from the outlet mall where the lady called Gibbs.  She is a blonde lady with a ponytail.  Abby says she doesn’t appear wounded.  She does look directly at the camera and holds up a bag when she says, “If you are who you say, you’ll figure it out.”  The bag is from a women’s clothing store and it’s clear the woman wants Gibbs to come find her.  Gibbs tells Abby to have Tony get the local LEOs to meet them at the outlet store.

Gibbs, Tony, and Ziva meet Carroll County law enforcement at the store.  Officer McCormick seems really young.  Young enough to not have searched for their lady in the dressing rooms.  Tony evicts the customers while Gibbs and Ziva search.  Until they find the woman, who we see is pregnant, brandishing a pipe.  She has seen fake credentials before and tells Gibbs to hand over his weapon.  He tells her there’s only one way to get a Marine’s weapon, and she asks if he’s a leatherneck.  He asks where she thinks he got the haircut and Ziva tries not to laugh.  The woman relents and tells them that Capt. Marsden wasn’t his attackers’ main target.  She is.

Our lady is Lt. Emma Reynolds, USMC.  She’s a Marine first and pregnant second, so she does not want special treatment.  Or the hot cocoa Tony brought her.  Tony mentions that the snow is starting to come down and that a wrecked tractor trailer is creating massive traffic issues on the highway.  Lt. Reynolds doesn’t know who is after her.  What she does know is that while stationed in Afghanistan, she got down and dirty with a local named Amir and that’s whose kid she’s carrying.  She got discipline in the form of two months’ pay being docked.  Then her CO sent her home and she thought that was it.  But the previous week, she was being followed by three men in separate SUVs.  One of the license numbers was registered to DOD.  Gibbs sends Ziva to check it out.  Lt. Reynolds called Capt. Marsden because he was an old friend, and he offered to drive her to her parents’ place in Ohio.  The perps tried to run them off the road.  Lt. Reynolds cut her hand when the window broke.  They went to the hotel to regroup but when Capt. Marsden didn’t return, she knew it was trouble.  She didn’t call the police because if these guys were government, local LEOs would just pick them up no questions asked and hand them over to whoever.  Gibbs is skeptical about high level government conspiracy theories but says Lt. Reynolds can trust NCIS.

In MTAC, McGee learns that Amir Mayat, the father of Lt. Reynolds’s child, died in an IED explosion seven months previous.  Lt. Reynolds went on leave after the incident.  Lt. Reynolds kept the baby secret from his family.  McGee’s DOD contact is clearly annoyed at having to leave Christmas festivities to talk to him.  He shuts the door and then cuts to the chase, asking McGee what he really wants to know.  McGee mentions the surveillance and DOD acts surprised.  They’re not CIA after all.  McGee mentions the DOD vehicles, and the guy says their cars get stolen all the time and he’ll check.  But McGee thinks he’s being evasive and asks directly if Lt. Reynolds is on DOD’s radar.  DOD denies it.

Abby calls Gibbs from her lab.  She is quite concerned about Gibbs being hunted by bad guys in a snowstorm.  Gibbs is waiting for a police escort before they can return to DC.  But Abby has news: Amir Mayat is not a poor farmer from Afghanistan.  The Mayat tribe controls a strategic parcel of land outside Kabul and Amir was the sole male heir until he was killed.  If Lt. Reynolds has a boy, he’s local royalty.  The terrorists won’t want Lt. Reynolds dead.  They want the baby.  Gibbs is still curious about DOD’s involvement, but McGee has an answer.  He hacked in and learned that the DOD is trying to build a trade highway through Mayat land.  The tribe is not cooperating.  So, the baby may be intended as a bargaining chip.  Of course, McGee has no proof of this, so he’ll have to keep looking.

Also, Abby has locked Palmer and Ed in a room in the back of the lab.  Ed is knocking on the door.  Inside, we learn that Ed made an inappropriate remark about Abby’s tattoos and Palmer has their remaining time in the penalty box clocked at six minutes.  Ed mentions that Palmer could make better money in the private sector.  And all he said was that “Girls with tattoos are easy.  Everyone knows that.” 

Ugh.  This effing guy.

Gibbs wants to be on the move now.  But the highway is closed.  So, Tony reports they are on their own and will need to use back roads.  Lt. Reynolds is concerned and asks for a weapon.  She is not convinced that the young deputy we met earlier can cover her six, and she has been in an actual firefight.  This prompts the team to ask after the young deputy.

Tony leads Gibbs and Lt. Reynolds out the back of the store, where they find Officer McCormick.  Being held at gunpoint by a fella with an accent who is very interested in acquiring Lt. Reynolds.  Lt. Reynolds IDs the man as one of the people who has been following her.  Gibbs and Tony pull their guns and Gibbs tells the perp to drop his weapon.  The perp tells Gibbs he is in no position to make demands.  But Ziva is.  Gibbs sent her out to get the drop on the guy.  She tells him his choices are dropping the weapon or dying.  He knows when he’s beat.  That leaves Tony and Deputy McCormick to take the perp back to HQ while Gibbs and Ziva cover the lieutenant.  Tony sees that the perp is missing fingers when he goes to cuff him.  Ziva calls it a Russian prison ritual.  Tony asks if the perp’s pals are missing fingers and the perp suggest that Tony will soon see for himself. 

Gibbs says it’s time to get moving. 

Ducky finds Palmer leaning dejectedly on a file cabinet.  Palmer feels overwhelmed.  Palmer says his father was only ever encouraging.  Ed is the exact opposite.  Ducky says to ignore assholes, in so many words.  Palmer says that Ed finally said something nice: he offered him a job.  He could work with Breena and eventually take over the business.  Problem is Palmer loves NCIS.  But he wants Breena to be happy.  Ducky says Breena will be happy if Palmer is happy.

As they roar down the snowy road in the dark, Gibbs and Ziva give Lt. Reynolds the skinny on the Russian mercenaries that the Afghani tribe has hired to take her and her baby.  Suddenly the car seizes and stops.  Gibbs calls it the Russians and presumably means sabotage.  Ziva says she can’t get a cell signal.  The team manages to get the car to a gas station.  Lt. Reynolds saw a garage around back so maybe they can fix the vehicle.  She offers to push, but Gibbs takes one look at this very pregnant lady and tells her not to push.  She also shouldn’t think about pushing.  Or the word “push.”

In the squad room, Ed is chewing something really loudly and annoying McGee.  Palmer is Ed’s ride and he’s still on duty.  Tony returns and asks if Gibbs has checked in.  Abby has been calling his cell, but not getting a response.  McGee ran the prints on their perp, and he’s Veli Tupolev, a Russian merc.  McGee wonders how they’re going to break a guy used to Russian winters and Russian prisons.  Tony commandeers Ed’s cookie tin and seems to have an idea. 

At the garage, Ziva IDs the problem, but Gibbs is gonna have to re-wire some things.  Lt. Reynolds wants to help, but Gibbs wants her to rest.  And hydrate.  Lt. Reynolds already did that and, like a good Marine, put some cash on the register.  Lt. Reynolds thinks she’s having a boy.  And she wasn’t planning on any of this.  She just wanted to be a Marine.  She asks if Gibbs has kids.  He says he had a daughter (Hiatus, Part One, Episode 3.23).  He was deployed when Kelly was born, but Lt. Reynolds doesn’t have much of a choice.  Gibbs says it’s OK to be scared.  Not according to the Corps, Lt. Reynolds says.  That’s what she likes about the Corps: the set of measurable expectations.  How do you know with parenting?  Gibbs gives the answer every parent gives: you don’t. 

Lt. Reynolds is hungry, so Gibbs takes some food and also throws some money on the gas station’s cash register.

In interrogation, everyone, including the perp, is eating cookies.  McGee starts up with a little lie detector bit where he and Tony pretend they can tell when Tupolev is lying by how he eats the cookies.  He suddenly becomes self-conscious about eating.  When McGee asks if Tupolev was hired by someone at DOD, Tupolev eats but denies it.  Now they don’t believe him.  Which causes him to choke on the cookies when McGee mentions the Mayat tribe.  Tupolev calls the whole thing stupid and a head game.  Then he crushes the cookie.  Up to this point, the boys have just been trying to confirm things they already knew.  But Tupolev’s prepaid cell phone only has one number in it, six digits long.  So how is he supposed to contact his boys?  McGee guesses radio frequency after a number of guesses.  Tupolev becomes visibly agitated so that must be it.

Enh.  As interrogations go, that was pretty weak.

Gibbs and Ziva are still working on the engine.  But they got a bigger problem than the engine not turning over.  Lt. Reynolds emerges from the bathroom and her water just broke.  “OO-Rah?” she asks.

Tony doesn’t get along with McGee’s DOD contact in MTAC any better than McGee did and ends the transmission.  But McGee has something on the radio frequency angle.  They hear the remaining Russian mercs communicate their intent to meet at a gas station outside of Ridgeville.  The boys get moving.  They stop off at the squad room to get their gear and Palmer wishes them good luck.  Ed does too, but he’s a fuckwad about it.  And that’s it for Palmer.  Ed figures they’ll never make it in the weather.  “How the hell would you know?” Palmer demands.  He also demands that whether Ed respects him or not, he’d better damned respect that “my people” are risking their lives.  And until Ed can figure that out, they’re not going anywhere.  He tells him to “sit down and shut up.”

Yeah!

Lt. Reynolds continues to be in labor and is sitting in the backseat of the car now.  Gibbs still can’t start the vehicle.  Ziva sees an SUV approach.  Lt. Reynolds is really about to have this baby.  Gibbs leaves to draw fire and tells Ziva to stay with the lieutenant.  Lt. Reynolds pleads with Gibbs not to leave.  Gibbs asks in his gunny voice if she’s asking for special treatment.  She is indeed, just this once.  Ziva, knowing an escape hatch when she sees one, tosses Gibbs a first aid kit, loads her sidearm, and heads off to hunt up some mercs. 

Ziva heads out in the snow, sneaks up on one of the vehicles, opens the door and swats the merc unconscious.  She tries for two, but the second merc is already out of the car and in motion.  She hears him trying to jimmy the lock on the gas station.  We see him succeed and enter.

What follows is one of the most bizarre sequences in the history of this show.  A husky female vocalist rendition of Silent Night starts up.  Gibbs is telling Lt. Reynolds to push.  The merc, gun drawn, is stalking them, looking through the window from the store into the garage.  Gibbs yells “Push,” repeatedly.  Lt. Reynolds screams.  It’s all muted and sounds like his happening in a tunnel because the sound system is focused on the song.  Ziva appears from behind a door and shoots the merc.  He doesn’t die though (maybe she missed) and he gets off a couple of shots in her direction.  They all miss as she disappears behind the door.  Silent Night continues.  Both Gibbs and Lt. Reynolds hear the gunshots and Gibbs looks over at his gun.  It’s there if he needs it, but right now he has his hands full. 

Ziva has two guns and is firing both of them across the store. 

The merc is firing back as he bobs and weaves into the food aisles.  Potato chip bags are shredded by bullets.

Tony and McGee are on the icy roads, driving as fast as they dare.  Both look grim.

Gibbs reaches down and Lt. Reynolds screams again.

Ziva and the merc fire at each other and I don’t know how they both miss repeatedly in the confined space, but the camera shows that both run out of ammo at the same time, as their guns click open.

Silent Night plays on.

Ziva tackles the merc and punches his face.  He kicks her off him.  They grapple and knock over a Christmas tree and fall amongst some likely decorative presents.  Ziva has the guy’s throat though, and we see his tongue lolling out of his mouth as she gradually applies the pressure and appears to kill him.

Then we hear a baby crying.  It’s the circle of life!  Does Ziva smile here?  It’s a little hard to tell.

Silent Night is still progressing.

Lt. Reynolds asks if her baby is OK.  Gibbs says “She’s just fine.”

It’s a girl.  Haha- all for nothing Afghani-hired mercs. 

Gibbs grins and says she has her mom’s eyes.  Then he says, “Well done, Marine.”

Silent Night does not continue as we head to the squad room.  It’s job here is done.  Breena arrives to greet McGee and Tony.  She is concerned, given that Palmer and Ed never came home.  The boy’s gesture to where Palmer is sleeping at the cubicle next to Gibbs’s desk.  Ed is in there too.  They awaken and Breena informs them that it’s Christmas.  Palmer and Ed ask about the team and Ed seems flabbergasted that everyone is OK.  McGee gestures to the big screen, which shows a hospital pic of Lt. Reynolds and her baby.  Palmer delivers the moral and tells Ed that if he’s still wondering why the team puts in so many long hours and makes so many personal sacrifices…but he gets it.  Palmer says he appreciates the job offer but he’s happy where he works.  Ed says if it makes him happy and Breena is still…Breena tells him to stop.  Like all good dads, he says, “Never.”  But he makes his peace with Palmer and even puts his hand on his shoulder and says, “Merry Christmas.”

Tony is looking at Wendy’s invitation.  McGee sees this but says nothing and walks off.

In his basement, Gibbs is putting the finishing touches on a pretty pink bike.  Tony joins.  The bike is for Mike Frank’s granddaughter, who lives in DC now.  Tony figures Gibbs must have somewhere else to be.  Gibbs, all-knowing, suggests Tony does too.  But Tony actually went.  He sat in the car twenty minutes, debating.  And didn’t go in.  Tony wonders if Gibbs thinks he made a mistake.  Gibbs thinks he made it twice now.  Tony suggests that when he joined NCIS he knew Gibbs’s expectations, and that didn’t leave room for Wendy.  Gibbs stops halfway up the stairs and sighs.  He wonders if Tony came here to blame Gibbs.  No, Tony admits.  Tony picks up two glasses and says that family and job are two cups and if he couldn’t fill both that was his own fault.  But then he asks what if he can now?  Gibbs, annoyed now, says, “Then get out of my basement, man up, and move on.”  “Like you have?” Tony says, as closed to a sneer as he’s willing to come when addressing his mentor.  “Don’t be like me,” Gibbs retorts.  “Learn from it.”  Which is also a thing all good dads say.

Gibbs turns out the lights on Tony, but the basement Christmas lights flicker.  So, Gibbs has some Christmas spirit.  More than some.  He comes back down to get Tony.  He says Leyla, Franks’s daughter-in-law, is making lamb.  Tony isn’t sure if he should just show up, but all-knowing Gibbs told her Tony was coming last week.  “You’re not going to find what you’re looking for down here, DiNozzo.  Come on.” 

Merry Christmas.  In July. 

Quotables:

(1) Palmer: You guys, he actually thinks I’m stuck in some government job which pays too little and requires too many hours.

Gibbs [entering]: You are. Get off my desk. Grab your gear.

Palmer: Ah yes. Duty calls. I better call Ed and cancel.

Gibbs: Hold on. You’re not going anywhere. Family first.

(2) Palmer: Good luck.

Ed [sarcastically]: Yeah, good luck.

Palmer: Why in the world would you say it like that?

Ed: Why? The weather. The road closures. Because they’re not gonna make it.

Palmer: How the hell would you know?! They’re trained agents!

Ed: Well…

Palmer: You may not respect me or what it is we do, but you have to respect the fact that these people, my people, are risking their lives.

Ed: Well, when you put it like that…

Palmer: There’s no other way to put it. Until you learn that, we’re not going anywhere! Sit down and shut up!

Ziva-propisms: Ziva uses “sauteed” to describe the vehicles electrical system.  Gibbs is rarely the one to correct her, but he’s the only one there, so he says, “Fried.”

Tony Awards: Amazingly, we get no Christmas movie references.

Abby Road: Abby stays focused.

McNicknames: Tony re-visits “Autopsy Gremlin” in reference to Palmer.  He claims he says it with utmost respect, and Palmer claims to believe him.

Ducky Tales: DC’s Christmas attractions are on Ducky’s mind today.

The Rest of the Story:

-We learned about Wendy in the flashback episode, Baltimore, Episode 8.22.  I guess Tony told the others about her off screen.

-I’ve never known Gibbs to bench himself or any of the field agents when their family members are in town or they otherwise have plans, holiday or otherwise.  Maybe Palmer should take that personally.  Then again, Palmer is the only character on the show who has thus far demonstrated any aptitude for emotionally stable relationships (barring all the reckless, job endangering sex with Agent Lee in Season 4).  So maybe Gibbs is trying to preserve him.

-Of course, in fairness, the teams’ nearest and dearest are usually somehow involved in that episode’s case.  Ed is an outlier in that regard.

-That said, we’ll meet Breena’s dad again later.  Much later.  But he’ll be a little more involved, as per the standard formula next time.

-Mike Franks died in Swan Song, Episode 8.23.  He is survived by his daughter in law and granddaughter.  See Iceman, Episode 4.18, and Outlaws and In-Laws, Episode 7.6.

-All’s well that ends well, except for the Navy officer whose death started the whole thing. Under the circumstances, that stings more than usual this episode.

Casting Call: Ed Slater is played by Larry Miller who kind of looks like Rob Corddry and that other guy who looks like Rob Corddry (or “David Koechner” as he refers to himself).  But Larry Miller is neither of those people.  Miller did voice the Pointy-Haired Boss on Dilbert, which totally tracks.

Man, This Show Is Old: Palmer not being able to send Ed home in an Uber slightly dates the show.

MVP: By the rules of this blog, Ziva wins the prize for choking out a merc to the tune of Silent Night while a sweet baby girl was born in the next room.  And yet, for once, I find myself a touch disturbed, even though the guy unquestionably had it coming.  Regardless, let’s have Ziva share the award with Lt. Reynolds.  As a chaser.

Rating: Disturbed, but not disturbed enough to ding the episode.  This is another strong outing where everybody rose to the occasion.  Gibbs delivered a baby.  Ziva jauntily left him to this task while she killed a merc.  Tony and McGee didn’t hesitate to charge into elemental and physical danger.  Palmer told Ed to suck it.  None of this is surprising by now, but merging the standard Christmas feels and the birth of a child with this team’s uncommon devotion to each other and to their jobs creates a powerful effect.  And great title.  Nine Palmers, for a streak of four episodes out of five.

Next Time: While this was the Christmas episode, a Ghost of NCIS Past nonetheless visits next episode.  Yup, NCIS Special Agent EJ Barrett is back.

Alex Barfield is an attorney in Atlanta, Georgia. When not practicing law or writing about NCIS, he chases his children around, volunteers at his church, and looks for other television shows to obsess over. He can be reached at albarfie@gmail.com or on Twitter at @AlexBarfield1.