10.01 Extreme Prejudice

Yeah, I know I’m five months late. Don’t act like you’re surprised.

Previously on NCIS: Toby Zeigler was evil, Jamie Lee Curtis was annoying, Ducky had a heart attack, lots of bombs went off, and Gary Glasberg managed to steer this ship away from the iceberg it was headed for under Captain Brennan. Well done, sir. Well done indeed.

We start where we left off on May 15, 2012. Ducky’s in the hospital in Florida (HE’S ALIVE!!!!!!!!!) and his doctor tells him that he had a heart attack. There’s a bunch of hospital talk that I don’t understand but fortunately the actors are wearing worried expressions so I know the news isn’t great. Also tipping me off to the extent of the badness is how Ducky looks.

Nice job, make up department. The doctor asks Ducky if he knows where he is. “Purgatory,” Ducky replies. That’s a great Ducky line right there. The doctor says that “people” found Ducky on the beach where he collapsed (nice find, “people”) and that Mr Palmer has been with him the whole time. Ducky looks down.

Awwww. Side note: Where’s Jimmy’s wedding ring? He’s only a couple of hours into this arrangement and he’s already flaunting a naked finger?

Ducky mutters something to Jimmy about the others, but Jimmy wants to focus on Ducky. Ducky stubbornly (and breathlessly) asks if “they” are all right. Jimmy’s reply:

I bet he’s no good at poker. He admits that he has no idea because he hasn’t been able to reach anyone. Ruh-row!

Credits. They’ve changed since last season and they now start off with a hilarious hero shot of the team.

You’ve seen this before at the beginning of every Law & Order episode ever. And every Joss Whedon show ever. And probably a gajillion other shows. Because it’s something we can all relate to, you know? I always walk in formation like that with my colleagues. It makes getting into the elevator when we head out for coffee en masse at 9.15 every morning difficult, but people do tend to get out of your way when they see you hero strutting towards them.

Moving on. More importantly, the credits now feature this guy:

Brian Dietzen, you deliciously dorky sexpot, I’m so glad to see you there.

Navy Yard. It looks busted up, but not as busted up as I think it should after all that C4 exploded. The external walls are still basically in tact despite the random bricks strewn about Vance’s burnt out car.

I’m not an explosives expert. Nor am I an explosives amateur, hobbyist or dabbler. But seriously. That was a lame ass explosion. Or the NCIS building has been retrofitted with that stuff they fitted out the Pentagon in that absorbs explosions. I suppose I could believe that. Fine.

People wander around the Yard in dusty, torn and bloodied clothes. I guess none of these people are agents, otherwise they’d be swarming in agent-like fashion and baying for blood. Or maybe Gibbs’ team is the only team that does that. Bunch of drama queens. As this episode progresses you’d be forgiven for thinking that Gibbs’ team is literally the only team of agents that NCIS has. But we’ll get to that.

Abby sits in the rubble as a paramedic puts a Band-Aid on her neck.

Is her hair shorter than it was before the explosion? That’s pretty impressive. I didn’t know C4 could trim your split ends. Gibbs rushes out of the smoke across the lawn from her and looks panicked until he sees her. He looks relieved.

Wait, what? Why was he worried about her? He was in the frigging lab with her when the bomb went off, and presumably they got out together. He knows she’s okay. What’s your damage, Gibbs?

Also, seriously, what is your damage? A scrape on the forehead and beside your ear? That’s it? You and Abby were standing about 15 feet from the bomb. You were literally in Vance’s car when you looked at Abby through the window of her lab and saw her there. The bomb exploded right on the other side of the wall from where you two were standing. And all either of you got were scrapes? Lamest. Explosion. Ever.

Vance turns up. He’s fine as well. Except he lost his jacket. Damn you, Dearing! How dare you ruin a man’s jacket! Vance has a case of the guilts about his car being the one to bring the bomb onto the yard, and then Sec Nav turns up to ask about casualties. Vance says there were “enough” of them without giving a number (to be fair, he probably doesn’t know yet). Sec Nav says the President has been briefed and that he (Sec Nav, that is) wants a plan of action ASAP. Vance wanders away with a Marine, leaving Gibbs to turn to Sec Nav and go all Gibbsy. “The plan is to find the rest of my team, sir.” But none of the other missing agents, because they’re not as TV beautiful as Weatherly and de Pablo and are therefore not as important.

Sec Nav agrees (natch) and says that the FBI’s coming in to help NCIS with the investigation. WOOHOO! FORNELL! Sec Nav goes on, “No one does this to the United States Navy!” Well, clearly someone just did. I think you meant to add, “And gets away with it.” But point made. You’re pissed and revengey. Someone get Emily Thorne on the phone.

Vance comes back to say that the building is basically fine, save a few offices that aren’t accessible. Lamest. Explosion. Ever. Sec Nav says to Gibbs, “Find your people. Make sure they’re safe. Then I want this son of a bitch.” Gibbs storms off.

Elevator. Ziva’s sitting on Tony’s shoulders and trying to force the ceiling hatch open, but without success. Tony sarcastically says that he’s so glad they broke protocol and took the elevator. Well, at least he’s acknowledging the plot contrivance bunny in the room. Also? I hope no one ever lets you two live that down. With Ziva’s thighs around his neck, Tony makes a comment about Famke Janssen’s Bond Girl who would squeeze men to death with her muscular thighs.

He goes to squeeze her knee, and Ziva tightens her thighs around him and says she can think of worse ways to die. She takes a few more shots at the hatch and then concludes that they’re stuck. Tony says, “Well, keep pushing, Thighmaster. I’m beginning to enjoy this.” I found that comment a bit icky, but that’s just me. Then the elevator shakes or lurches or whatever and Ziva looses her balance and slides off Tony’s shoulders to the floor.

Ziva says they slipped (yeah, thanks, got that), and Tony replies, “Really? I thought the earth moved.” I know he’s just being Tony, but…ugh. (I’m in the minority, I know, but that line made me feel icky too.) Ziva points out that he’s sweaty (hence blaming him for her slipping).

Tony says it’s hot in the elevator (bom-chicka-wow-wow) (also, consider taking of your suit jacket, dude). Ziva says she hadn’t noticed. “Really?” Tony asks, and brushes her hair off her face.

THAT got me. Rrroww! Ziva kind of laughs it off and they both look momentarily uncomfortable/nervous and then Ziva’s cell rings. They have cell phone reception in there? Wow. Impressive. It’s Eli calling (which I find totally weird and a bit out of character, but whatever), and Ziva assures him she’s all right and that they’re stuck in an elevator. She pauses to tell Tony that the bombing is all over the news in Israel. I don’t really buy that either. Tony calmly asks if she can ask “the great Eli David” if he could help them find Harper Dearing. Ziva says he’s actually offering. Then Tony asks if there’s any way he can help “GET US OUT OF THIS ELEVATOR!” Ziva reverts back to Hebrew for a moment before saying, “Tony is never going to change, Aba.” Tony looks vaguely hurt.

When she hangs up Tony says it was sweet that her dad called, and that he expects his to call at any second. They both stare at his silent cell phone until the scene cuts. Parenting fail, Daddy D.

Gibbs wanders into the bullpen and surveys the damage.

Ziva’s computer is gone, but Gibbs’ is still on. He approaches McGee who’s standing by his desk and looking whipped.

Gibbs is relieved to see him and checks that he’s okay. McGee thinks he is. He tells Gibbs that Tony and Ziva are in the elevator and that the rescue crews are working to get them out. Then he starts to take off his jacket and head outside to get some fresh air, but Gibbs stops him on account of the great big hunk of glass sticking out of his abdomen.

I’ll buy that he didn’t necessarily feel that because he’s probably in shock, but don’t you think he would have seen it? I’ve never been in an explosion—neither a big one or a lame one like this—but I reckon one of the first things I’d do as I picked myself up off the floor would be to look over myself for injuries. Or even wipe all the dust off my hands on my torso. But that’s just me.

McGee is surprised by the injury and Gibbs is worried.

See? Worried.

Florida. Jimmy and Ducky are watching news footage of Marine One flying over the Navy Yard. Ducky says that he has to get back to Washington immediately to help, and tells Jimmy to secure the first transport he can. Jimmy’s like, “Um, not so much, what with the heart attack and all.” Ducky bitches about being stuck in the hospital (which he calls a “germ-ridden Petrie dish,” and no kidding, I got the WORST case of gastro a few years back after visiting someone in hospital. True story. You’re welcome) and says that his medication is doing its job and once the stents are in place he’ll be totes able to go back to work. But to quote Hunters and Collectors, the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. And he knows it.

Aww. Ducky. Now MY heart hurts, and I’m almost certain it’s not from all the bacon I’ve had today. Jimmy gently tells him that it’s not going to happen, all the while looking at him like he’s got a gaping puss-ridden sore on his forehead.

Ducky tells Jimmy to go without him, but Jimmy says he’s got to stay with Ducky. Aww. Jimmy. Ducky. You guys. I love you both. He says he’s got to be around to talk to the doctors and starts to say that he’ll have Breena come in the help, but Ducky insists that he can do that himself. Jimmy firmly says, “You need me.” Ducky gasps, “They need you more.” Scene.

Gibbs strides into Vance’s (largely untouched) office with Fornell in tow. Hi Fornell!

I love that guy. Sec Nav’s there with Vance but he’s on the phone to the President. Vance asks after McGee, and Gibbs says, “He got lucky. Stitches.” And I guess we’re supposed to be relieved, but they barely made a deal out of the injury at all so the news doesn’t make much of an impact. He says that Tony and Ziva are still in the elevator. Fornell: “That must be cosy.” Ha!

Vance asks about Ducky and Gibbs breaks the heart attack news (and it seems like Vance didn’t know, but surely he knew that Ducky was in Florida, so he couldn’t have thought he was caught in the blast, right?) and says that Jimmy’s on his way back.

Sec Nav gets off the phone with the Pres and says that he’s been given orders to find Harper Dearing and proceed with “extreme prejudice.” And we have an episode title! Fornell points out that Dearing has been eluding them all for months, so what makes Sec Nav think that they’ll magically be able to find him now? Sec Nav says that the President gave them the orders, so if they fail they’ll all be busted down to the mailroom for the next 20 years.

Elevator. Tony and Ziva have been there for hours.

He’s still got his jacket on. It can’t be that hot in there. She says she can’t take much more of being stuck in there. Beg to differ. She was once stuck in the elevator all night with McGee. There’s a joke about Tony being smelly (haven’t had one of those jokes in years) and then he says the situation could be worse. She could be stuck in there with Miguel from Human Resources, who apparently sweats more than anyone Ziva has ever known. Tony throws out Jeremy from Office Operations as a candidate, a guy Tony doesn’t seem to like because he’s always undressing Ziva with his eyes, and Tony thinks that’s creepy (pot, meet kettle).

The nice thing about this scene is that the two of them are laughing together. Not at each other, or ganging up on McGee. They’re just having a laugh.

I loved that moment. Until Ziva breaks the mood by wondering if either Miguel or Jeremy is dead. Bummer.

Then there’s a bunch of noise from outside and…ta dah! Firemen open the elevator doors and then Abby pops into view.

She’s suddenly extremely excited (which is to say she’s regular Abby excited) which is kind of jarring given that the last time we saw her she was Mopey McSadFace. Tony and Ziva are happy to see her, and Abby comments that they must be ready to kill each other.

Tony and Ziva:

Sneaky look. It seems like they may have just realised that they weren’t ready to kill each other, and for those two I think that’s significant. Abby blabbers on about who she’d like to be stuck in an elevator with (Amelia Earhart, Michelle Obama, Joan of Arc or the whole cast of Cirque du Soleil) until Tony and Ziva both yell at her to shut up. Thank you.

Gibbs’ house. It’s Grumpy Old Men time! 

Fornell checks that Gibbs called his dad to tell him he’s okay. Gibbs is upset because Dearing hurt his family. But it’s going to be all right, because Fornell brought cannoli with him. He’s such a good friend. They talk about whether they’re going to be able to catch Dearing. Gibbs is worried, but Fornell points out that every federal agency is on alert for him. Fornell asks Gibbs to let him take the reigns on the investigation, and assures him that he’ll proceed with extreme prejudice, just like the Pres asked.

Gibbs:

Dude ain’t gonna give up nothin’.

Street in D.C.. Dearing has stopped in front of an electronics store or something to watch news footage of the explosion on about a dozen TVs. A woman approaches him and strikes up a conversation about how crazy it all is and how they should all remember how lucky they are to be alive. Dearing’s like, “Yeah. Very fortunate.” The woman introduces herself as Lorraine and asks Dearing if he wants to go somewhere to talk or ‘something’. So we’re supposed to think she’s a prostitute. And Dearing goes with her.

They arrive at her bedsit and she lounges seductively on the bed. 

Dearing immediately asks to use the restroom, and while he’s in there Lorraine predictably grabs a gun from inside her bed sheets and then lets a bunch of FBI SWAT-type guys in. They all stand facing the bathroom door and give no warning before they open fire.

They’re pretty trigger happy. The door opens and—surprise, surprise—Dearing’s not there. He’s jumped out the window, but has left a present for the FBI.

He really likes leaving messages with his bombs, huh? So the bomb explodes and all the FBI agents die. Farewell, Lorraine. We hardly knew you. But you were a damn fine fake whore.

Navy Yard the next day. Fornell is pissed. Ziva points out that they’re taunting Dearing, and Gibbs agrees that they need to take the fight to Dearing. Then he strides off in that way he does when there’s something he needs to do…alone. (Not that, pervs.) Ziva, Tony and Fornell watch him go, and they all wear the same “This cannot end well” expression:

I can’t believe Tony’s in a suit today. If there was ever a better case for Mufti Day, I don’t know what it would be. Jeans and a t-shirt, man. No one’s going to mind.

Vance and Gibbs watch a ZNN report about the FBI arresting Dearing’s ex-wife. This is part of their ruse to flush Dearing out of hiding, so presumably this scene is happening at least a few hours after the last if this is all part of Gibbs’ plan. Gibbs says that Dearing’s wife is under federal protection out of state. Vance asks Gibbs how he knows that Dearing won’t just blow something up in retaliation. Gibbs says because he already achieved his goal of striking back at the Navy. Vance isn’t convinced it’ll work.

Angry Leon! It’s as if he expected that Gibbs would have kept him in the loop or something. But surely they’ve known each other long enough now that Vance knows Gibbs only ever does whatever the hell it is he wants to do, regardless of approvals, legality and consequences. That Gibbs! He’s such a little rascal.

Gibbs tells Vance to stop feeling sorry for himself. Vance points out that he was the one who drove the bomb into the Navy Yard and parked it in front of the building, so he kind of had a hand in causing the largely cosmetic damage to the building and the deaths of a few extras. Gibbs says that Dearing wants all this to gnaw away at Vance from the inside, but he’s got to be stronger than that. Oh, Okay. Thanks. Good talk.

Lab. Abby’s sweeping up when Ziva bounces in to say that McGee’s been released from hospital. I’m confused about whether we were supposed to be worried about him. I think probably not. Abby doesn’t bounce at squeal at the news as you’d expect, and then goes on a rant about Dearing being a nutjob. Ziva suggests that Abby focus on the good in the situation, namely that they’re all alive (except for those poor extras), but Abby says that all she sees in the situation is pain and destruction.

“I want good back,” she pouts.

Yes. She is hugging a stuffed animal as she pouts. I’d go into a rant here, but I’m saving that for next episode.

Ziva reminds her that a terrorist is only as strong as the fear he creates (so don’t dwell on the bad feelings and instead hold onto your blessings). In reply, Abby hugs her.

Ziva’s face: Oh, for God’s sake.

Abby tells her, “Kick. His. Ass.”

Bullpen. Tony tells Gibbs that the armoury got hit pretty hard, and Gibbs notes that they were pretty close to the explosion. Closer than you and Abby? Really? Because you looked really close and the two of you and the lab are basically fine.

Tony asks Gibbs if he’s talked to Jamie Lee Curtis since the explosion. Oh God, please don’t bring her into this. I’m worried her name is now a Bloody Mary and if you say it enough times into the mirror she’ll pop up again. Gibbs doesn’t exactly answer, but it’s pretty clear he hasn’t called her (thank God). Tony says, “Must’ve been nice. Having someone to talk to. For a while.” Tony has issues, you guys, and he’s projecting.

Vance calls Gibbs to MTAC, and when he arrives he throws a “Welcome back” to McGee, who’s sitting at the controls. McGee says his injury was nothing a Band-Aid couldn’t fix. Okay, then. Lamest. Injury. Ever.

McGee patches them through to a videoconference with Dearing, who appears to be sitting in the back of a car.

Creepy much? He says he knows that they arrested his ex-wife just to get to him. As McGee tracks his cell phone signal, Dearing, Vance and Gibbs talk about lessons learnt and I know I should be more invested in this scene but I’m totally not. Dearing says he’s got nothing else planned, but if they come after him they should keep in mind that he’s totally dangerous because he has nothing left to lose. Meanwhile, McGee has traced his signal. They hang up on Dearing, call Sec Nav and ask for a SWAT team to be deployed to Dearing’s location. Within literally ten seconds a helicopter carrying the SWAT team closes in on Dearing’s car and our guys watch it on a thermal satellite signal. (Suspend all belief, suspend all belief, suspend all belief.) As the SWAT team touches down and approach the car on foot, the car explodes. We all saw that coming, right? Vance tells Sec Nav that Dearing took himself out, but Gibbs wants to recover the remains to make sure it was him. Good call.

Autopsy. Jimmy’s with the remains. He voiceovers that his best friend has had a heart attack (aw, best friend!) and that he’s now doing his job. “A job I would have been nervous enough about doing, even if I hadn’t just stepped off a plane after having not slept for two days, and you are not helping matters, Abby!” Turns out Abby’s lurking in the hallway outside autopsy and refusing to come in and be anywhere near Dearing, even in death. I am currently making Ziva’s “Oh, for God’s sake” face. Jimmy notes that he hasn’t been able to reach any of Dearing’s next of kin yet (which Abby is not sympathetic about).

While Jimmy freaks out that he hasn’t had enough time with the body to complete a full autopsy report, Gibbs, Vance and Fornell stride in. With his back to them, Jimmy assumes it’s Abby lurking again and does some more irritated yelling before realising his mistake and getting typically Jimmy about it. Gibbs throws Jimmy a quick “Congrats” (about the wedding, not about finding the balls to yell at Abby), and they get down to business. Jimmy found a useable tissue sample for DNA testing, which he gave to Abby, who is now waiting for the expedited results (that’s why she’s hovering). And just like that, the results are in. But she makes them wait a moment while she reads the report.

Fornell (deadpan): “The suspense is killing me.” 

Oh, Fornell. You’re such a cranky terrier. I love you.

Abby eventually says that they have a 50 per cent DNA match between the charred remains and Dearing. Abby says that’s more than she would have expected, given the ‘compromised’ condition of the remains. So basically we know straight away that a) it’s not Harper Dearing, and b) everything that happens from now until the end of the episode is Abby’s fault. (Oh fine, it is not.) The 50 per cent match and the expert opinion of a 40-year-old woman in pigtails is enough for Vance and Fornell (and even Jimmy looks relieved), but the expression on Gibbs’ face suggests that he’s got a not-so-nice feeling in his waters about this.

We skip forward in time to July 10, 2012. A yellow cab pulls up at the Navy Yard and Ducky drags himself out of the back seat. Gibbs wanders up as Ducky surveys all the construction work still going on around them. And by ‘all’ the construction work, I mean there are three guys in hard hats looking at a plan and the far off sound of a bench saw. Gibbs has a smile on his face as he welcomes Ducky back, and I swear to God this better not be the first time that Gibbs has checked in with his dear old friend since said friend had a heart attack.

Gibbs asks how he’s feeling, and Ducky grumbles about his recuperation routine: he has to count his calories like a ballerina, he sweats to the oldies three times a week (I would pay good money to see that), “and where I once kept pace with the hare, I am now envious of the tortoise”. Gibbs is like, “Well, you’re alive.” I bet Gibbs’ nickname in the Marines was Mr Brightside.

Ducky and his new walking cane are keen to get back to work, but Gibbs is all ‘shuffle before you walk, bro. Doctor wants you to take it e-zay’. “So I have been told,” Ducky grits out. They talk a bit about Dearing and it soon becomes clear that Gibbs inviting Ducky to the Navy Yard for tea was actually a ruse. A RUSE! Because he wants Ducky’s advice on what happened. You know, without actually working. This lifts Ducky’s spirits immensely.

Bullpen. McGee’s on the phone to Gramma Penny, who is apparently on a cruise in Europe and threatening to come home to make sure McGee’s okay. That’s nice, but this is all happening two months after the attack, so it’s not like she dropped everything to call. McGee firmly tells Penny that he will not be calling his father, and then wonders aloud to Jimmy why he told his grandmother about the explosion. Wait, so…according to Eli David, the attack was on every news station in Israel, and we know it had blanket coverage in the US. But Penny knew nothing about it? Right-o. McGee hangs up on her.

Jimmy says that calling his dad might be beneficial, but McGee gives him ‘you crazy?’ eyes. He says, “The Admiral and I only talk when absolutely necessary.” He goes on to say that everything is basically returning to normal at NCIS, so why would he want to reopen old wounds? Jimmy comes right out and says that he’s still kind of freaked out about it all, but he’s got Breena to talk to when he goes home at night. “The only thing worse than being scared is being scared alone.” McGee gets sad face at that.

He doesn’t get to wallow for too long before a woman in a cream skirt suit asks if either of them is Gibbs. “Maybe in my dreams!” Jimmy cracks, and you know what? I reckon that probably happens a lot.

The woman identifies herself as Joanne Dearing, Harper Dearing’s sister-in-law. She says she’s been away on business but was told Gibbs wanted to see her. In the conference room she tells Gibbs she’s been in London and Hong Kong as a ‘personal assistant’, if you know what I mean, and I think you do. Gibbs tells her that no one claimed Dearing’s body, and she says that if his ex-wife didn’t, nobody will.

She tells him a bit about the Dearings and says that everything changed for them when their son died. Also, Joanne’s husband, Harper’s brother Lawrence, died four months ago from a heart attack. She says that the Dearings have a family plot in Augusta, and Gibbs deduces that Harper had access to Lawrence’s remains. Joanne doesn’t see how that matters. I don’t see how knowing where the body is buried means that Harper had ‘access’ to it, exactly. Did he also have ‘access’ to a…thing? Truck with the…arm? God, brain is failing me. You know, the claw thing? Digger? Is that what it is? I’m just trying to make the point that Harper probably couldn’t have dug his brother’s body up by himself with just a shovel and some elbow grease.

Autopsy. Jimmy’s pleased to see Ducky, who Gibbs is just bringing in now. What the hell is up with this timeline?? Ducky arrives to see Gibbs, Gibbs interviews Joanne, and then Gibbs brings Ducky down to autopsy? I mean, why didn’t Ducky go down without Gibbs? Why did he wait? Okay, you know what? Doesn’t matter. Moving on. Jimmy has Dearing’s remains out for Ducky to see (see? He even knew Ducky was coming! Where has Ducky been while Gibbs was with Joanne??) and Ducky talks a bit about how families generally don’t claim the remains of one of their own if they turn out to be a giant murderous douchebag. Jimmy is so happy to listen to a Ducky story.

But Gibbs is a buzzkill and gets the ol’ man back on track. Jimmy starts to give him a rundown on the autopsy, but Ducky spots something literally three seconds after looking at the body. Jimmy warns him against touching it because he could get in heaps of trouble if anyone finds out Ducky was here, but Ducky just breaks off a piece of rib or something and mutters, “Call a cop.” Dayum, Ducky gots some ‘tude. Jimmy looks at the bit of rib Ducky just cracked off the body and gets his story straight. “Guess that happened in the explosion.” Ha! I love Duckman and the Gremlin together.

Anyway, apparently there are minute fractures in the rib bone. Gibbs asks if that is due to CPR, and Ducky confirms that whoever this dead dude in front of them is, he had a massive coronary incident before he died and someone tried hard to revive him. Jimmy informs the audience that Dearing didn’t have a history of heart problems, and Gibbs ties it together. Dearing didn’t have heart problems, but his brother who just died of a heart attack did. Wow. It’s a good thing we just had that oddly placed scene or else…I guess we would’ve found out another way. Moving on.

Bullpen. Abby tells Gibbs that probably the car that exploded with a Dearing in it had the heat turned up to give the illusion over NCIS’s thermal cameras that the body inside it was alive. How did Dealing even know that NCIS was watching with thermal cameras? And, more importantly, why is Abby wearing this?

We’re probably going to accept that’s one of the questions this show will never answer. Along with how Gibbs gets his boats out of his basement and who the hell thought that Jenny Shepard would make a believable director. Abby says that the bomb that took out the car was thermite (which I’m fairly certain doesn’t explode, but whatever, I’m not a scientist). She also says that Dearing’s cell phone signal was rigged to only make it look like it was in the car. WHA??

So, let’s break this down. Abby has presumably only worked out these two things in the last ten minutes. Why didn’t she work it out months ago? Like, when they were working the case and processing the scene? I’m guessing the FBI did the actual forensic work on the car, but did they neglect to tell NCIS that they found thermite? They didn’t hand over their forensic report? NCIS didn’t ask to see it? And the cell phone thing wasn’t checked out before now? McGee and Abby do the tracking thing all the time, and they always note when something’s hinky. But when they’re trying to find a terrorist they just kind of take everything at face value? REALLY?

Not that any of this matters now.

Gibbs tells Ziva to call Fornell because he needs a new nation-wide BOLO on Harper Dearing.

Ziva and Tony both appear to be surprised by this news.

Tony asks the question so those of us in the audience who don’t understand what’s going on can catch up. “Boss, isn’t Dearing dead?” Gibbs just goes, “Nope.” Well. There you have it.

McGee tries to track Dearing using his old cell phone number (and be sure to have the results checked and rechecked, you clowns). It’s disconnected (realllly?) so McGee decides to do a search on phones with similar calling patterns. Oh, for the love of…Fine. Whatever. Meanwhile, Tony does a search on Joanne’s bank records and Ziva gets off the phone with Fornell. “Agent Fornell asked me to convey this message,” she tells Gibbs. “’Are you freaking kidding me?’” HAHA!

Tony finds that Joanne just had $250,000 deposited in her bank account, so McGee pulls up Joanne’s phone records. Apparently in the days after Dearing’s car exploded she got a couple of calls from a disposable cell phone in the Appalachian Mountains. Ziva finds Joanne’s credit card receipts for gas in a town in the Appalachians, and so Gibbs decides he wants to have another chat with her. There you go. Now you’re on the right track. Took you two months, but we can’t solve everything in the first 48.

So Joanne’s hauled into the interrogation room, and it is now that I realise that the person Joanne reminds me of is a boss I had once who was hands down the most controlling, paranoid and crazy boss I’ve ever had. Clearly, this woman is bad news. Sec Nav and Vance are in the viewing room while Gibbs goes the Full Gibbs on her. That’s an interrogation move I just made up, but I know you know what I’m talking about.

Paper throwing, desk thumping, angry old man yelling and crawling over the table. This is the point of an interrogation where, if I were in Joanne’s seat, I would either burst into tears or laughter. Joanne goes for tears. She explains that Dearing showed up in her living room after he was reported dead, looking for the flag from his son’s funeral that he couldn’t bear to take at the time. Joanne and Lawrence had kept it for him. She says Dearing wanted to help her after her husband died, and then swears she didn’t know until then that he had faked his death. She kept quiet because she needed the money. Gibbs makes her give up Dearing’s location.

Appalachian Mountains. The team plus Fornell and some SWAT dudes storm a ramshackle house that I think has been used on this show before. They don’t find Dearing, but they do find your standard plans of a crazy person (photos, scrawled notes, maps, ship plans, string connecting them all, electronics and a coupla barrels of thermite).

Gibbs decides that this all means that Dearing wanted them to know that he’s finished with his plans. McGee says that his little hand-held thermal imaging device has found that someone was here less than an hour ago. Geez, that little device is convenient. Fornell points out that none of them saw him leave, and Tony immediately finds a squeaky floorboard. There’s a trap door under the rug, so they all get their guns at the ready before flinging the door open. It’s empty. But Gibbs knows the space down there is an old moonshine prohibition run. Fornell informs those of us with little knowledge of history that the passageway down there probably goes all the way to the state border. Hey! That means that Dearing could have used the secret passageway to run all the way to Virginia without being seen! That diabolical bastard.

Back from the ad break, Gibbs is measuring his basement floor, so expect to see more woodworking sometime this year. Oh! I’d like to see a short film where Gibbs and Ron Swanson get together for an afternoon. There would be zero talking, some drinking of whisky and eating of meat, and by the end of the film they’ll have built a three-storey cubby house with an elevator on a pulley system, a nine-piece dining suit, two rocking chairs on the wraparound veranda and a decorative bald eagle over the door. Someone make that happen.

Vance shows up and Gibbs tells him that forensics linked everything in the cabin to Dearing. Vance exposits that dogs swept the tunnel beneath the cabin and they reckon they missed Dearing by 20 minutes. The dogs told him that? Well, I don’t know if they can be trusted. Were they wearing pigtails? Vance says that the FBI and Homeland Security are working on leads to track Dearing down. The two of them settle down into a really pretty shot and get to talking.

Gibbs tells Vance he wants to go after Dearing alone. He says this is all bigger than bombs on ships now. Dearing has made mistakes, and Gibbs can relate so he thinks he’s the right man to track him down and kill him. I’m sure Dearing will respect that. I’m not sure if I’m being sarcastic.

“He’s waiting for me,” Gibbs tells Vance. You know, there is some kind of twisted romance to situations like this. And Vance knows it, but he doesn’t like it.

Gibbs reckons that Dearing will be in the house where he and his wife raised his son. And he knows this because it’s where he would go if he were in Dearing’s shoes. Don’t forget, there was a time when Gibbs sorta kinda was in Dearing’s shoes. And he did return to the house where he and Shannon raised Kelly. And he hasn’t left the house ever since. Ooh, you guys? Gibbs totes understands Dearing. Like I said, there’s a twisted romance to it. Anyway, Vance continues to not like the plan, but gives Gibbs the go-ahead.

Next day, Gibbs is packing his old Marine backpack at his desk.

Aw, it’s got his name on it! Ziva’s not feeling the cute, though. Girl is pissed.

Grr! Pissed! McGee hands Gibbs the address of Dearing’s house, even as Ziva tells him not to because Gibbs is being a stubborn fool. Takes one to know one. Tony does his patented ‘watching silently from his desk as he tries not to freak out’ move.

Gibbs ignores them both and takes the address from McGee. McGee gently checks that Gibbs doesn’t want any company, and then double checks that Vance knows about all this. Gibbs assures them that Vance knows everything.

Ziva declares the situation to be infuriating, and Tony calmly interprets her mood for the others. “Ziva is upset.” Heh. Gibbs continues to ignore them and shoulders his bag. As he strides past their desks he asks, “What’s a four letter word for surviving a terrorist attack?” Tony says it’s ‘luck’. Gibbs doesn’t pause but does look back over his shoulder at them. “Watch out for other,” he says. McGee watches him go with a forlorn expression. Ziva grits her teeth. Tony sighs heavily. Yep, that pretty much sums them all up. Nicely done.

Gibbs arrives at a pretty ranch kind of thing as horses neigh in the background. He walks through the open door into the house as a tape recording Dearing’s son made on his first few days at sea plays. The flag Dearing took back from Joanne is beside the tape player, and aside from the table they’re on and a framed photo of their family on the wall, the house is empty. Expect for Dearing, who is in the kitchen and trying to make Gibbs a nice cup of coffee. He says he was hoping Gibbs would figure all this out…eventually. He seems disappointed in Gibbs for taking so long. No kidding.

Dearing gives up on the coffee and offers whisky instead. Gibbs refuses. He also refuses Dearing’s offer to have a seat. Rude house guest much? Dearing tells Gibbs they’re a lot alike, because of what Gibbs did for Shannon and Kelly. They both did what they had to do. Tru dat. Gibbs sort of looks like he might cry.

Dearing moves things along because they both know how this is going to go. He walks to a window, turning his back on Gibbs but making sure Gibbs sees the gun he’s left on the windowsill. Dearing says they both had a job to do. He’s done his, and although he has some regrets about how it went down, ultimately he did what he intended to do. Gibbs pulls his knife out of his pocket and comes up behind Dearing, and Dearing closes his eyes because he knows what’s coming.

And not to break up the story or anything, but Richard Schiff rocks this scene.

Dearing grabs his gun and turns, and Gibbs immediately sticks his knife into his gut. They have this moment when they just look at each other.

Gibbs is so silent, but you can see in his eyes that this isn’t all about punishment for what Dearing did to the Navy. There’s also some mercy there. He knows what Dearing is going through, and he’s putting him out of his misery. And if things had gone slightly differently, I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to think that Gibbs would’ve sought someone to put him out of his misery all those years ago too. Wow. Deep.

So. That’s the end of Dearing.

Back at the Navy Yard, it’s September 25, 2012. There’s a monument on the grounds to the people who lost their lives on May 15 (none of the people we care about though, phew!), and Gibbs takes a moment to stand there and reflect.

Then Gibbs looks out at his team as a tape recording that Dearing and his son made for his mother and grandmother plays.

Dearing’s son says that he joined the Navy because he loves America and what it stands for, and he wants to protect it. He’s proud of himself for doing it. “Yeah, so am I,” Dearing replies. And then Gibbs smiles to himself at all of these people on his team doing the same thing, and after 43 minutes and 22 seconds of angst-ridden storytelling, we end on a Gibbs smile that assures us that everything is going to be okay.

Phew!