We're "one agent short" - that's what McGee says to DiNozzo, who's sidelined in tonight's episode 9.10 of NCIS, for the very good reason that his father (DiNozzo, Sr.) is the chief suspect in the case at hand.
Robert Wagner is back playing Sr, as bon vivant and altogether excellent as ever. But the evidence against him is impressive - finger prints on the bottle murder weapon, an angry argument caught on video with the victim, and no memory of what happened during the crucial hours.
The key to the whudunnit resides in Morgan Hunt (played by David Rees Snell of The Shield fame), the helpful exec who is quick to volunteer the incriminating tape. But with Abby hard at work, the attempt to frame Sr won't stick - she finds that he was given a roofie (and he, irrepressible, is almost flattered about that) and that his finger prints were only on the middle not the neck of the bottle. But that was the part the murderer would have grasped, swinging the deadly bottle. As Abby points out, it's "conveniently wiped clean". Good to see her play such a crucial role again.
Junior breaks the rest of the case, discovering the woman who drugged Sr, which leads the team to Hunt (she was working for him, but didn't quite know she was framing someone for murder). The moral of this part of the story is the team indeed needs DiNozzo, which is no great revelation - we already knew this - but you can't see it too many times.
Gibbs once again plays the emotionally stabilizing role, not only stopping Sr. being taken away when Abby steps up with some of the further evidence, but arranging for the DiNozzos to spend their first Thanksgiving together in who knows how long. Junior needs you as a father, Gibbs tells Sr., not your money, bringing home the point that NCIS is as much about family this year as fighting bad guys.
See also NCIS 9.1: Unpacking Partial Amnesia ... NCIS 9.2: Lying to Yourself ... NCIS 9.3: McGee's Grandmother ... NCIS 9.4: Turkey Vulture as Explained by DiNozzo ... NCIS 9.5: Behrooz's Mother ... NCIS 9.6: Too Good to be True ... NCIS 9.7: "You Were My Shannon, Leroy" ... NCIS 9.8: Intersections with Reality ... NCIS 9.9: Twists and History
And see also NCIS Back in Season 8 Action ... NCIS 8.2: Interns! ... NCIS 8.3: Tiff! ... NCIS 8.4: Gary Cooper not John Wayne ... NCIS 8.5: Dead DJ, DiNozzo Hoarse, and Baseball ... NCIS 8.6: The Written Woman ... NCIS 8.7: "James Bond Movie Directed by Fellini" ... NCIS 8.8: Ziva's Father ... NCIS 8.9: Leon's Story ... NCIS 8.10: DiNozzo In and Out ... NCIS 8.11: "The Sister Went Viral" ... Bob Newhart on NCIS 8.12 ... NCIS 8.13: The Wife or the Girlfriend ... NCIS 8.14: Kate ... NCIS 8.15: McGee and DiNozzo's Badges ... NCIS 8.16: Computer Games ... NCIS 8.17: Budget Cuts ... NCIS 8.18: Gibbs vs. the Kid ... NCIS 8.19: The Deadly Book ... NCIS 8.20: CIRay ... NCIS 8.21: Mask and Eye ... NCIS 8.22: "I'd Rather Have a Lead" ... NCIS 8.23: Answers and Questions ... NCIS Season 8 Finale
And see also NCIS ... NCIS 7.16: Gibbs' Mother-in-Law Dilemma ... NCIS 7.17: Ducky's Ties ... NCIS 7.18: Bogus Treasure and Real Locker ... NCIS 7.21: NCIS Meets Laura ... NCIS Season 7 Finale: Retribution
The Plot to Save Socrates
"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly
"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News
"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book
Robert Wagner is back playing Sr, as bon vivant and altogether excellent as ever. But the evidence against him is impressive - finger prints on the bottle murder weapon, an angry argument caught on video with the victim, and no memory of what happened during the crucial hours.
The key to the whudunnit resides in Morgan Hunt (played by David Rees Snell of The Shield fame), the helpful exec who is quick to volunteer the incriminating tape. But with Abby hard at work, the attempt to frame Sr won't stick - she finds that he was given a roofie (and he, irrepressible, is almost flattered about that) and that his finger prints were only on the middle not the neck of the bottle. But that was the part the murderer would have grasped, swinging the deadly bottle. As Abby points out, it's "conveniently wiped clean". Good to see her play such a crucial role again.
Junior breaks the rest of the case, discovering the woman who drugged Sr, which leads the team to Hunt (she was working for him, but didn't quite know she was framing someone for murder). The moral of this part of the story is the team indeed needs DiNozzo, which is no great revelation - we already knew this - but you can't see it too many times.
Gibbs once again plays the emotionally stabilizing role, not only stopping Sr. being taken away when Abby steps up with some of the further evidence, but arranging for the DiNozzos to spend their first Thanksgiving together in who knows how long. Junior needs you as a father, Gibbs tells Sr., not your money, bringing home the point that NCIS is as much about family this year as fighting bad guys.
See also NCIS 9.1: Unpacking Partial Amnesia ... NCIS 9.2: Lying to Yourself ... NCIS 9.3: McGee's Grandmother ... NCIS 9.4: Turkey Vulture as Explained by DiNozzo ... NCIS 9.5: Behrooz's Mother ... NCIS 9.6: Too Good to be True ... NCIS 9.7: "You Were My Shannon, Leroy" ... NCIS 9.8: Intersections with Reality ... NCIS 9.9: Twists and History
And see also NCIS Back in Season 8 Action ... NCIS 8.2: Interns! ... NCIS 8.3: Tiff! ... NCIS 8.4: Gary Cooper not John Wayne ... NCIS 8.5: Dead DJ, DiNozzo Hoarse, and Baseball ... NCIS 8.6: The Written Woman ... NCIS 8.7: "James Bond Movie Directed by Fellini" ... NCIS 8.8: Ziva's Father ... NCIS 8.9: Leon's Story ... NCIS 8.10: DiNozzo In and Out ... NCIS 8.11: "The Sister Went Viral" ... Bob Newhart on NCIS 8.12 ... NCIS 8.13: The Wife or the Girlfriend ... NCIS 8.14: Kate ... NCIS 8.15: McGee and DiNozzo's Badges ... NCIS 8.16: Computer Games ... NCIS 8.17: Budget Cuts ... NCIS 8.18: Gibbs vs. the Kid ... NCIS 8.19: The Deadly Book ... NCIS 8.20: CIRay ... NCIS 8.21: Mask and Eye ... NCIS 8.22: "I'd Rather Have a Lead" ... NCIS 8.23: Answers and Questions ... NCIS Season 8 Finale
And see also NCIS ... NCIS 7.16: Gibbs' Mother-in-Law Dilemma ... NCIS 7.17: Ducky's Ties ... NCIS 7.18: Bogus Treasure and Real Locker ... NCIS 7.21: NCIS Meets Laura ... NCIS Season 7 Finale: Retribution
The Plot to Save Socrates
"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News
"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book
Enjoy listening to audio books? Get a free audio book copy of The Plot to Save Socrates - or any one of 85,000 other titles - with a 14-day trial membership at Audible.com ...
