photo: cbs

Original Air Date: Mar 27, 2012

Maria – Sr. Reviewer
maria@thetwocentscorp.com

What do you do with a drunken sailor? Two sailors are out celebrating shore leave, when they come across the body of Caleb Adams, who isn’t drunk, but dead! A very sobering event for the shipmates who came across him, but Director Vance soon receives a nasty shock of his own, as the main suspect in Adams’ murder turns out to be Vance’s brother-in-law!

Michael Thomas is the prime suspect for the murder. He made the 911 call from work and reported Adams’ death. He was trying to wash the victim’s blood off his hands and jacket when he was taken into custody. Michael claims he was trying to help but fled the scene because he had to get to work. Vance is clearly on Michael’s side, whilst Vance’s wife, Michael’s big sister, is a little more reluctant to see the good in him. Eventually, she is worn down though. It’s a sweet little family, for a while.

I do love the sense of family within this episode. Not just Vance’s attitude to his brother-in-law, but the way he acknowledges Gibbs as his best agent and the way Abby works so hard on the case because she considers Vance to be family. I particularly love it when we get to see Vance being a family man and a father to his two kids. Often, at NCIS, Vance has to make some tough and unpopular decisions. Seeing Vance with his family is a timely reminder that Vance is more than bureaucracy and the job. I really like Vance the family man.

That’s why I was so relieved when NCIS got another suspect. It seems Adams’ girlfriend, Meredith Bilson, was cheating on him when a fellow shipmate, Brian Smith. When Tony and Ziva go to pay Meredith a visit, Brian is also there, shirtless because his shirt has just been washed due to the fact it was stained with Adams’ blood. However, Ducky confirms that Caleb was in a fight several hours before his death, which accounts for the blood. Still, Brian could have returned later to stab Adams.

Adams’ tox screen shows that he was intoxicated at the time of his death, but not just with alcohol. Adams was drugged, as were a few other crewmates. They all visited a pizza joint, but there’s a lot more to the joint than just pizza, and a lot more to the pizza than just pizza. The pizza joint is actually a gambling den, and for adding insurance that the house would always win, the pizza was spiked.

A lot of the recovering sailors have the same story, that they were celebrating shore leave when they heard someone bragging about how much they had won at this pizza joint/gambling den. However, that person must have been a shell, in on the con. CCTV footage and finger prints from cards taken from the game reveal that Michael Thomas was that shell. He lied to Vance straight from the start, but he finally confesses.

Damn, Michael is a good liar, and so believable with every story he tells. I sincerely believe it Adams’ death was an accident and that in Adams’ drugged, duped and angry state, he attacked Michael with the knife and Michael defended himself. I don’t think Michael is a bad man, and even Gibbs concedes that Vance didn’t fail him. Michael made some bad choices in his life, and I think the biggest was to lie to those who clearly love him. Vance has to learn to let Michael face the consequences. Some excellent acting from Rocky Carroll, as watching Vance do so almost broke my heart.

The subplot of today’s episode once again revolves around a Tony crisis. He becomes fixated on a comment Gibbs made in an evaluation Tony never should have even seen: that Tony is very talkative. Tony is constantly begging for validation from Gibbs, and after 9 years it’s starting to grate me that he’s still so insecure. I know it shouldn’t be solved instantly, but every time it feels like Tony has made a personal breakthrough he regresses again. At least Gibbs does validate him by the end of the episode, saying that although he doesn’t like Tony’s chit-chat, he does need it.

I’m not a big fan of the b-plot, preferring the body, heart and soul of today’s episode instead: Vance. Moments where Tony becomes fixated/obsessed/paranoid are a dime a dozen, but we only rarely get a glimpse at the man behind the suit that is Director Vance. Both Michael Weatherly and Rocky Carroll are fantastic actors; I just find that I prefer Vance’s character more because he’s still quite the enigma. I sometimes wish NCIS would focus on minor characters more, like Jimmy Palmer, who wasn’t even in this episode!

Even though this episode broke my heart, it did catch me by surprise which I found very interesting and admirable. Mentors and old friends often are guilty of the crimes they are accused, but usually family members are exempt. I guess there are no rules, really. Perhaps I wanted Michael Thomas to be innocent for Vance’s sake that I let it cloud my judgment.

What are your thoughts on Tony’s characterization? Did you think Michael Thomas was the killer? Who did you want to be the killer? What do you make of Vance? What are your thoughts on this week’s episode? Please, feel free to leave your TwoCents in a comment or you can always tweet me over on Twitter @MariaTV101.