NCIS - Jetlag

Network: CBS
Time: Tuesdays, 8:00-9:00pm
Cast: Mark Harmon, Michael Weatherly, Cote de Pablo, Sean Murray, Pauley Perrette, David McCallum, Rocky Carroll

Summary: When Tony and Ziva escort a witness back from Paris, they discover an assassin may be on the plane with them.

Review: Make way for the return of the Tony/Ziva will-they-won't-they relationship.  In hindsight, this episode seems like little more than a setup for some future episode where Tony and Ziva finally have it out (and make out?) and settle all the tension that's been between for their entire relationship.  And what a fun setup it was.

There were sort of two stories going on in this episode.  Obviously, there's Tony and Ziva, who were just in Paris together and, apparently, shared a room in the hotel.  This story is aided by the observations of Nora, the witness they are escorting back to the States, who keeps pointing out what a good team they are and wondering why they aren't together.  Then there's the more serious plotline, which is that there's possibly an assassin on board who's goal is to prevent Nora from testifying against the company she was working for.

The first story was better done.  The chemistry between Tony and Ziva is always enjoyable, and it was fun to see the spark emerge between them again.  It's also always nice to see that, even when they're at odds with each other personally, they are completely in sync professionally.  They've worked well together since Ziva joined the team in season 3, and it's nice to see that they don't let their personal relationship affect their professional one.

The second story (some may argue the plot of the episode) wasn't quite as strong.  Whether this is because the writers were more focused on the Tony/Ziva interaction because that will have more impact on the future, I don't know.  But it was predictable at best.  I spoke with two friends both during and after the episode who identified the assassin long before the show ever told us, and we were all fairly confident about the identity of the person who did the hiring. 

Even Gibbs and McGee seemed inconsequential through the whole thing.  Obviously, they were the only ones who could interview people to figure out who hired an assassin (what with Tony and Ziva being stuck on a plane and all), but none of the conversations they had stand out in my mind as something I remember.  And at the end, when Gibbs pushes McGee out of the path of a car and gets hit himself (something that appeared in several promos for the episode), it was the first time I can remember a supposedly dramatic scene just looking silly on NCIS.  It also felt superfluous, but I'm holding out hope that there will be some importance in a future episode.

Maybe it's because NCIS: Los Angeles completely blew me away right after this, but this episode won't go on my list of favorites for NCIS.  I enjoyed the character interaction as I always do, but the plot was weak and, ultimately, I think I'll forget this episode soon.



Favorite lines
Ziva (to Tony): Why are you in such a pleasant mood?  What's wrong with you?


Tony is showing Nora his pictures from Paris
Tony: Sometimes I feel I should have done something more creative with my life.
Nora: No, you're definitely in the right profession.

Ducky: It's a long time since I've visited Paris.  Or went to the theater for that matter.
Gibbs: You asking me on a date, Duck?
Abby: Can I come too?


Ziva: I once killed a man with a credit card.


Rating:
[5] Excellent
[4] Good
[3] Average
[2] OK
[1] Bad

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