photo: cbs
One Last Score
Original Air Date: Mar 1, 2011
Maria – Sr. Reviewer
maria@thetwocentscorp.com
Showering, first kisses, a dead NCIS assistant, Director Vance being worryingly strict, heists, title drops, leather, a metric ton of movie references, women’s prison, fans of William Faulkner, leather, romance and more. Quite a lot of content, even for an NCIS episode, but what really makes this episode special is the fact it was directed by Michael Weatherly who plays (very) Special Agent Tony DiNozzo! Wow!
The case starts when a dead temporary investigative assistant is found under a car that doesn’t belong to him. The Agents get a shock when they do find the dead man’s car, as it’s filled with NCIS stuff. The man had been let go and he was looting everything he could get his hands on.
The dead guy had printed out blueprints and specs that were connected with the Leona Phelps case. Leona Phelps is a woman who scammed a lot of people out of a lot of money, however, despite NCIS taking her down, she was prosecuted with the least major offense possible and is now in a comfortable women’s prison. Whilst there, all her possessions were brought into a warehouse, catalogued and guarded. The dead guy had printouts of guard shifts, layout and everything else needed to pull off a heist. Those print outs were never found and it looks like the greedy guy was killed for that information.
Ziva and DiNozzo take over security at the warehouse, making multiple movie references and both having fan moments over William Faulkner (DiNozzo prefers the movies, but Ziva says it was worth learning English just for one chapter of “The Sound and the Fury”). Gibbs breaks into the warehouse to announce that the break-in has already occurred. When Gibbs showed Phelps and inventory list, she immediately went to a page that listed a desk. Gibbs confirms that the desk has been jimmied open and something was taken from it.
McGee hand waves how he was able to identify the dead man’s killer, realising that a heist was planned and only a few people could pull off such a heist. McGee gives a speech that sounds like something only fictional private detectives from the 70s would come out with, and I understand very little of it.
Gibbs is willing to cut Phelps a deal, but Vance is more reluctant. Gibbs allows Phelps to be put under house arrest for the name of the man who murdered the NCIS assistant. It’s the name of a man who was cellmates with a guy who eventually went to die during a casino heist. Unfortunately, that named man is dead. Still, the deal stands and Phelps is under house arrest.
Tim and Tony realise that Phelps didn’t just ruin the lives of innocent sailors. She took the money from the heist and promised to ‘invest’ it. Meanwhile, Abby has been able to figure out that it was Phelps’ bookkeeping ledger which has been taken from the desk.
Ruleo Medilla is the main suspect but he’s not the one who took the ledger, no, it was gone by the time he got there. Phelps had already had it retrieved, so Ruleo is out for Phelps’ blood. Ziva and Gibbs arrive, in time to rescue her and for Ziva to arrest her for the ledger. Gibbs gets an epic car chase to catch Ruleo. Not only does Gibbs always get his guy, he does it with style too. A satisfying conclusion to an interesting case
There’s also the introduction of Special Agent EJ Barrett. Her first impression isn’t that great with Ziva, as Barrett kept contributing to her and Tony’s conversation without even being introduced. She makes a lasting impression on Tony though; especially as it turns out she’s coming back to work in DC after looking after a team in Spain for the past three years. She got the job Tony turned down.
The theme of showering is introduced at the very beginning of the episode, with McGee saying he’ll “hit the showers”. It grows from there, with Ziva smelling him because she believed his shower was broken. McGee smells fine, but Tony only showers every other day, “to preserve his masculine scent.” Gibbs just announces in the elevator that someone stinks. This all does serve a purpose as halfway through the episode, we see EJ Barrett leaving the office for the night with wet hair. The episode ends with Barrett and DiNozzo having a heart to heart whilst she is in the shower at work. He hands her a towel and the sparks fly, thankfully, not literally.
An important episode for both Tony and his actor, but I found it a success. There were a lot of aspects to this episode: introducing EJ, following the case and the different settings it led to, conveying the plot and capturing the character’s emotions, showing the effects of budget cuts on the office. Vance no longer appears as an ally, but as a boss who is doing what he has to in the current climate. I find that chilling.
What are your thoughts on Michael Weatherly’s directing debut for NCIS? Do you think Vance is become darker and more distant? What are your thoughts on EJ Barrett? Did you find the case interesting? Please, let us know your TwoCents about the episode.
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