Wow! They’re back. After the trauma of having Ziva and DiNozzo depart from the show, Gibbs’ reconstituted group has finally congealed. Tonight’s episode is well written and well acted. We really expected a continuation of the January 3rd episode (Willoughby) and the pursuit of a terrorist named Chen. Instead, while Ellie is distracted and examines files to locate the killer of her boyfriend, Gibbs has a chance meeting with the target of one of Gibbs’ undercover cases from years earlier. He instantly sheds himself of his badge and ID and approaches the guy. In a flash, he renews the acquaintance and engages the guy, all the while resuming his undercover investigation.

Everything the squad does to learn why Gibbs had disappeared is quite realistic. The efforts to locate Gibbs are believable and Torres’ jostling of Gibbs as an apparent pickpocket on the street is a clever method to give him a transmitter or ‘bug’. Once an undercover agent is wearing a transmitter, it’s much easier for the backup or surveillance agents to ensure his safety. This scenario brings back a flood of memories for David. Once while wearing a transmitter, and meeting with a suspect in a restaurant, the suspect insisted on searching him for a bug. Before he could, David hid the bug in a trashcan in the restaurant bathroom. Surveillance agents listened to endless toilet flushes before realizing he’d ditched the team and left the restaurant.

In our most recent novel, The Looming Storm, we describe some of those exciting undercover experiences of David through events in the life of our fictional character Griff Topping.

While tonight’s episode ended with Gibbs solving his old case, the search for Chen, the killer of Ellie’s boyfriend continues. Our guess is that it will be a thread that winds through several of the next episodes. Ellie will not have any closure until he is captured. What is your reaction? Did you enjoy tonight’s episode as much as we did?

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing, Diane and David Munson