Tonight’s episode is in keeping with the arc of NCIS’s Season Ten, “Fallen Heroes”. Last week in “Shell Shock Part II”, Captain Westcott suffered from PTSD as a result of his tour in Afghanistan and the death of his fellow Marine. This evening an off duty Navy officer is killed trying to save a friend’s daughter in front of a theatre in Belvoir, Virginia. After fifty years of law enforcement between us, we are still offended by matters of human trafficking. The pain inflicted by such treachery is unbelievable. We did quite a bit of research into the subject for our fifth novel, Redeeming Liberty, which deals with Liberty, a Sudanese village girl who is kidnapped and sold into service as a household servant in Iran. While our character Liberty is redeemed by FBI Agent Griff Topping and CIA agent Bo Rider, our hearts ache for the victims of this terrible crime. After watching this episode, we both felt like we needed a shower. Thankfully, Gibbs comes through as the hero he is.
The producers are taking on timely subjects such as PTSD and human trafficking, and thus far they’re doing so with believable scripts. This episode was peppered with the kind of gadgetry common to modern youth. The would-be victim, Rosie and Lydia, were into smart phones and texting. We found compelling the contrasts between the teens and Ziva’s friend Shmeal, who Tony believed was her latest love interest. Were you as delighted as we to find that Shmeal was old enough to be Ziva’s grandfather? David wasn’t. We wanted to go to dinner with them and listen to Shmeal’s wisdom.
And what do you think of Gibbs’ informant, Miranda Pennybaker? She was obviously a seedy character from one of Gibbs’ and Fornel’s earlier cases. Gibbs had a certain ease and understanding with her. Must be it’s because she was a redhead.
In the end, we were surprised to discover Gibbs and Company already occupying the helicopter waiting to fly the kidnapped girl to the rich buyer’s boat. So was the kidnapper. Did you notice the glint of satisfaction in Gibbs’ eyes as he saw Rosie reunited with her parents? We could read his mind and understand the feelings of his heart: If only he could have saved his daughter Kelly.
Abby and Ziva played important roles in this episode and they each could relate to Lydia’s loss. Ziva’s words of wisdom are haunting, yet comforting at the same time. “You do not get over losing a loved one,” she said. “You live through it with caring friends.”
For those who might be reading this and are mourning the loss of someone you love, we are praying for you, for God to lift you up! May you experience His eternal blessings.
In Him,
Diane and David