We started watching this continuation of “The Troll,” hoping to discover what would cause a nice young computer geek to blow himself up on a bus. We also wondered which of the NCIS favorites might get killed, as suggested by the show’s publicists. If you have been reading the comments to this blog, you will know by now that Jie Sheng guessed it right today. He was the only one to figure out who would be killed and leaving the show.

We don’t want to ruin this second of three episodes that conclude season Twelve, so we won’t say too much. Suffice it to say that we believe this episode is reminiscent of all that is best of NCIS. The writing by Gina Lucita Monreal is stellar, and kept us at the edge of our seats until the very last second. The directing by James Whitmore Jr. is flawless. Last week’s episode was heart rending as we saw a boy radicalized by Internet chat rooms. Tonight’s episode was more of the same as Gibbs and crew deal with more children who grow up too fast. In our past careers, we both worked in the justice system to stop gangs from ensnaring children into drugs and violence. For the most part, gangs “trolled” the neighborhoods to find youth who were disenfranchised from their families. Now, and we say this to parents, the terrorist gangs are now the world, and as NCIS has portrayed so succinctly, they use every social media trick, “trolling” the Internet, for hearts and minds willing to commit terror acts in the name of twisted ideology. It is scary. The show depicts the darkness with realism and sadness.

Because of Gibbs’ loss of his wife and daughter, these kinds of episodes are really emotional, not so much for Mark Harmon the actor, but for those of us who are sucked into the drama of the episodes. We are impressed with the way this trilogy is coming together. We suggest that those of you who are recording these episodes, begin with The Troll and then, The Lost Boys, so that you get the benefit as the story develops. Next week, Neverland, completes the arc and is the final show of this season. What surprises will be in store for us?

Be Blessed, Diane and David Munson