He’s baaack!! Leroy Jethro Gibbs is back and in top-notch form. Tonight, we were treated to another great show. Scott Williams, the writer of this episode wrote a plot that in our view refers to the ATF undercover operation ‘Fast and Furious.’ In highlighting what happens when military weapons are stolen and disseminated to the hinterlands, the NCIS team interacts with two returning popular characters from earlier shows.

For starters, let’s talk about the case of the stolen M-16 rifles from a Marine Corp armory, which resulted in the death of one of the robbers and a female Navy Petty Officer. It’s tricky because both NCIS and ATF agents are conducting parallel investigations that they think are exclusive. Wrong. In the end, ATF informs the Tony, Tim, and Ellie, the NCIS case agents, that the guns have been smuggled out of the country on an aircraft bound for Ukraine. Gibbs sees right through this lie. He brings the ATF case agent in for a blistering interrogation and gets him to admit the guns have tracking devices and they’ve been scattered around the U.S. Sound familiar? You are right–much like ‘Fast and Furious.’ The NCIS agents, along with ATF’s help, capture the last remaining gun thief in a surprising move using a spike strip to flatten his tires. We love it when their techniques succeed and justice is done.

But, this is only half the story. The writer uses the script to bring back Dr. Cyrus Taft, the surgeon who previously removed the bullets to save Gibbs’ life and Jeanne Benoit (played by Scottie Thompson), the doctor with whom Tony had a previous romance. Gibbs’ only mistake was to let Tony go along on the interviews of Tony’s ex girlfriend. He made a clumsy and inappropriate attempt to fan the flame. Might this be the avenue down which Tony travels as he leaves the show? What do you think?

The beginning scene shows how Dr. Taft is trying to convince Gibbs to meet with Taft’s shrink. Of course, Gibbs is too slick to be manipulated by Taft. Wouldn’t you think? We are happy to say, the best scene is the last. Dr. Taft outmaneuvers Gibbs. Such a twist doesn’t happen often. We thoroughly enjoyed this episode and Mark Harmon’s return for real as Gibbs.

Be Blessed, Diane and David Munson