The last episode of NCIS found Gibbs at the diner having breakfast before he is supposed to be at work. He is waiting for coffee to go when he notices a man outside. The sight of this particular individual causes him to leave abruptly and meet up with him.
At the office, Alex is writing a note for Ellie and she has a floral arrangement for her. She is on her way back to work after the death of her boyfriend, Qasim. When Ellie comes in, she sees Clayton and asks about the flash drive she had given him. He tells her he has not found a translator before leaving.
Ellie greets Alex and Nick before Tim and Vance arrive. They are looking for Gibbs, who has not arrived for a class he was supposed to teach that morning. No one has been able to get in touch with him. Even though Ellie is unsure about checking on him, Tim gives orders for them to look for their boss.
At Gibbs’ house, Ellie and Alex look for him. They don’t see anything out of the ordinary, but then the search is interrupted when Alex accidentally breaks a plate. Ellie doesn’t think anything of it until she sees the plate was one made by his daughter, Kelly.
Tim and Nick go to the diner to look for Gibbs since it was where he often went. After finding out Gibbs had left abruptly before getting his coffee, Tim has Abby ping Gibbs’ phone. She informs him the phone is across from the diner. Tim and Nick leave the diner and the former calls the cell phone. They eventually hear the ringtone coming from the mailbox.
McGee on the other hand needs more than a look #NCIS @seanhmurray @wvalderrama pic.twitter.com/uaYPeMRNeX
— NCIS (@NCIS_CBS) January 18, 2017
The guys give Vance and update after having found all of Gibbs’ work identification materials. Tim lets Vance know Alex is looking into getting surveillance from surrounding businesses.
While Alex is waiting for the video from Homeland Security, she notices Ellie seems distracted. She notices Ellie has a photo of Kai Chen on her computer. Alex tells Ellie not to get caught up in revenge. Ellie assures her she won’t before going to see how Abby is doing.
Down in the garage, Abby is still worried about Gibbs. She has not found anything from his truck and his identification only has his prints on them.
Tim, Alex and Nick watch the surveillance of Gibbs. He is seen putting his items in the mail box and looking directly at the camera. This means he wanted them to see him. They spot him getting in a truck with an unknown mail but can barely make out the license plate.
Alex goes to check on how Abby is doing with the license plate. Abby indicates Ellie is currently running the plates so Alex shows her the Kelly plate. She asks if Abby can fix it and she assures her she will try. Ellie interrupts to let them know the man with Gibbs is Bodie Whitman.
Think positively, #NCIS fans. It’ll be okay @PauleyP pic.twitter.com/bDLPPevK6f
— NCIS (@NCIS_CBS) January 18, 2017
Vance tells Tim about an undercover case Gibbs worked on in 2001 before he was an agent on the team. He had been tasked with getting inside an antigovernment militia run by Ramsay Whitman, who is Bodie’s brother. This was after a Navy truck was hijacked and two men were killed. They were trying to find nuclear fuel rods but the operation went sideways. Most of the men disappeared and Ramsay went underground. Bodie went to prison but was recently released. Gibbs likely went back under in order to find Ramsay once and for all.
Meanwhile, Gibbs and Bodie are at a gas station off I-95. While Bodie goes inside the store, Gibbs asks a woman for the phone to call his “wife.” Instead, he is actually calling Tim but does not have time to speak before Bodie is walking back out. Meanwhile, Tim is curious about the hang up and calls the number back. He reaches the confused woman, who lets him know who had called the number. Tim gets her location before telling her to go ahead and leave for her own safety.
Vance is in MTAC with two of the fellow men who were on the op to stop the militia. One of them is Department of Energy Deputy Director Doyle Roden. He wants to help find the missing nuclear fuel rods and they will work together to try and remember what they can about the case.
Tim and Nick are on their way to Baltimore but the former isn’t driving fast enough for Nick’s liking. After going through a story about bull riding and not doing the same ride on the same bull, Tim takes the hint and speeds up.
At Bodie’s apartment, Gibbs is trying to get Bodie to call his brother. Bodie tells him he has to do it in a specific way and it wasn’t easy. After they leave the apartment to get food, someone bodychecks Gibbs. After exclaiming loudly, we see it is Nick and Gibbs now has his wallet and a pen. He looks up briefly to spot Tim, who has a satisfied smile when he can clearly hear Bodie talking to Gibbs thanks to the microphone in the pen.
Pretty slick. #NCIS at its finest @seanhmurray @wvalderrama pic.twitter.com/9WLXxd4H0W
— NCIS (@NCIS_CBS) January 18, 2017
Tim and Nick sit outside the apartment while listening to Gibbs talk to Bodie. He was able to convince Bodie earlier to contact his brother the only way he could. When Ramsay called, Gibbs acted as though he had a buyer for the fuel rods.
Alex is at her desk and sees Clayton come back from where he had been working. Clayton quietly talks to Ellie about information regarding Chen possibly being on a boat oversees. He tells Ellie if Gibbs knows she is secretly helping him, they are both in trouble. Alex is distracted from them both by Abby, who has fixed the plate as though it were brand new.
Bodie gets a call from his brother, who claims that Gibbs is a federal agent. When he pulls a gun on Gibbs, the latter carefully uses his words so Tim and Nick know he is being held at gunpoint. Gibbs tries to talk Bodie down long enough for Tim and Nick to get in position. Instead, Bodie goes to shoot him but Gibbs has his gun and Bodie is shot to death.
A relieved Ellie welcomes Gibbs back, who immediately gets into workmode. The first thing he does is to go see Ducky, who has completed the autopsy on Bodie. He tells Gibbs that Bodie had Huntington’s Disease. When Alex mentions they are looking for Ramsay, Ducky informs them that since Ramsay is his brother, he could have the same disease, meaning he’d need similar medication.
Vance talks to Gibbs about the possibility he is the reason Gibbs was almost killed. He only told two men about the case and in between the two calls to Ramsay, his identity was leaked. Alex comes to the office to let them know she got a name: John Manning.
Abby is able to get facial recognition of John Manning matched with Ramsay Whitman. He is now married and has kids. The team watches John’s house and are hoping that they can take him in without the kids present. The kids and his wife leave and he is left at home. Going to the door, they announce themselves and John surrenders. Gibbs introduces himself with his real name.
Evidence is recovered to determine that the leak is Doyle Roden, who also held antigovernment sentiments. Ramsay is concerned about his family but ends up talking willingly. He tells Gibbs he buried the nuclear fuel rods. His final request is to see his brother’s body.
Back at his house, Gibbs gets a visitor. It is Alex and she has the plate for him. He is amazed to see it is fixed and Alex hints Abby is the benefactor of the repair.
Do you believe in miracles? –Quinn
No –Gibbs #NCIS @jenniferswayje ❤️️ pic.twitter.com/Uuh5jOzyCb— NCIS (@NCIS_CBS) January 18, 2017
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