NCIS Season 23 Episode 10 Snuggled Big Reveals Into a Rather Trope-Filled Hour

Let’s just get this out there: I don’t like drones any more than I like tropes, and they both played a part on “In Too Deep.”

As for drones, sure, they seem like a fun gadget, and who wouldn’t want to go places we can’t physically go without them? But it’s a huge no-thank-you when it comes to privacy and destruction. It shocks me that normal people are allowed to fly something so invasive.

When it comes to tropes, broadcast TV is filled with them. But three in one hour is a bit too much for me.

On NCIS Season 23 Episode 12, operating a drone led to a man’s death, which got NCIS involved. The opening scene, as so many are, was pretty distant from the reality of the hour, but where else am I going to get to share my thoughts about drones with the world?

How the drone operator tied into McGee’s old flame and the surprise that came with her was part of the story, though.

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How weird must it be for someone to just pop up in the course of your job, especially when you’re an officer of the law? McGee dated Olivia Garcia for about six months before she ended things to focus on her career.

That career eventually took her underground. Not in an Ellie Bishop way, but quite literally as part of the Task Underground Research Facility, where she was on a team studying extremophiles in relation to biofuel production.

But what happened to Olivia? Why did she disappear? As soon as bumbling Pete from Stanford appeared, I knew he played into the story. He was like Inspector Clouseau, for goodness’ sake.

And sure enough, Pete was not who he said he was. He hired the drone guy to find Olivia. As soon as he revealed himself to be Olivia’s son, it was pretty apparent McGee would worry he was Mateo’s father.

I didn’t even know McGee had twins. NCIS rarely shows any family or social life for the agents unless they’re involved with each other, which is why it happens so often.

What I hate the most about these “who’s the daddy” storylines is how often the result is that the woman kept some other random guy in the dark and broke up with our guy because things had gotten tricky.

So, color me surprised when the paternity test came back positive. How often does that really happen? I can’t remember the last time.

And it helps that Mateo is older. NCIS clearly pauses before introducing storylines involving younger children, so we may see more of Mateo since he’s old enough to be played by an adult.

They can’t sweep this story under the rug like they do for so many other things. This isn’t “oh, look, my twins were born, now they can hang with mom until they’re 21” stuff. McGee missed his son’s entire life, and he’s going to want to make up for it. At least I hope so. 

The mystery that started it all was interesting-adjacent. I’m sure it happens all the time that a scientist fires up multiple facilities to make parts of a whole without telling anyone what all of the parts will do.

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Yet Trask wasn’t making a bioweapon but a compound to enhance the military’s alertness and other capabilities. Honestly, we could probably use something like that for physicians, especially ER docs and surgeons who work insane hours and yet are responsible for keeping us alive.

It turns out that the NCIS team was in the right place but barking up the wrong tree.

It was a much earlier time in Olivia’s life that got her in hot water. It was a typical revenge plot because people are nuts. There are so many circumstances that result in deaths like that of the chef’s wife, but the crazies always focus on one person they feel is responsible.

In this case, the guy should have looked for the attorneys who ensured there was no compensation for the families’ losses. That’s just beyond cruel.

Honestly, I can’t even remember how the drone guy got all shot up, but I guess it was the chef out on break for lunch or something. The cutlery in the drone guy’s chest told that tale.

So, that’s two tropes off the trope checklist. Old girlfriend returns with a child she kept hidden, and someone waiting years to pull off their revenge plot. 

The final trope allowed us to get some closure for the undercurrent of animosity between Parker and Vance.

I feel like we were in the dark about it for far too long. I wondered if there was even a point to it.

NCIS has a bad habit of letting some stories linger too long, and when we do get to the end of the arc, it’s not always satisfying.

Look how long we waited to understand who Lily was in Parker’s life. The ending wasn’t bad, but it was abrupt. That played on his mind for multiple seasons, so how quickly it was resolved was a little unsatisfying.

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But I had to laugh when they took their weapons recertification test together, and during the written evaluation, Parker tried cheating. After Vance got over the audacity of Parker asking him for an answer, he muttered it under his breath before they caught. 

It was so funny. We never lose those kids we were in high school.

But finally, on the gun range, their issue began bleeding out in the open. Vance had been bottling up what he believed to be Parker’s dangerous behavior, and Parker had been pissed that Vance had been tapped out, more of a backseat driver than a leader.

But that just seemed like the effects of whatever was really eating at them, not the cause. And yep, that was the gist of it.

The unexpected answer came as most things come these days. Vance has been fighting to save the department, and ultimately, he lost the fight.

We learned on NCIS Season 23 Episode 11 that CID was in danger of being closed and folded into NCIS. Instead, Vance got word that NCIS is closing.

Now, this is trope number three, and probably my least favorite. 

We’ve been inundated with these government shutdown stories across the board on broadcast TV, and it’s just too much, particularly because, just like Chicago Fire isn’t going to kick Firehouse 51 to the curb, NCIS isn’t exactly going to close the department it’s named after.

So why? What do these stories actually add to the broader conversation about the shows themselves? How do they enhance character development? How do they entertain us at home?

I don’t think they do much of anything other than annoy us. That’s why they’ve become a trope. Tropes are weather-worn plots that keep reappearing because they’re easy to use. 

So, I don’t know. I enjoyed Vance and Parker putting their differences aside, and they made doing that enjoyable with the weapons recertification.

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I like that McGee got a son, but that’s a massive life change, and if they just pretend it never happened, they might as well not have introduced it at all.

And I do not like the looming NCIS closure at all. Not one iota. 

But maybe you feel differently. Hit me up in the comments!

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