NCIS just delivered an episode where, after three views, I still couldn’t quite remain focused on it.
Every now and then, a TV show will have an episode like this, and it usually comes off as a monumental hour.
NCIS Season 23 Episode 15 is a victim of the outstanding 500th-episode milestone, but that’s not a terrible thing for the series as a whole.
Some Fun Pop Culture Mentions
I will give the installment its due when it comes to creating something memorable.
While I found myself in and out of the episode, there were specific moments that drew me in, and it was all thanks to the pop culture moments.
Mentions of The Da Vinci Code and Indiana Jones made me smile, reminding us that these characters are just as much fans of movies and books as we are.
In fact, I enjoyed seeing more of Knight’s personality. Sometimes, I feel like she can be a little too reserved, and we only learn tidbits about who she is every now and then.
This episode brought more out of her past with her dolls — which I would have loved for her to either keep or pass on to McGee’s twins — and her knowledge of movies.
The way to connect to characters is through moments like this, and it’s time we had more for Knight. Maybe it’s time for a big episode that’s focused on her and her past, and not just her dad showing up!
It made sense that The Da Vinci Code was the first movie mentioned. This was a man who died with enough time to leave clues.
As it turned out that the murder victim was trying to protect some rare dinosaur bones, of course, the focus was going to turn to Indiana Jones. I almost wished that Knight had found a hat to wear for part of the case!
To add a layer of Indiana Jones, there was even a German family with a connection to the Nazis involved in the entire plot. It was like something straight out of a certain adventure franchise!
We even got a standoff moment with the team up against one man as he desperately tried to get away with the bad he’d done. In that moment, Parker needed the hat!
The downside is that for me, this episode is going to be the one that I remember as “The Indiana Jones Episode.” Nothing else really stood out in the case or in the character development.
Also, something was missing for me to really connect it to The Da Vinci Code: a flash of the murder victim setting up the clues.
At least in the Dan Brown novel, we got to see how the museum curator made sure a message got out to his granddaughter and to Robert Langdon. I would have liked to see the effort put into this story over the course of the hour.
NCIS Goes Back to the Formula That Works
There was one main difference between NCIS Season 23 Episode 15 and The Da Vinci Code. In this hour, the grandchild was the murderer.
Episodes have long followed a formula, and while it’s been refreshing to see that formula broken a couple of times leading up to this, we were always going to get back to the plotlines that have always worked.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right?
That would be fine if it hadn’t gotten to the point where the murderer was always easy to guess.
It’s always someone close to the victim, whether a family member or a work connection.
In this case, it was two. There was a great red herring regarding the colleague who helped date the bone.
However, this woman didn’t have a killer bone in her body — pun totally intended!
Being a scientist, her focus was on the find. Sure, there was money involved as well, but she didn’t want someone dead!
Mix the German with a Nazi history, items stolen from the Jewish people, and a grandson who didn’t even seem to care that his grandfather was dead, and it was always going to be easy to guess the way NCIS was going to play out.
While I don’t mind going back to the formula after a couple of episodes breaking away from it, it did just add another layer of forgetability.
We could have had some stronger storytelling with another twist at the very end, such as one of the other experts in Kasie’s lab getting to the bottom of the bone.
However, there is a sweet message that is worth noting as I wrap this up. All the murder victim wanted to do was to make sure the precious items were returned to their original owners.
It sparks hope in that wrongs can be righted, as long as the right people are willing to do the hard work.
High Potential recently had a similar experience with the art heist, which led Rhys/Jean Baptiste to ensure the painting was delivered to the rightful owner.
For so long, families have been stripped of their possessions, and they’ve just been able to dream of what could have been.
The right thing to do is for the people who ended up with items after World War II to return them to their original owners.
Greed prevents that.
Yet, while that is a poignant message, it’s not enough to make up for the less-than-memorable NCIS hour.
This dip doesn’t take away from the tremendous job the writers have done throughout NCIS Season 23, and as we close in on the finale, I can see everything picking up again soon!
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