18.12 – “Sangre”
Written by Marco Schnabel
Directed by James Whitmore, Jr.
Reviewed by KathM
Wilmer Valderrama is an effective actor. He’s a pleasure to observe, and has a spread higher than lots of the NCIS forged. That’s the reason I used to be so upset for him to have a storyline that was drained and predictable. He shone, however his storyline was a clunker.
Torres’s father deserted his household when he was a younger youngster; within the flashback from the start of the episode Papa Miguel Torres is seen taking a gun with him as he sneaks away from his household within the night time. One can assume that he’s both: a) somebody fleeing from the legislation; or b) somebody who is that legislation. Since he doesn’t take any cash with him, I’m going to wager on b. When Kasie finds a hair at a homicide scene genetically linked to Torres, he’s shocked. It’s a male family member, however since he dosen’t even consider his father as an choice (he thinks his father is useless), he begins calling each male in his prolonged household to search out out the place they have been the day earlier than. Jimmy stands by, household tree at hand, checking off varied Torres’s as Nick dials away. Humorous scene and good to have Jimmy concerned. He’s having enjoyable, Nick not a lot. After they lastly catch Miguel and convey him in, McGee handles the interrogation himself whereas Bishop and Torres watch from behind the magic mirror. Torres the Elder simply creates a believable story about why he’s in DC (He says he has household there. OMG!), why his hair was within the lavatory the place the physique was discovered the following day (he used the toilet). Then he begins calling for Nick, even banging on the mirror and calling “Nico!”. That is getting bizarre.
However worry not, all shall be revealed! Come to search out out that Miguel is a beneficial CIA asset (predictable) who works “on name”, because it have been, in South America. He and his staff (which included the useless man within the lavatory) have been betrayed and he needs to know if the third man, retired Marine Sergeant Thomas Baird, from their staff was the killer. He flew to DC, so Miguel flew to DC. Vance jumps in and makes it a joint NCIS/CIA case, which incorporates Miguel as he’s not a suspect. Vance asks Nick keep on the case as a result of they’re understaffed, regardless of having further employees working totally different shifts as we realized within the final episode.
Bishop reminds Nick that he was beneath deep cowl for ten years and that when he stop to affix NCIS, everybody was as suspicious of him as Nick now could be of Miguel. Generally I want she wasn’t so affordable. Miguel tells Nick the identical factor, and reminds him that his brother-in-law was killed as a result of Nick was beneath cowl. I’d have hit Miguel, however Nick has extra restraint that I do. Miguel and Nick find yourself working the case collectively (predictable) and discover Baird in a cabin in the course of nowhere with a financial institution supervisor as hostage. Baird says he was framed (predictable) and the financial institution supervisor hostage will help him show it. He exhibits Miguel a doc signed by Pamela Walsh, their CIA handler and the one who set them up (predictable, aside from the evil agent being a lady). She has employed a few Russian mercenaries to take out Baird and Co., and whereas they do handle to kill the financial institution supervisor Torres, Miguel, and Baird escape. Baird is injured, and as they three of them limp alongside Torres and Miguel go all out preventing and killing the Russians after which face Walker. She shoots Miguel, who’s carrying a bullet-proof vest (predictable), and Nick takes her out by throwing a knife at her.
Later, as the remainder of the staff (simply Bishop and McGee are left) arrive to assemble proof and take stories and so forth, Nick approaches Miguel and tries to see whether or not he could make one thing together with his dad. He asks Miguel whether or not he’d prefer to go over to Nick’s sister’s home to satisfy his granddaughter, and Miguel agrees. Torres says he’ll come get daddy at 8:00 on the resort, however when he arrives Miguel is lengthy gone. Which is so sadly predictable that I’m horrified that Nick wasn’t smarter than that. He goes over to Gibbs’s home as an alternative of going house, to eat the steak Gibbs has simply pulled off the grill on the fireside. Nick doesn’t need to discuss, and as everyone knows no one has to say something at Gibbs’s home. It’s truly preferable.
Gibbs has been having a grand outdated time on depart, doing a dozen cores that solely take an hour and taking part in with Lucy. Really, he appears fairly bored. He tells a visiting McGee that there’s extra to life than working, and I really feel like he could imagine that just a little bit now. He additionally stops by the diner to get some pie and occasional and comes throughout Marcie, who I feel he kinda flirts with (it’s laborious to inform with Gibbs). Later Marcie comes by and asks Gibbs to examine her homework learn the data she’s gathering for a narrative she’s writing. How many individuals suppose this information will in some way characteristic in subsequent week’s episode? She has this fashion of slurring the phrase(s) on the finish of her sentences, did anybody else discover? Annoying. She leaves Gibbs alone to learn over her documentation and chill with Torres when he arrives to “not discuss it” and have some steak as Lucy appears to be like on jealousy.
As I stated, I cherished Wilmer Valderrama on this episode, however the storyline bored me a lot I break up my time between watching it and looking the web for spoilers that weren’t overly spoilery for Sunday’s Line of Responsibility finale. Steven Bauer, who performs Miguel, was wood and bland, and I didn’t see any “Torresness” in him aside from initially of the present, the place the person taking part in Younger Miguel seemed fairly like Nick. Even when he’s pounding on the mirror within the interrogation room calling for “Nico!”, I didn’t purchase it. However Valderrama hit all the appropriate notes of a person who’s confused and indignant and secretly needs to attach together with his father. When he tells Bishop the story of how his household was scraping by all of his life and relying on the church for assist to outlive, my coronary heart practically broke. When Miguel tells Nick that he gave the cash to the church so they may assist his household, his confused however indignant expression is priceless. I’d relatively have had the entire episode proven in flashbacks of Nick and his father working collectively whereas each have been undercover, with pauses whereas he talked to Bishop or Gibbs as he tells the story. I feel that having the NCIS gang round them form of hemmed within the story and made it much less highly effective. It simply didn’t work for me.
