NCIS “Seek” 

It seems like forever since the last new episode of NCIS but the show finally returned tonight and with the fantastic episode “Seek”.  In this episode, we are pleasantly surprised with the choice of the main character, and we get some crucial character development that should prove to be quite critical in the final few episodes of the season.

“Seek” is centered on the death of K-9 detection expert, Sergeant Theodore “Teddy” Lemere (Michael Grant Terry, Bones).  Teddy is shot in the head in Afghanistan, presumably by the Taliban, but the widow begins to have doubts after she receives a suspicious video from her late husband.  She begs NCIS to take a look, and with Gibbs (Mark Harmon) being the honorable man he is, the team doesn’t hesitate to help.

What NCIS finds is shady to say the least.  First, a bullet fragment that is recovered from Teddy’s helmet matches bullets that had originated from the United States, not the Middle East, and had been sold on the black market.  That still could mean it was the Taliban, but it was becoming less likely.  Second, Mrs. Lemere had received a suspicious necklace in the mail from her husband that had been postmarked 2 weeks before his death. Upon further examination, it was discovered that the necklace was made of real gold and emeralds and had originated from the Middle Eastern desert.  As Ziva (Cote de Pablo) pointed out, it was a well-known fact that people in Afghanistan would often bury their valuables when they had to leave, to prevent the Taliban from finding them.

And, guess what? Teddy, as well as his dog, Dex, had been working with a company called “Beta Co.” in sniffing out abandoned buildings that they were renovating in Afghanistan.  “Beta Co.” was only using Teddy and Dex to gain access to the buried jewels, and when Teddy tried to back out of the operation, they killed him.

A good deal of the time, NCIS episodes focus on a particular character, and the main case takes a back seat.  However, in this particular episode, the case takes front and center.  It wasn’t so much that the actual investigation was very interesting; instead, what made the case so intriguing was its main character, and that character was not Teddy – it was Dex.  I can think of only one other show on television that has been successful in making a dog a main character, and that is Person of Interest, with its introduction of “Bear”.  But, NCIS is able to pull it off in tonight’s episode, and the writers had everyone hooked from the very first scene, with Dex keeping guard over Teddy’s dead body.  We have always heard that a dog will never leave his owner’s side even in death, and that scene was touching and absolutely perfect.

While others like Abby (Pauley Perrette), Tony (Michael Weatherly) and McGee (Sean Murray) contributed to the investigation, the most important player was, in fact, Dex.  When Mrs. Lemere’s house is broken into, Dex gets a good chunk of the burglar’s sleeve.  This becomes instrumental in putting together “Beta Co”’s smuggling operation.  Dex plays even a bigger role later on when he takes a bullet while trying to apprehend Teddy’s killer.  But, the best part comes at the very end.  While Mrs. Lemere is happy that they finally caught her husband’s killer, something is still missing from her life.  We, as viewers, are led to believe that Dex had been killed.  But, when he appears and Mrs. Lemere is told that Dex is now retired, the glow in her eyes returns, and she now has closure.  Just like the opening scene, this was very touching and a perfect ending to a perfect episode.

While this episode focused on the case instead of any particular character, we still got some character development, even if only a little.  Ever since “Shabbat Shalom”, both Director Vance (Rocky Carroll) and Ziva have faced huge personal tragedy and both have been struggling to move on.  Tonight, Vance makes another step in that direction by trying to hire a nanny.  Besides the overflow of movie innuendos from Tony relating to nannies, we get some of the best comic relief in the entire episode from this nanny storyline.  My personal favorite is the girl who actually answered texts during the interview with Vance, and then, seemed to be completely clueless that she didn’t get a job offer before leaving the room.  Pretty funny stuff.

However, the most important part is the early-morning conversation between Vance and Ziva.  Vance catches Ziva looking at what appears to be surveillance footage, and while Vance acts like he has no idea of what is going on, we all know it’s going to come back to Ziva’s revenge plan on her father’s killers.  And, with only a few episodes left until the season finale, we can bet that this revenge plot is going to materialize much sooner than later.

For the most part, I thought this was an excellent episode (and a big shoutout to Michael Weatherly, who directed it!).  The episode focuses on the case, which is rare for NCIS, and they are able to pull it off by making the star character our canine buddy, Dex.  At the same time, it reminds us of the main storyline this season – the murders of Ziva’s father, Eli David, and Vance’s wife, Jackie.  Some of us may have thought that was all over, but with Ziva’s plotting and scheming, we see that it is far from it.  It is only the beginning.

Most memorable quotes 

• If Vance is waiting for Robin Williams in drag to come floating on some magic umbrella singing Do-ray-vee, he’s going to be waiting a very long time – Tony
• You sound like a Kennedy – Gibbs to Tony
• I don’t think nannies are exactly in my wheelhouse – Gibbs
• Don’t let anyone tell you if you’re ready or when you’re ready.  That’s entirely up to you – Ziva to Vance
• That’s not a dog, that’s a Marine –– Gibbs