NCIS “Squall” 

From the looks of things, you would think that one of the pre-conditions for joining NCIS is a piss-poor relationship with your father.  First, you have Ziva (Cote de Pablo) who has been estranged from her Mossad father for years, at least until his final appearance in “Shabbat Shalom” and before he had been assassinated.  Then, you have Sr. Dinozzo (Robert Wagner) who really cares about nothing except chasing skirts and living it up in fancy hotels, usually on someone else’s dime.  Finally, you have Gibbs (Mark Harmon).  While Gibbs’ relationship with his father has gotten dramatically better over the years, there’s still some bad blood between them.  Well, Agent McGee (Sean Murray) fits right into the club with his strained relationship with his father, Admiral John McGee (Jamey Sheridan), as we see in tonight’s episode.

The NCIS team is called to the U.S.S. Borealis where the ship’s doctor had been found murdered.  After just a cursory check by Ducky (David McCallum), it appears the doctor had been killed by a jab in the carotid artery with some type of poison that rendered his paralyzed in just a matter of moments, thus causing him to suffocate.  After discovering that some members of the ship’s crew were having drug abuse problems, the focus of the investigation turns to Officers who were rumored to have addiction issues.

All of a sudden, an Officer Wyeth moves to the top of the suspect list.  With his chronic shakes and obvious withdrawal symptoms, he looks good for the murder – well, at least until the team discovers the list of people who had seen the doctor for treatment that night.  At the top of the list is a Henry Newbolt.  This isn’t a real person, but instead the name of an English Poet, actually one of the favorites of Admiral McGee.

With a big, dark cloud quickly settling above the Admiral, it is revealed that Sr. McGee had visited the doctor to get medications for his Stage Four cancer.  Even though he had a motive and opportunity, the NCIS’ surveillance footage pointed the finger at McGee’s aide as the murderer. He began working with the Admiral with the hope that if the Admiral had been appointed the President’s Cabinet, he would move into the Whitehouse along with him.  Someone like the ship’s doctor spilling the beans about the Admiral’s declining health would destroy that dream, and so, he killed him.

Just like some of the best episodes of NCIS, this particular one focused on character development instead of the actual case.  Here, most of the episode centered on the Admiral, our beloved Special Agent McGee, and their toxic relationship that we had heard about over the past few seasons.  Even once they meet after all of this time, not a kind word is spoken and the Admiral continues with his insults, calling his son a meager “paper pusher” and in many ways, threatening his entire manhood.

However, once Tim learns of his father’s cancer, everything changes.  I must admit that Sean Murray does a fantastic job in these scenes.  With the tears building up in Tim’s eyes as he hears the news of the cancer, we can actually feel his pain and how all of the petty things they argued about over the years really do not matter. Well, my dear Tim, you still have some time, and so, make it matter.

Finally, we get some great scenes with Agent Gibbs playing the paternal figure that he has slowly become over everyone who is on his team.  Gibbs just isn’t their boss, but someone who is willing to go down for them, no matter the cost.  Knowing the history with his own father, Gibbs makes it very clear to the Admiral that he’s not pleased at all with how he has treated his son.

My relationship with my son is none of your damned business – Admiral McGee

You make him think that he’s nothing.  But, you’re nothing – Gibbs

One thing is for sure, whether it is now or after the Admiral passes, we can be certain that Tim will have a “father” there by his side, even if it’s not his own.

All in all, this was another A+ episode of NCIS.  While the case itself was weak and non- eventful, the episode had some top-notch character development, which has become the hallmark of this fabulous series.

Most memorable quotes

• How’s your love life, Tim – Admiral McGee
• I tell you something else, most bullies are big cowards – Agent McGee
• Not a good time to poke the beaver – Tony
• You make him think he’s nothing.  But you’re nothing – Gibbs
• Watch out for the bad guys — Agent McGee
• Well you have got a long list of juvie priors, a history of possessions and frankly a blood workout that makes Sid Vicious look clean —
  Tony
• Aha. That’s exactly what I’m talking about. You see he would use that to his advantage. Swoop right in, like a hawk going after a sweet, innocent, furry little Israeli —
  Tony

NCIS airs on Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. EST on CBS.