NCIS “Berlin” 

      

      If it weren’t for Orli, I probably would have been a completely different person – Ziva

      Well, let’s go find her, because I would like to thank her – Tony to Ziva

To all the Tiva fans out there, I can still hear all of your screaming after tonight’s episode.  “Berlin” was full of touching Tiva moments like the above one, but at the same time had a solid plot that also wrapped up several loose ends from previous episodes.  In a nutshell, the episode was perfect … well, almost.

Ever since the double murder of Eli David and Jackie Vance, we’ve all known that the time was coming for Ziva’s (Cote de Pablo) big moment of revenge.  That was obvious not only to all of the viewers, but to Gibbs (Mark Harmon) and Director Vance (Rocky Carroll).  And, the somewhat surprising part from the last episode is that both Vance and Gibbs supported Ziva’s revenge scheme.  Gibbs knows how it feels to have a loved one murdered (and now, Vance does too), and make no mistake, this NCIS team won’t rest until Eli David’s assassin is dead and in the ground.

The next step on this warpath to justice is a trip to Berlin tonight for Ziva and Tony (Michael Weatherly).  The CIA’s intel indicates that Bodnar (Oded Fehr. The Mummy) is in Rome, but Ziva has personal information that points in another direction.  In the past, whenever Eli David had gotten into trouble, he would collect his cash, convert it into diamonds, and then, cash it back out later once he reached safety.  Eli had shared this plan with his daughter, Ziva, and because Bodnar was like a son to him, Ziva knows it is likely that her father shared it with him.  Sure enough, Ziva noticed a spike in the trade of diamonds in Berlin, and so, that’s where Ziva and Tony head.

In the meantime, a Mossad officer, Amir Mantel, is murdered on U.S. soil in Virginia, which also brings the new Mossad Director, Orli Elbaz (Marina Sirtis, Star Trek: The Next Generation), to the United States.  According to Orli, their theory is that a member of Bodnar’s rogue faction killed Mantel, and so, if they found Mantel’s killer, they should find Bodnar.  Pretty simple, right?  Everything lined up neatly, and the evidence was almost perfect.  Well, we should all know by now that whenever that happens on NCIS, you should start looking for a rat because something stinks.  Our gut instinct is confirmed after Abby (Pauley Perrette) examines the evidence from the murder scene and it proves the opposite is true – Mantel is the rogue officer and was killed by someone in the Mossad.  Even more importantly, this also means that Bodnar is likely to still be in the U.S., not Berlin, and Mossad Director Elbaz came to the U.S. with the sole purpose of killing him.  At least everyone is on the same page now, but Gibbs doesn’t care much for being deceived and makes that clear to Elbaz.

All in all, I thought this was a very good episode and definitely much better than the last episode, “Chasing Ghosts”, from a couple of weeks ago.  It had a strong main storyline of the murder of Mossad Officer Mantel, but at the same time, the investigation tied neatly back to the primary arc of the season, that of the murder of Eli David.  Because of the connection between the two plots, the episode flowed very nicely.  In fact, I was so engaged that when I looked up and saw there was only 10 minutes left, I could hardly believe it.

The only part that I honestly say I did not like was the ending.  As Ziva and Tony are driving down the road and having their touching Tiva moment, I am betting a good majority of the viewers immediately had the premonition that their car was going to be slammed.  Couldn’t the writers have been more creative – someone shoot through the windshield, a bomb going off?  Regardless, I thought the attempt on Tony and Ziva’s life was very predictable and the sole reason why I wouldn’t give the episode a perfect A+.

So, what does everyone else think?  Eli David and Jackie Vance have already been murdered, and now, two more of our own have been attacked.  Who is going to be left standing (on either side!) when all of the dust settles?  Be sure to catch next week’s episode because it looks like the showdown is about to begin.

 Most memorable quotes

•  I’ve seen Italian Job, both versions.  I’m all business.  – Tony
• You thinking up ways to rough up the new Mossad Director? – Tony
• So, we looking for a diamond chest in Berlin?” – Tony
• Sweet cheeks, you hanging up my clothes? – Tony to Ziva
• But, understand this is the last pass Mossad will get from me – Vance

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