NCIS “Double Blind” 

For those who know me, you should recall that I’m a huge proponent of revenge.  All of the good people out there would say you should just have faith in karma, but some people have an inherent talent of evading justice.  Those are the people you have to go after yourselves – well, of course, if you are careful not to get caught or raise any eyebrows.  I think Gibbs is a lot like me, but with last night’s episode, it looks like a good deal of his bad judgment calls may be catching up with him.

Wow, Richard Parsons (Colin Hanks) is really disarming, is he?  He waltzes into Vance’s (Rocky Carroll) office, and assures him with all his stuttering and amateurish style that “he’s just there to cross the T’s, that’s all”.  As soon as he said that, I thought, “Oh, crap…” but it seems everyone else was falling for his act as well.  He quickly gets all buddy-buddy with Tony (Michael Weatherly) and McGee (Sean Murray), accompanying them on stakeouts and only bringing the Bodnar investigation up casually at the very end.

Then, the axe falls, the mask comes off, and the real “Dick”, as Abby (Pauley Perrette) so eloquently described him, stands before us.  He does the unthinkable – strolling into Abby’s lab, asks innocuous questions, and then, insults her by implying he knows more about forensics than she does.  He pulls the same crap with Ducky, except remember that Ducky is the amateur psychologist, and so, he quickly catches onto Parsons’ little game.  He shows Ducky a picture of a much younger Schmiel, and then, implies that Schmiel’s loyalties may be in question because he was an employee once for the Israeli government.  As time goes on, it appears that Parsons isn’t there to really investigate the Bodnar case, but something else, something much bigger.

With McGee’s help, the team is able to see all of the old cases that Parsons has requested, some of which were before Ziva (Cote de Pablo) even joined the team.  So, if Ziva isn’t the target of the investigation, who is?  Could it be Vance, since Bodnar also killed his wife?  No, the real target of the investigation is the master of revenge himself, Gibbs.  At first this was shocking to me, because Gibbs was not at the top of the food chain – Vance was.  At the end of the day, Vance is the one responsible for NCIS and their actions.  But, the key is both Ziva and Vance’s judgment had been compromised because they both lost a loved one at Bodnar’s hand.  Vance became hell-bent on revenge, and instead of stopping it and having Vance removed from the investigation, Gibbs let the inevitable Bodnar execution play out.  That is why the title of this episode is “Double Blind”.  Both Ziva and Vance were blind with rage and just wanted revenge.  Gibbs was the next in command who was impartial to the case, and instead of following protocol, he joined in the revenge pact.  I personally agree with what Gibbs decided to do, but you do something like this too many times in your career, and you’ll eventually get caught.

Now, for the Tiva fans out there… Sigh.  My readers probably know that I’m not really a shipper at heart, but I do like Tony and Ziva and wish they could be together.  But, after last night’s episode, I think that may be a long time coming.  As we learn of the one-night stand Ziva had with this “Adam” while she is in Israel, I think it’s now clear that the maturity levels of Tony and Ziva are worlds apart and honestly, I don’t think Ziva is really interested in any serious relationship – and haven’t been in a long time.  Tony may appear to be the juvenile one, with his childish remarks and his flirtatious ways, but at the end of the day, I think Tony is the serious one when it comes to relationships.  Unless my memory fails me, I believe the last time Tony had a serious relationship was in season 4 or 5 with Jeanne (Scottie Thompson).  In contrast, Ziva has had numerous trysts, not to mention relationships with crazies like Michael Rivkin and Ray Cruz.  I think what Tony said to Ziva last night pretty much sums it up:

My Hebrew may have been a little off, but I could have sworn when I dropped you off at the airport I said, ‘You are not alone’ – Tony

Yes, you did — Ziva

Well, then, we must have two different interpretations – Tony

Ziva had someone special right there at arm’s length, but instead of turning to that person, she banged the first one that moved.  Don’t get me wrong, I still think there’s hope for Tiva, but I see this as a serious setback.

All in all, I thought this was another top-notch episode.  The case regarding Evan Lowry was a little ridiculous, but the writing was superb, and the acting was stellar – Mark Harmon, Colin Hanks, Pauley Perrette, Cote de Pablo, all of them.  Absolutely cannot wait for next week’s finale.

Most Memorable Quotes

• Well hey there Speedy Gonzales huh? You almost killed Marlon from accounting —
  Tony to Ziva
• You do realize that if you keep telling us how you do your job then we’re not going to need you anymore? – Tony to McGee
• I knew that guy was trouble. He’s like an evil McGee —
  Tony on Parsons
• Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs you’ve manipulated evidence, and you’ve obstructed justice. Do you take full responsibility for the actions of your team? – Parsons to Gibbs

The season 10 finale of NCIS airs next Tuesday at 8 p.m. EST on CBS.