- Title: NCIS: Los Angeles – Murder of Crows
- IMDb: link
Anna Akana guest-stars as a former NCIS tech whose life, along with that of a missing NCIS agent from Key West, is in danger. While evidence initially seems to point to the missing agent as the mole who may have ruined NCIS’ case against the same arms dealer after Rhea Moretti (Akana), the truth is he has been working hard to save the life of a source within the criminal organization. Akana is fun here, working a bit of herself into the character with stand-up along with references to therapy and, of course, cats. Surviving the ordeal, and proving her worth, you have to wonder if we’ve seen the last of the abrasive yet adorable Moretti (I’m hoping not). The episode also features the expected ongoing team drama with Callen (Chris O’Donnell) fretting over buying a house and Kensi (Daniela Ruah) working to convince Fatima (Medalion Rahimi) to explore life outside of work.
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- Title: NCIS – The North Pole
- wiki: link
In a callback to “Out of Darkness” and “Into the Light” which returned Cote de Pablo as Ziva David, “The North Pole” deals with the remaining mission Ziva wished to accomplish before returning to her family. The set-up of NCIS’ involvement is a bit awkward involving Odette Malone (Elayn J. Taylor) lying and tricking Bishop (Emily Wickersham) in order to secure the help of NCIS in the attempt to save a contact and friend of Ziva’s who was her lifeline during her years on underground. The twist the episode involves the reveal that the Sahar (Mouzam Makkar) killed was a lieutenant and not the true terrorist leader (Louise Barnes) who has been living under Gibb’s nose all this time.
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- Title: NCIS – Into the Light
- wiki: link
“Into the Light” concludes the two-part season premiere featuring the resurrected Ziva David (Cote de Pablo). The episode includes quite a bit of misdirection as the soldiers of the captured Sahar (Mouzam Makkar) attempt two suicide bombings on members of Congress, although it is discovered that neither one was ever meant to be successful. It also raises some suspicions against Ziva who makes some questionable choices in order to put her own plan in action and take down Sahar’s complete cell in one move.
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- Title: NCIS – Out of the Darkness
- wiki: link
Picking up the thread of last season’s cliffhanger ending, Ziva David (Cote de Pablo) returns from the dead in “Out of the Darkness” with a warning for Gibbs (Mark Harmon). Without going into detail about where Ziva has been, the season premiere at least explains the reason for her fake death by rewriting a bit of NCIS history and having the bomb that supposedly killed Ziva be the actions of a mysterious terrorist. Together the pair go on the run in search of the mysterious woman Sahar (Mouzam Makkar) while first Bishop, and then later other members of NCIS begin to understand just what his going on. Ziva is less than forthcoming about her time away, other than her single mindedness about killing Sahar and making it back to her daughter.
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- Title: NCIS – Daughters
- wiki: link
NCIS’ latest case gets personal when Emily Fornell (Juliette Angelo) shows up in the emergency room with an opioid overdose. While NCIS first believes her to be a victim, it doesn’t take too long before Fornell (Joe Spano) discovers his daughter is an addict. The episode is notable for two guest-appearances, one directly tied to the Fornell storyline and one which leads into next season’s premiere. The first is the return of Melinda McGraw who appears as a ghost to haunt Gibbs (Mark Harmon) and push him into taking Emily’s case (despite a dubious jurisdictional claim). Gibbs has been haunted by several characters over the years, but Diane’s return caps a season-long theme of the grizzled agent letting his guard down more than at any point in the show’s history.
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