SEASON SIX EPISODE TWENTY-ONE
 

TOXIC

Abby is one of my favourite characters, even if I've wanted to slap her a few times this season, so I was looking forward to the obligatory 'Abby in danger episode'. However, this one had a very nice twist: Abby wasn't really in danger, not as such.

Once again with two obvious baddies, but again with the twist and the overall baddie actually did fool me.

For the second week running I actually didn't want to slap anyone. There was some nice team exchanges, some good banter, some very good humour, a few bits that were less than believable, not too much 'writers making DiNozzo the fool'.

A good, solid team episode with a case that kept my interest, well Abby's side of it. The actual murder didn't really grab or grip me at all, but that wasn't the real 'case'. I really enjoyed it a lot.

We begin with parents singing to a baby (which I think was actually one of these wonderful fake babies, that are so real it's hard to tell them from a real one) to get him to sleep. It works; they go out and start arguing. The wife is annoyed with hubby for making even the smallest of noises, he seems to think she's being irrational (which she was, you have to make noise, you can't be silent all the time, babies have to get used to noise). At that moment there's a soft cry from baby, heard over the baby monitor, but then it goes quiet. The next second, however, they hear a voice over the monitor saying 'help me'.

In the squad room DiNozzo is (again) digging through is desk drawers, watched by McGee and Ziva. One of the things he finds are furry handcuffs (which I seem to recall have appeared before). Ziva seems irritated by what he's doing (in fact Ziva was irritated at times throughout the entire episode) and tells him to stop. He says he's spring cleaning, a term she doesn't know. McGee asks if they don't have spring cleaning in Israel, she points out they don't have spring in Israel, it's in the desert *g* Ziva's malapropisms and misusing the language have started to irk me somewhat, but I rather liked the fact that she took this so literally. A nice little touch. Meanwhile DiNozzo has found a back-scratcher, that he extends and duly starts to use and he expresses his great pleasure with the sensations.

At that moment Abby appears in her black cape and lacy scarf over her head when asked if she's okay she says that Frank is sick. She then reveals that 'Frank' is one of her teeth and seems surprised that the others don't name their teeth - okay, really wacky moment, but so Abby. She has to go to the dentist which peeves her as no Sciuto has had a cavity since 1922 and she tells all about her dental hygiene routine. Gibbs arrives and puts a stop to the whole conversation by telling the field team there's a dead body.

Gibbs and McGee are with the body, McGee's taking photos and commenting on the cold. Meanwhile DiNozzo and Ziva have been to see the couple who reported the calls for help coming over their baby monitor. They know nothing and there's no one in the house, other than the family. The dead man is Marine Private First Class Marco Riggs; he has a fancy call scanner that McGee says he must have been trying to use as a mobile phone, and that's how the couple picked up the calls.

Riggs is not wearing any shoes or socks and that is commented on. DiNozzo says Riggs need a pedicure at which point an irritated Gibbs sends him away to find Riggs's shoes. DiNozzo in true fashion comments that he'd going to find the shoes, trying to make it sound as if it was his idea.

At that moment Ducky and Jimmy appear and Ducky starts to tell a story about what bare feet can signify and suddenly Jimmy takes over and when Ducky looks at him, he informs Ducky he wrote a paper on the subject. Ducky pronounces time of death to be two hours ago and is surprised by that because of how stiff the body is and there are no instant signs of how he died, not bullet holes or signs of strangulation or knife wounds. He comments that something appears to just have sucked the life out of him. Which is a nice cue for Jimmy to find two, what look like vampire fang, marks on Riggs's neck - he says how much Abby will like that.

We then see Abby, a happy Abby, outside the dentists and suddenly three people turn up. They are from the FBI and they tell Abby she has to go with them - it is not a request.

Back in the squad room the team are looking at Riggs's details and it turns out he had been accused of stealing equipment, including the fancy call scanner they found at the scene, but before he could be charge he disappeared. They are waiting from the blood work to come back from Abby. Gibbs says they'll have a long wait as he's just had a call from Fornell to tell him that the FBI have Abby - but Fornell doesn't know anything else.

McGee hurries off saying he'll hack into to FBI.
Ziva says she has a contact.
DiNozzo says he'll put a BOLO out on the FBI's vehicle.
Gibbs simply decides to phone Abby.

A very nice little scene indeed. Fun.

Gibbs does indeed call Abby who is quite happy now, telling Gibbs she doesn't have a cavity, and says it's exciting as she tells him she's in the car with the FBI - but she doesn't know where she's going; that's the bit that bothers Gibbs. Abby then says she'd had a text from Jimmy about the 'vampire bites' and can't believe she's going to miss that. And she also tells Gibbs she has left a step-by-step 'Abby's Lab For Dummies' in her drawer, that's so simple even a monkey could follow it. Gibbs is now watching DiNozzo use his back scratcher again and pretty much looking like a monkey by the way he's standing and moving.

Gibbs: "Good. Guess we got one of those." A nice little moment; the kind of 'make fun of DiNozzo' that actually works well as it's more 'old style'.

Down in Autopsy Jimmy is washing the floor whilst Ducky is talking to Riggs's body.

Jimmy: "Can I stop moping now?"
Ducky (his tone somewhat chilly): "It depends."
Jimmy: "On what?"
Ducky: "Has it enhanced your understanding of protocol?" (Ducky didn't like Jimmy taking over his role of storytelling and educating at the crime scene).
Jimmy: "Consider me enhanced."
Ducky. "Good. Then you may join me."
Gibbs (arriving on cue): "That invitation extend to me, Duck?"
Ducky: "Since when have you waited for an invitation? Don't answer that. I know you like to keep people on their toes. Mr. Palmer."
Jimmy: "Yes, Doctor."
Ducky: "Protocol."
Jimmy (frowning): "What?" Then he looks at Gibbs and it dawns on him. "Oh. Oh, right. Yes. I will go and not be in this room now." And he goes.
Gibbs: "What have to you got?"

A very nice and fun exchange. Poor Jimmy, there he was trying to show Ducky that he too was educated and he gets to mop the floor for his 'sins'. Ah, Jimmy, but you shouldn't interrupt Ducky. And of course some nice G/D moments during their bit of the exchange with looks and closeness and the fact that only Ducky can talk to Gibbs like that. Although as fun as it was, I have to wonder why suddenly Jimmy has to go away all the time. I got it when Gibbs wanted to discuss something with Ducky that Jimmy shouldn't know, but Jimmy always used to be there. There's no 'protocol' that means he can't be there while Ducky talks to Gibbs. So a nice play on 'protocol' but rather odd and inconsistent with non-Gibbs has come to talk to Ducky and doesn't want Jimmy there episodes (i.e. most of them, prior to this season).

Ducky then explains to Gibbs that the bites weren't from a vampire (poor Abby will be disappointed) but were in fact from a stun gun. It seems that even though the weapon doesn't actually normally kill that it the electrical shock induced a stroke in Riggs. He'd have been very confused and could have wandered around for quite some time before finally dying. He would have taken his shoes off because he'd have felt his feet were burning up, but Ducky doubts he'd have been aware of what he was doing. Gibbs comments that a stun gun is really a defensive weapon and it could be that Riggs's death was accidental. Ducky has found something under Riggs's finger nails that will need testing by Abby's replacement.

At that moment DiNozzo arrives to tell Gibbs that Abby's replacement won't be there until Monday, due to budget cut-backs, etc. He says that the BOLO on Riggs's car, however, has come in and should he take Ziva. Gibbs says he'll take Ziva and tells DiNozzo to take McGee and Gibbs leaves.

DiNozzo (looking very puzzled): "Take McGee where?"

Ducky holds up the evidence he'd collected and smiles - he knows what Gibbs meant, but then he always does. (As MW said to PP in one of the episode commentaries when Ducky has said he knows what Gibbs is thinking: 'Gibbs and Ducky are like an old married couple').

We then see Abby's 'Dummies' book. It's wonderful and so Abby. McGee is on the cover and wonders why. DiNozzo asks who is going to sign for the evidence bag he took from Ducky, him or McGee (actually, DiNozzo should already have signed for it when he took it from Ducky, so as he's one of the people who are going to be working on it, no one needs to sign for it). However, we have to ignore that little 'fact' because it was a set up for McGee to say he'd sign for it as he has a Bio-Medical Engineering degree from Johns Hopkins, amongst other degrees. DiNozzo instantly gets his own back on the little 'dig' by saying that's probably why McGee was used as cover art. A nice bit of sibling banter there, with no nastiness, just the little one-upmanship games they play.

Abby is then taken into an office where a man (Jordan Jones) is. He checks she is indeed Abby Sciuto and says he's the one who asked her to go to see him. She picks up on the 'asked'. He then tells her she's there on request of Dr. Philip Heller who is in charge of a special project that is funded by the military and is top secret. She isn't familiar with Heller's work, but apparently Heller is with hers. Jones tells Abby that her country needs her help. So she's in.

He takes her to a wonderful lab, called 'The Cave' Abby falls in love with it straight away and is agog with all the shiny toys she'll have to play with - she's very impressed. Jones tells her that only three others, plus Jones himself, knew of the project and two of them died in Afghanistan and Heller is no longer involved. Then he drops the bombshell that he didn't know what Heller was working on. Now I thought that sounded very hinky to me, and made me sure that Jones was up to something.

Abby is working in the lab and a man, a patient (the lab is beneath a hospital) comes in. She tells him he shouldn't be there and he says he'd escaped from POW camps with better security than they had here and he starts coughing. He introduces himself as Marine Sergeant Major Robert King, NC. When she asks what 'NC' is he tells her 'non-contagious'. He wants to know when Heller is going to finish the project and she tells him Heller is no longer working on it. King says that is strange and when Abby asks why he says that God gave her a great body, but not much brain - she takes exception to that, but not in any huge way. He says that Heller wouldn't just leave.

Someone then calls him and in comes Nurse Hannah Dunstan to take him away. She tells Abby she is the liaison between the lab and the hospital so if Abby wants anything, she should call her. As she goes she adds that she hopes the lab rabbits, which will be arriving soon, will last longer than the others. She tripped my 'spider sense' too; she came over as being a stereo-typical 'bad nurse'. King at first made me a tad curious as to just why he was there, but then I put his bluster and comments down to him, his background, etc.

Meanwhile McGee is reading Abby's manual and he asks DiNozzo if he's actually going to help him or is he just going to keep screwing around (well at least it's consistent, whenever there is work to be done, DiNozzo will leave it to his partner to do it, whilst he reads a porn magazine or does something else). DiNozzo is trying to prise open a locked drawer because it's the only one in the entire lab that is locked, so naturally he wants to know what's in it. This is actually really shocking behaviour and beyond being 'amusing' or acceptable. It's a disciplinary offence. I know DiNozzo always has to know what's going on and I know we had the incident of him looking on Ziva's desk under her files and finding the photograph of Michael but that could be said to have been left out in the open. This wasn't. I'm sorry but to try to break into a drawer that does not belong to you simply out of nosiness is just plain wrong (and I'd be saying that whoever was doing the breaking). It's one step too far, IMHO, of the 'DiNozzo has to know everything/let's make DiNozzo do something amusing'. It's like when he fixed Ziva's chair so it broke when she sat on it; totally unacceptable behaviour. Again I can only assume we put this down to the whole Jeanne thing, but it's just not on. Abby would be well within her rights to report this. I know she won't and in effect she dealt with it in her own way by letting DiNozzo know she knew, but it was bad writing. McGee is wondering where Jimmy is with the rest of the DNA and Jimmy, in a white coat, duly appears and offers to help saying he has lab experience. McGee again quotes his degree which earns a comment from DiNozzo that he likes saying it - again another nice sibling banter moment.

McGee then tells DiNozzo to put the screwdriver down and pass him some kind of bromide. But before DiNozzo can do so, Jimmy is there and passes it to him. McGee then starts to add it to some other liquid whilst DiNozzo appears to tell him that's not what he should be doing and they should microwave the bromide first. But McGee duly ignores him and the suddenly the liquids fiz and pour over the glass. Okay, it was nice and fun to see someone other than DiNozzo being the butt of the joke, but it was also unrealistic that McGee, with the background he had and the fact he was reading the book would get it wrong whereas DiNozzo who, at his own admission, was a jock, knew what should be done. So yes, fun, and it made me smile, but why do the writers do it on something that really isn't believable? It kind of takes it away that for once DiNozzo knows something that McGee doesn't when it comes to non-field work.

DiNozzo then comments that he's glad Abby can't see him and calls McGee 'Hopkins'. At that moment Abby's voice is heard and we see her. She has had her mobile taken away but has managed to open a port on the computer and hook up with her NCIS lab - adding 'or what's left of it. DiNozzo quickly tells her McGee will clean it up; McGee says we'll clean it up; Jimmy also says we'll clean it up. Abby tells them they'll all clean it up. She says she needs a background check on someone and has emailed the details to McGee. She says she has to go as she doesn't want to leave the port open, but before she does she tells DiNozzo that screwdrivers leave marks on locked drawers. DiNozzo is standing there holding a screwdriver. A really fun little exchange - lovely to see Abby coming out on top and knowing what DiNozzo had been up to. And you just know that all three of them will be cleaning up.

Meanwhile Gibbs and Ziva are at Riggs's car; it appears he's been living in it. It's two miles away from where Riggs's body was found and there is no sign of a struggle. Ziva suggests maybe it was a planned rendezvous. She then says how nice it is to work without DiNozzo's constant babbling. She goes on about him not knowing how irritating he is to those around her. Gibbs then points out that she is now babbling - another nice little moment. Ziva then goes to the boot and opens it and calls Gibbs's name. He snaps at her, but she calmly calls him to see what is in the boot: there is rope, a spade, tape and other things you don't normally find in the boots of most people's cars. It looks as though Riggs was not the intended victim.

Abby goes to see Jones and he asks if she has made any progress. She tells him about Heller's DNA target strand. He says he already knew that. When she asks how he confesses he wanted to see if she was the real McCoy before letting her loose on the real work. She is not a happy bunny because he lied to her and she says she's going to leave. He says she can't; when she asks why he shows her a group of patients, including King, saying they'll die if she leaves. Naturally, Abby stays.

Back at NCIS McGee is at his computer when Gibbs and Ziva come back in. McGee asks if they found anything and Ziva is about to explain when she notices a smell, it's from McGee's hands. He said he'd washed them a dozen times; Gibbs tells him to wash them again, but McGee puts on a pair of gloves. Ziva then says they found stuff in Riggs's car that implied he was about to bury a body.

DiNozzo then appears to say that he and Jimmy had finished running the DNA test while McGee was working on the background check of the person Abby emailed him details of. He asks McGee if he's going to tell Gibbs the name, McGee is puzzled; the person he has on his screen, the person he's running background checks on is one Dr. Philip Heller. The person whose DNA was under Riggs's finger nails They all gather around McGee. It looks as though someone was looking to kill Heller and Abby has taken Heller's place.

Up in MTAC Gibbs is talking to Jones. Jones doesn't want to tell Gibbs anything to begin with suggesting Gibbs trusts him; but Gibbs points out he doesn't know him thus he can't trust him - nicely said Gibbs. And then Gibbs threatens Jones with a public investigation if he doesn't tell him something. So Jones does. The project they were working on was to do with Afghanistan War Syndrome. Basically they noticed when some of the people were coming home they were suffering from an undiagnosed illness that was thought to be fatigue. But because TPTB didn't want another Gulf War Syndrome they were working on finding a cure - Gibbs approved of that. Jones says he doesn't know where Heller is and Gibbs says he wants Abby back until Heller is found.

However, Abby appears at that moment and when Gibbs asks if she's okay tells him she's fine, but then says to Jones they have to talk about the use of bunnies. And she tells Gibbs she is staying because she can help. She says she's safe there, the hospital is secure, she's as safe as being at NCIS, safer in fact as they have bigger dogs where she is. Gibbs smiles and knows he's 'lost'.

In the squad room the kids are around McGee's desk discussing why if Heller was working on a cure for Afghanistan War Syndrome would someone want to kill him. Gibbs comes in and tells them they need to find Heller, they say it won't be easy and generally babble for a moment, until he just stares at them and they hurry off to look at the plasma where McGee has put Heller's details. He's married, no kids, was treated for a gambling addiction a while ago, but seems fine now and lives within his means. Gibbs spots an item for exotic flowers on the credit card list and says they'll start with the wife. DiNozzo and Ziva both look at him expectantly in their 'choose me, Daddy,' way and Gibbs, obviously he'd been irritated with Ziva's babbling earlier, chooses, much to Ziva's disappointment, DiNozzo.

Back with Abby, King appears and now compliments Abby's intelligence. He asks is she can turn off her 'music' and she does. He's on the run as it's bath time and he doesn't like the way Nurse Dunstan bathes them. He then sits down and continues a game of chess he and Heller had been playing, Abby joins in. She asks if he has 'it' and he asks what 'it' is and he asks if she's finished isolating the genes - so it looks as though Heller had told him what he was up to during King's visits and chess games. Abby says she's close and he says she's a horrible liar, whereas he is an excellent one as he used to do it for a living as he was the person to run a huge amount of black ops. He says he used to be important; Abby tells him he still is. He says as a lab rat and says he'd signed up to die for his country and he'll still do that, and he announces Abby is in check. Abby says she'll sort it out and he tells her not to make promises she can't keep. He then asks her to promise not to name the cure after him. She does and asks him a favour: to help her free the bunnies; he agrees. So it was all there, he was telling her what a good liar he was and for once I didn't twig - like Abby I was taken in by him and thought he was just an elderly man who was going to die simply because he wanted to help his country. It was a very clever red herring.

At Heller's house his wife is holding a garage sale, which DiNozzo starts to babble about a tad. She says she doesn't know where Heller is, and she clearly doesn't care. Instead she addresses DiNozzo and guesses what size/length coat his wears and offers to sell him one - one of Heller's. DiNozzo barters with her, until a very annoyed Gibbs snatches the coat from DiNozzo and throws it back over the rail it was on. She says she's already spoken to the FBI and told them everything. Heller said he was going for a walk three nights ago and never came back and there's no need for him to do so. And still she tries to sell DiNozzo the coat. Gibbs and DiNozzo leave and Gibbs mentions the flowers on Heller's credit card and how they weren't for his wife; it suddenly dawns on DiNozzo they were for a girl-friend.

Back at the office McGee has traced the flowers to a Maggie Smith. He and Ziva went to her home and she claimed that Heller wasn't there but something smelt fish, says Ziva. When Gibbs and McGee just look at her she asks what and McGee explains it's 'fishy'. And he tells Gibbs how Heller had been hiding, he tried to run, they caught him and he was carrying a stun gun that matched the marks on Riggs's neck.

In the interrogation room Gibbs shows Heller Riggs's picture. Heller says he knows him, but had nothing to do with his death. Gibbs asks how Riggs's DNA got under Heller's fingernails (good question). Heller then tells Gibbs how three days ago Riggs had tried to grab him. Hang on, if Heller shot Riggs three days ago that means it took Riggs three days to die? That I find incredibly unlikely and odd. Are we meant to assume that three days has gone by since Riggs's body was found and now? I guess we have to, Riggs couldn't have taken three days to die. Gibbs asked why he hadn't gone to the police, but Heller thought it was just a simple mugging. Then Gibbs tells him he knows all about the lab and the cure and says he has Heller on manslaughter and if he proves intent, he'll have him on murder. Gibbs is angry (he's worried about Abby) and he demands to know why someone was trying to kill Heller. Heller admits he discovered the truth. How he had been manipulated and how the tasks in the lab had been compartmentalised supposedly for security purposes but that he realised he wasn't working on a cure - he was building a weapon.

Abby, carrying the chess set, goes into King's room with good news. But stops as she sees an orderly who is talking to someone on his mobile phone about rabbits running all over the hospital whilst taking pictures off the wall. Abby asks about King and the orderly says he's sorry and gives her a few minutes; he goes out still talking. She sits on King's bed and starts to tell him about what she'd found, but stops saying he'd find it boring. She admits she hadn't found a cure yet, but maybe one day . . . At that moment DiNozzo, on his way past the door, sees her and hurries in, asking her if she's okay; she says 'no'. Ziva and Hellman is also there and says they've secured the lab. Abby wants to know what's going on.

DiNozzo and Ziva take Abby back to NCIS. Gibbs and McGee are at Gibbs's desk when they appear and both are relieved to see her, McGee shows it more blatantly, but Gibbs clearly is too. McGee asks her if she's okay and now she's angry. She says she isn't because Abby's Rule #01 - never lie to Abby - has been broken. We learn that all of Abby's research has been downloaded by someone and she takes exception to the term 'research'. She was building a weapon. She explains about how what she did and what Heller did together meant that someone could be targeted simply by their DNA. The entire water supply could be infected and yet only one person would be killed. Heller made the bullet; Abby the gun. DiNozzo comments that wouldn't it just be simpler to use a gun, but Gibbs said the weapon wasn't built to kill someone; DiNozzo then picks up it was built to be sold.

Abby: "Perfect. Hi, I'm Abby Sciuto. International Bio weapons dealer."

DiNozzo asks how Jones got by the supervisors.

Gibbs says:" Sick soldiers. You don't ask too many questions."
Abby: "Oh, my God."

Down in Abby's lab, the mess the boys made is still on the floor, but her attention is on the computer. She is hacking into the hospital and finally gets what she wants. She tells DiNozzo she's sending another person's details up on whom she wants a BOLO on the person. He asks if she's cleared it with Gibbs, she just tells him to get on with it.

Gibbs then appears and she explains how she doesn't think there is such a thing as Afghanistan War Syndrome, it was just that the soldiers got sick, as soldiers do and someone was switching the blood results of the sick soldiers for healthy results and the someone was . . . Hannah Dunstan. She had to be in on it and she says she should have seen it when she was at the hospital. She then asks Gibbs if he's going to give her a pep talk, he says no, because she is pissed as she should be. Gibbs's phone then rings - another body has been found.

Down in Autopsy Ducky, Gibbs, Jimmy and Ziva are looking at the body of Hannah Dunstan. A hiker saw her body being dumped. There was no useful description. She has been strangled, it appears she and Jones had a falling out - he didn't need her any more so was tying up loose ends. They have a tire print and Abby is running it; Ducky comments that he imagines it was all quite an ordeal for Abby. McGee arrives at that moment with the news that Abby has managed to track Jones's mobile phone and he was making flight plans - they know where. The field team go.

Ducky (to Hannah): "You messed with the wrong forensic scientist."

Abby is outside interrogation with Ziva and asks where Gibbs is. Ziva says he's letting Jones sit and Abby takes exception to the fact Jones has been allowed a chair as he kills bunnies. Gibbs then arrives and Jones says he's impressed they got him so quickly; he wants to do a deal. He says he's not proud of what he did, but with the budget cuts he looked at his pension and decided he deserved more. Gibbs asks if he was willing to kill for it. Jones is genuinely surprised by the 'kill' comment and outside Abby and Ziva both agree it wasn't an act. Gibbs shows him Hannah's picture and again Jones is stunned. Gibbs then asks who Jones's buyer is, and Jones is still taken aback. Gibbs says how they know Jones was selling research from the programme. Jones denies that and in fact it turns out he was simply embezzling. He had to get out because Abby had succeeded, thus they'd know what he'd done.

Abby then comes in, followed by Ziva who say she's sorry to Gibbs, and calls Jones a liar. She talks about King and how Jones also falsified results. Jones says he doesn't know King and that no one of that name was in the programme and it suddenly dawns on them all.

In a coffee shop King is sitting sending an email about the weapon as Abby and Gibbs appear in front of him and behind him are McGee and DiNozzo. Abby speaks to him first saying how well he looks for a dead guy, apart from the blood draining out of his face. His actual name is 'Tom'. King asks what he did wrong and Abby says he made her care about him.

McGee: "You are under arrest for the murder of Hannah Dunstan."
DiNozzo: "And many, many more bad things because you are a very bad man."
McGee: "A little tip. The next time you play chess with a forensic specialist -"
Gibbs: "Wear gloves."

King was working with Riggs who was sending unsecured emails which was as good as a beacon to King's laptop. Although how did they suddenly find this out? From where was Riggs sending unsecured emails? The gizmo he stole? Could it send emails? Abby asks King 'why'? and he tells her it kept her from asking too many questions and he likes to stay close when running an op.

Gibbs: "An op? Op? Is that what you call betraying your country?"
King: "You have no idea what I've done for my country."
Gibbs: "Yeah, I do. I read your file.

King is the go-to guy for setting up black ops. And his speciality was bio-weapons defence research. McGee and DiNozzo are about to take him away when King then asks Abby if she has anything to say and she simply says "Checkmate."

McGee and DiNozzo are outside Abby's lab, huddled together wondering why she is there as Vance told her to take the week off. But clearly she hasn't. They both ask the other what they are doing there and both say they got an email from Gibbs telling them to meet him there - hey, guys, Gibbs + email is never going to happen!

DiNozzo sends McGee in first but as soon as they are both in Abby, who is reading, secures the door by remote control. There is a smiling Jimmy already on his hands and knees and by the side of him are two lots of cleaning materials one labelled 'McGee' the other 'Tony' and we pan to see there is also one labelled 'Palmer'.

DiNozzo comments about the fact that Gibbs doesn't use email.
McGee: "We've been set up."

Jimmy is already cleaning the floor and looks up at them and smiles.

Abby then waves at them and smiles.

OVERALL

A very good episode, IMO. A few twists that worked really well. I liked the fact that it was an Abby-centric episode with some hint of danger for her, but unlike the other two Abby-centric episodes she never really was in danger. So once again the trailer mis-led us somewhat - which was nice. It wasn't predictable.

There were a few points on which I'm hazy the whole three days thing and the discovery of the unsecured emails.

So we have three different crimes and four people involved.

- Heller was responsible for Riggs's death.
- King killed Hannah and was also responsible for sending Riggs after Heller and was about to sell the weapon Heller and Abby had created.
- Hannah, in turn, was responsible for switching the blood and was working with King on the 'project'.
- Jones embezzled.

Some excellent team work and exchanges and banter and very much a great team spirit over all. They were all really concerned about Abby.

Some fun scenes.

No one was obnoxious or needed slapping, not at all. No one was out of character, they were all very much the people I love to see.

It was great to see Jimmy, he really should be made a regular, and his scenes with Ducky and with McGee and DiNozzo and at the end when he was on his hands and knees were some of the best of the episode.

Various ship moments for so many ships including the two I personally ship (Gibbs/Ducky and Abby/McGee) but also moments for several others.

Overall an excellent episode.

Storyline: 9.50

Enjoyment: 9.50

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