SEASON SIX EPISODE TWENTY-THREE
 

LEGEND 2

Well I was hoping that this week would be better than last, I was wrong. At least last week had a few good scenes, this was pretty much devoid of them. Talk about being bored for another 42 minutes. And once again 'our' team lost out, one person totally - no Ducky at all!!!!!

And what about the 'big secret' we're going to learn about Gibbs; the one that's been going on since episode 1? Um, no. And if the 'audience will be shocked' er, once again with the 'no'.

I still don't care about - not don't like, don't care, there's a difference - the new team. Once again they are just not developed, they have with very few exceptions no personalities, they're dull, they don't stand out and they don't gel together. You get no feeling these people have worked together for some time. None at all. We're meant to like them, we're meant to care and so much of this 'meant' was being forced on us. Well, it didn't work.

It virtually all took place in LA, which I know was expected and the DC bits with DiNozzo, Ziva and Abby all seemed unreal and stuck-in as extras, just because they had to show them at some point. None of them had real parts, none of them did any investigations, we had nothing.

And as for the ending in LA, oh, please Mr. Brennan, really. Do stop treating your audience like five year olds and giving them cheap thrills. If that was meant to guarantee the show being picked up and the audience running back to see if Callen lived or died, well really, shame on you.

So we begin with 'previously on NCIS' and race through a small bit of last week's ending with Rivkin meeting Callen who, of course, is meant to be Liam - I'll stick with Callen, I got lost over a number of the names as it was. Meanwhile Eric at OSP is running a facial check on Rivkin. Rivkin tells Callen that someone has told him that Liam is dead, Callen says he's been mis-told and Rivkin pulls a gun. Macy orders Sam and Kensi in and the op is a bust. Callen seems angry that she's sent them in, saying Rivkin wouldn't have shot him; Nate confirms that, he says the body language was wrong. At that moment Eric gets a match and tells OSP who Rivkin in, whilst Rivkin addresses OSP asking if they are FBI, CIA and then tells them he is Mossad and that Ziva David can prove that.

In DC DiNozzo gets out of the lift and Ziva is waiting for him; she tells him Gibbs is on the feed in MTAC and they go up. He asks her a few questions to which she gives on word replies. He makes it his mission to get her to answer in more than one word. They go up to MTAC and she reminds him there is no beverages allowed him MTAC (well obviously apart from the popcorn, etc. they had in 'Silent Night') and so he hands his coffee to someone and he babbles a lot still trying to get her to say more than one word.

Macy shows Ziva Rivkin's photo and asks if she can ID him; she can and does, but says she hasn't seen him for quite some time. Gibbs tells her they'll talk later and OSP sign off. Ziva then tells DiNozzo that he thought she wouldn't ID Rivkin, he doesn't deny it but asks her if she wants to tell him more; she says 'no', adding that as it was only one word, she wins.

Back in LA McGee reports that Rivkin's cover was as an Israeli banker and he arrived three days ago. Macy wants to know what he's doing and Gibbs says the same as they are; trying to find a terrorist cell.

Back with Callen he and Rivkin are talking about who Rivkin was meant to be. He says he was meant to be Nick Quaderi, but that Quaderi is 'asleep' (he's killed him) and he mentions another man a Haziq Khaleel. Macy then calls Rivkin, Callen tells him to be nice, and she is not happy with him. He tells her he's just doing his job; she tells him to go home. Sam then, after emptying it, gives Rivkin his gun back and Rivkin leaves the room. They remind us, in case we'd forgotten from last week, that there are four passports and four cases in the hotel room. Macy orders Renco to follow Rivkin and she sends Callen and Sam to follow up on Quaderi, to go to the place Rivkin says he is.

Macy, who really is not at all happy and seems totally out of her depth - which she did for the entire episode, yet this is the woman who is meant to be in charge asks Gibbs about Ziva. He asks if she's asking if he trust her and says he does, with his life. She then comments that he doesn't think she is doing a good job, which he doesn't deny nor confirm, he simply tells her Vance must, because she's doing it. She tells him not to judge her on past performances and says it was 18 years ago; he asks her what she found. During this Nate is watching them. Gibbs goes one way, Macy another. Nate is about to get up, but McGee distracts him and starts talking about the case and terrorist cells. Nate tells him that they are like family, always looking out for and checking up on one another, so the fact that Rivkin has killed a member isn't necessarily a good thing. McGee wonders if Rivkin knows the rest of the cell; Nate says he does.

Macy goes into her office and takes her ponytail down. Nate goes in and asks if she's okay, again she tells him not to go there, but he pushes, it is his job. She says he knows them all, but no one knows him, he says he doesn't know Gibbs. Finally she tells him the 'shocking secret'. Eighteen years ago when she was a young Lieutenant desperate to prove herself she was the lead on a case of a Gunnery Sergeant being accused of murder; the said Gunny was Gibbs. If this was meant to shock us, it failed. We already know Gibbs killed the man who killed Shannon and Kelly. I said last week that their past history would involve their deaths somehow and she investigated Gibbs over something. I hadn't thought the murder, but I knew that's what she'd done. Oh, look, yet another thing to put in his time line. He was under investigation in 1991 - wow, that man was sure busy in that year.

McGee and Eric are looking up Nick Quaderi's details and talking about how many thousands of checks are carried out on innocent people every day, just as they are now doing on Quaderi. Eric says it's okay because they work for the government; his comment whilst meant to be amusing no doubt really annoyed me, it was his tone he was too flippant about it and from the look on McGee's face he thought so too.

Gibbs then appears and we learn that Renco has tracked Rivkin (ah, the poor alphabet) down and he's going to where they are. McGee looks at him and Gibbs asks if there's anything else; McGee says not. Gibbs goes. McGee then checks the search they did on Rivkin and finds that the last person to do it before them was . . . Abby.

Callen and Sam are in a cheap apartment block where Rivkin sent them. They go to the said apartment, go in and find a body - Nick Quaderi's body (at least that is what we are meant to believe at this time). And Rivkin has indeed killed him. Sam asks Callen if he knows what it is between Gibbs and Macy, please you're in a middle of a case, why the interest in your boss and the senior agent from DC? Once again I felt the whole sledge-hammer over Gibbs and Macy's past was just too much. We had to keep being reminded of it ever two seconds (okay, I exaggerate a tad). Callen says he doesn't know. Sam then says when he was a SEAL he knew about Mossad's secret department that were set up to track down Nazis; he thinks Rivkin is one of them.

We then see Renco sanding a boat - and not doing a good job of it - and Gibbs appears, Renco invites him onto the boat. Rivkin is sitting on the balcony of a hotel drinking coffee and clearly waiting for someone. Gibbs then asks Renco whose boat it is and Renco says he has no idea (that was one of the highlights of the episode, doesn't that say it all?) and Gibbs then tells Renco he's not sanding it properly and shows him how to do it.

Back at Nick's apartment there is a noise at the door. Callen sits down on the sofa and grabs his mobile and is talking when the door opens and in comes a young woman, Shakira Zayd. Callen says he's Liam a kind of friend of Nick's and she admits to being Nick's girlfriend. She asks where Nick is and he says not there and when she asks how he got in, he shows her a key. Then Sam, who is still in the other room, calls and they talk with Callen pretending he's talking to Nick. He says Nick told them to meet elsewhere and they'll get a cab; she has a car. He says he'll pop to the bathroom and tells Sam to follow them and keep him safe. Once they've gone Sam calls Macy.

Shakira in her bright yellow convertible drives them to a garage - and I'm afraid I got somewhat lost over names here - to meet Haziq whom she says totally freaks her out. She says Haziq was always trying to recruit Nick. They get there and she introduces Callen as Nick's friend to Haziq and Callen says he can get them what they want.

Outside Sam is talking to Macy and says he needs some eyes in the garage and Macy send Kensi out. She is in her flash car, stops it, gets out, picks up some lead piping and smashes the front light. A couple of tattooed guys try to hit on her but she basically tells them to get lost. And she drives off to the garage.

Meanwhile inside the garage Haziq tells Shakira to get Callen a drink and whilst she's doing that he tells Callen she doesn't know what's going on as she's just a woman. He takes Callen's gun and phone and asks why Nick changed the meeting place and he tries to call Nick, with no luck.

Back at OSP McGee, who actually looks a lot more comfortable than Sam did last week and this is his first time, is playing with the cool toys and using his fingers to put the information on the screen and sent it to the bigger one. Haziq is on the phone and they switch it through to Sam who can translate it; basically Haziq is telling someone to get to the garage. Nate pops up and tells us what is so obvious - now he's one of the not too bad characters, but what is his role? Other than to point out the blindingly obvious - he tells Macy that Haziq is anxious and needs his men around him. Macy comments he's not the only one.

Meanwhile Kensi gets to the garage and tries to go in but Haziq stops her telling her they are closed. She uses her feminine 'charms' and says can he just look at the car and tell her if it's okay to drive it. He does and she tries to go into the garage again asking if they have a bathroom; he says they don't, but she has time to put a camera just inside the door. He tells her the car is okay and to bring it back next week. She goes.

Back at OSP they learn that a Nasim Boutas called Haziq. They trace him to a long stay hotel; the same one that Rivkin is at. Meanwhile Vance has called Macy. Gibbs is still sanding the boat and Rivkin is still drinking coffee. Macy then calls Gibbs to say Vance has cleared it and to bring Rivkin in. Do you really think it's going to be that easy, lady? No, of course not. And it isn't. Rivkin vanishes under Gibbs's nose and Gibbs and Renco go into the hotel and find another dead body - we assume to be Nasim.

Back at the garage Callen and Shakira are watching Haziq argue with another man who I think was Jumah. Shakira says they are arguing over the mobile phone and the fact that Haziq can't get a signal and reach Nick. She's concerned about Nick; and she also knows they are planning something, but she doesn't know what it is. Haziq then tells Callen he has an hour to get the weapons and lets him make a call. He of course calls Sam. Meanwhile McGee reports that the GPS marker on Rivkin shows he's still at the hotel; he must have found it. He'll put a BOLO out on him.

Finally we go back to DC again and Abby is sitting making a banner saying 'We missed you Timmy'. At that moment McGee calls her and we pan back to see she is actually sitting at his desk and it's festooned with balloons and decorated with coloured paper, etc. She tells DiNozzo it's McGee and he says to tell him she's in her lab. She says he'll know she isn't, as he knows everything. DiNozzo points out, no Gibbs knows everything and whilst the genius (McGee) is smart, he doesn't know everything. So Abby lies and does so utterly awfully, causing McGee to ask if she's sitting at his desk. She instantly stands up and quite honestly tells him 'no' (that was another of the good scenes). McGee then asks her about the search she did on Rivkin and also says he knows she's at his desk and that DiNozzo is there and asks to speak to him.

DiNozzo then takes the phone and babbles on telling him how Abby is suffering from Gibbs withdrawal and how, if she had done to Gibbs's desk what she'd done to McGee's, Gibbs might withdraw his love and giver her her first ever head slap. He then adds of course she isn't missing McGee; no one is. McGee ignores that and says they are all missing someone: Michael Rivkin. He tells DiNozzo about the dead members of the cell and that Rivkin has now vanished and he mentions Ziva. DiNozzo tells him not to ask questions; McGee says someone has to an DiNozzo says to leave it to him.

Back at OSP they once again go through what they know - it's called padding, as someone said last week one of the problems was the double episode could have been done in one, and it could. There are five men involved in all, all born outside the US, none of them have records and very little personal data is known about them. Nate says it's the classic sleeper cell. Gibbs then reminds them there were only four passports and four suitcases so one of the five is likely to be the handler. Nate in effect rules them all out as being in that role, and declares they are missing something (yes, our team).

Back in DC Ziva arrives and asks if she's missed anything. DiNozzo tells her about Abby and how he made a paper plane. He then asks her if they are fighting; she says no because if they were he'd be on the floor bleeding; he concedes that. Then he asks if she's angry or irritated with him and he pushes. And mentions Rivkin saying she should have told them more and asks how well she knows Rivkin and then asks why she didn't tell Gibbs she'd seen Rivkin three days ago; she doesn't deny it. Instead she asks if he's questioning her loyalty; he repeats the three days ago; she asks him if he's jealous (partly, yes); he tells her he's worried. And he then tells her that Rivkin has killed two suspects to which she says 'in my country that would be a cause for celebration'. Wow! Really? He tells her she isn't in her country, nor is Rivkin. She gets up and leaves again; he follows her to the lift and asks if she'd tell him where Rivkin was; she says she wouldn't, but she would tell Gibbs.

Back in LA Callen and Shakira are still talking about Nick. She says she's known him for about three months and he travels a lot. To begin with her brother didn't want her to see Nick, but he came around. Callen asks if she has any photos of her brother and she shows him one - it's the man who they found dead in Nick's apartment. Oh, dear. Then he asks if she has any of Nick, she only has one, saying Nick hates cameras. She shows him one and . . . Nick is in fact Rivkin (yawns).

In OSP Macy asks Eric if they have lost audio, he tells her Callen and Shakira are whispering he demands to know why *rolls eyes* She's lost it already. She then asks Gibbs if he were Rivkin where would he be; he tells her close by and he turns to go. She asks where he's going and he tells her he'll let her know when he gets there. He goes. Macy then looks at McGee who turns away from her back to his computer. Nate is watching again.

Back in the garage Callen is asking Shakira if she has another number for Nick; one he would have given her if something bad happened and he tells her she can't keep running, something bad is about to happen to her brother. She asks who he is, he says someone she has to trust. She gets up and tells Haziq she wants to go home, he slaps her face and won't let her. She sits back down and gets Callen to promise nothing will happen to her brother - he does. He had to, even though brother is dead, but it's not a nice thing. And she gives him the number. He calls out to Haziq and Jumah saying he has another number for Nick and gives them it - well he's really giving it to OSP.

Eric and McGee begin to search on the number, whilst Macy panics more. And once again Nate sums it up: Rivkin wanted to take the cell out. McGee now has Rivkin's location and Macy says to send the nearest team. Then flips and sends Sam and Kensi and a couple of others into the garage, saying she can't wait any longer. They go in, there is a shoot out; she demands one of the men is alive and Sam makes sure he is, changing from automatic machine gun type of weapon to his hand gun and he put a bullet in Haziq's (I think) kneecaps - ouch.

Gibbs has gone after Rivkin and they come bumper to bumper. McGee calls Gibbs to tell him all has been sorted. Gibbs then tells Rivkin to go home. Rivkin says he doesn't like to leave things undone. Gibbs just repeats he should go. Rivkin says if he leaves from DC Tel Aviv will look the other way. Gibbs says it isn't what he'd do. Rivkin says they are fighting the same war only his began in Auschwitz and he has six million uniforms, all different. Gibbs says he has one. He then tells Rivkin Ziva works for him and says 'shalom'. Rivkin nods and finally does get into his car and drives off. Gibbs watches him leave.

In OSP Gibbs and McGee are saying their goodbyes; Macy is watching them. Gibbs looks at her, but totally ignores her. He then goes up the stairs, leading to the way out, and says goodbye to Callen. He tells him his basement is always open and to stay low; Callen calls him 'Jethro'. Gibbs goes and McGee follows, Callen stops him, mentions the red-eye flight they're taking and gives McGee a magazine: Snipers' Monthly, saying it always worked for him.

They get into the lift and Nate appears, he and McGee exchange a few words and he says he's getting some fresh air. When they reach the ground, Gibbs and McGee are about to go and Nate calls Gibbs. McGee looks at Gibbs gets a nod to wait in the car and he does. Meanwhile Nate turns to Gibbs and says he took an oath never to betray a confidence but he'll tell him a story. Eighteen years ago a young Lieutenant in the MPs was investigating a Gunnery Sergeant who had been accused of killing the Mexican drug dealer who had killed his wife and daughter. She hadn't held back during the interrogation and she kept pushing and pushing and bringing it all back up. But then at the end she decided to bury the evidence. In effect she has been protecting Gibbs for eighteen years. He then says he'd had enough fresh air and goes. Gibbs goes out and looks up at the camera; we see Macy watching him and he obviously knows she is there. He gives her a nod in effect accepting and acknowledging what she'd done and forgiving her. She smiles and looks as if she's going to cry. So she interrogated him alone - is that likely? Because unless she did, someone else knew what was going on and had to also agree to 'cover up'. And if she had hard evidence rather than just her 'gut' then what did she do with it? I don't like that turn at all. It was not a good 'this is our history'.

Sam is dropping Callen off at his apartment and Callen is talking about moving again; he says he thinks someone is watching him. Sam mentions the Russian girl we saw last week. He asks Callen if he'll ever settle down. Callen shrugs and gets out of the car and walks away, smiling at a blonde girl. Suddenly a van appears and someone shoots Callen, several times. Sam gets out, races after it, fires a few rounds before running to Callen and tells him to hang on, he calls for an ambulance and cradles Callen, he calls him 'G'. Callen looks dead, but I doubt that he is; it's just a cheap trick to try to get people to watch the new series - if it's picked up, I will be really surprised if it is.

Back in DC Abby admits to DiNozzo how much she'd missed McGee (another lovely Abby/McGee moment) and then asks if he and Ziva want to go for a drink. DiNozzo says Ziva has already left and asks her if she'd done the secret thing. She had: Rivkin left LA on his way to Tel Aviv - with a stop over in DC.

The last shot is of Rivkin and Ziva in bed. She's in his arms, but she doesn't look very happy.

OVERALL

Another really boring episode. A case I just didn't care about.

The whole Gibbs and Macy history was blah and overplayed and unnecessary, we do not need to keep bringing Shannon and Kelly up every few minutes. And the whole thing at the end with Nate telling Gibbs a story was just . . .

Very little chemistry between the OSP team and again no real characters.

Far too little of our team, even Gibbs and McGee in the heart of it got short changed.

And I'm shocked there was no Ducky at all. Not even a flash of him bringing Abby a Caf!Pow or something or just passing by.

The DiNozzo and Ziva scenes were so forced, neither of them seemed comfortable and it all just seemed put in to show us DC.

The best part was Abby and her banner and decorating and saying how much she missed McGee.

Highlights:

- Renco admitting he didn't know whose boat he was sanding.
- Abby missing McGee.
- Abby standing up suddenly when McGee asked if she was sitting at his desk.
- Callen giving McGee the Snipers' Monthly magazine.
- McGee showing how he was more efficient with the high-tech finger controlled screen than Sam was and McGee's 'new' to it.

Ship of the week was Abby/McGee.

I really didn't think I could enjoy it any less than last week, but I did.

Storyline: 3.00

Enjoyment: 3.00

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