I thought it was very interesting that DiNozzo had told his father about Ziva. Gibbs I can understand being his boss and all that, but given father and son are meant to be estranged to an extent, DiNozzo has taken the time to mention Ziva. A nice moment for DiNozzo/Ziva fen.

DiNozzo and DiNozzo Snr return to the squad room with coffee. DiNozzo is talking about the Bank account and wants to know why his father is still named as trustee. DiNozzo Snr says he'll sort it all out, bells were beginning to ring softly at his point. DiNozzo wonders why his father is there, after all he could just have made a phone call to sort the thing out, but DiNozzo Snr says they haven't seen one another for a long time. DiNozzo makes a comment about his father hopping on a plane to fly to DC, but DiNozzo Snr says he took the train - it wasn't that far.

At that moment the bells became alarms and I knew what had happened and why Daddy DiNozzo was there. He had money troubles and had come to tell his son, as it's not the kind of thing you tell over the phone. His whole body language and hesitation and the fact he hadn't sorted out the account by phone and that he took a train rather than flying screamed of the problems. DiNozzo also picks up something when his father mentions the train and is concerned that something is wrong with him; he's genuinely concerned. But his father brushes it off and starts to ask DiNozzo about Ziva and wants to know more about her. DiNozzo comments that she's just Ziva. To me it showed that DiNozzo Snr. had picked up a vibe from his son that Ziva was important to him. Another nice DiNozzo/Ziva fen moment, I would have thought.

At that moment McGee and Ziva arrive with Sayif and DiNozzo Snr recognises him. Gibbs joins the other three and they go off together. DiNozzo asks how his father knows Sayif and in turn his father asks what Sayif is doing there. DiNozzo tells him about the assassination attempt and when his father asks how, he at first says he can't tell him, but then does and mentions the car bomb and that Sayif's father is flying in and he tells his father the name of the hotel Sayif is staying in - the Adams House Hotel. He says he'll get his father a cab and again asks if there's something he wants to tell him. DiNozzo Snr says DiNozzo is busy, they'll talk later.

Okay, so it was all needed, but it was really something more than a little out of line to give an outside, even though it was his father, all the information. Somewhat clumsy and given DiNozzo's years as cop and NCIS agent not something I'd expect him to do. But it had to be done; his father had to have the information, so . . .

Gibbs goes to the hotel and McGee and Ziva are there in Sayif's room. Sayif's older brother Prince Abdalla Ibn Alwaan. They are 'arguing' and don't know that Ziva speaks Arabic. She tells Gibbs that Abdalla is criticising Sayif's life-style and how he's fallen into the western ways. There does not seem to be a lot of love lost between the brothers and my spider-sense twitched a little at this point, wondering if in fact brother was somehow involved, maybe to scare little brother? Abdalla tells Gibbs Walid was not just Sayif's aide and driver, but an old family friend. DiNozzo arrives and Sayif says he wants to go to the gym; DiNozzo says he can't until they've cleared it and also one of them will have to go with him. Sayif chooses Ziva.

In Autopsy the doors open and Ducky begins to address Gibbs, saying that it was blunt force injury that killed Walid. However, it's not Gibbs it's Vance. Ducky is surprised and asks Vance to what he owes the pleasure of his visit. Vance tells him the Saudi Embassy had requested a quick release of the body because of religious reasons. He then asks after Ducky's mother. Ducky says she's slipping away and when he visited her that morning she was convinced the clock was going backwards. Vance says he has days he feels that and he goes. Ducky comments that everyone does.

Poor Ducky, I wanted to hug him after that scene. I imagine we are going to have Mrs. Mallard's death in the not too distant future as her deteriorating condition has now been mentioned more than once this season.

Down in the evidence garage, Abby is under Sayif's car. She has odd shoes and socks on and tells Gibbs that it's mis-match Monday for her. Gibbs wants to know about the bomb. Abby has found fragments of it. She then starts to talk about DiNozzo's father asking if he looks like DiNozzo, Gibbs hasn't yet met him and pulls Abby's focus back onto the case. She's downloaded the on-line navigation system onto a hard drive. At that moment McGee calls and asks Gibbs to go to MTAC.

Gibbs joins Vance and McGee. On-line chatter has been picked up and key words such as 'Prince Omar' and 'assassination' have been picked up. The message is thought to have come from the group who claimed responsibility for the attempt on Sayif. And they have tracked it to the corporate business centre of Sayif's hotel.

DiNozzo and Ziva hurry down to the centre, both have a little 'moment' with the bell boy when they ask where the centre is and he's doesn't answer quickly enough. They go in guns drawn and find . . . Daddy DiNozzo using a computer. He tells them to put their guns down.

DiNozzo Snr is in the interrogation room and Abby and Ducky are looking through the glass. Abby comments that maybe DiNozzo didn't have a mother, but was cloned. Ducky says there is a strong resemblance between father and son. Gibbs goes in and shakes DiNozzo Snr's hand. DiNozzo Snr says Gibbs has now met the real Tony DiNozzo. He asks Gibbs what is going on, he was emailing business contacts and his son and Ziva arrive with guns. Gibbs tells him of the words that have been picked up and DiNozzo Snr expresses surprise that that kind of thing is real and not just part of a spy movie. Gibbs asks him why he'd mentioned Prince Omar and assassination. DiNozzo Snr explains that he's an opportunist and money isn't as good at it once was. He says he and Prince Omah, whom he calls 'Al' as does all his close friends, are friends and he thought he'd tell his business contacts that Omar was in town because of an assassination attempt on his son. Ducky and Abby are still watching.

Gibbs asks DiNozzo Snr why he's staying at the Adams House Hotel and DiNozzo Snr says it's because it's his favourite hotel. He mentions the concierge, saying he can fix anything. And he asks Gibbs if he's ever been to the Roof Top Grill; Gibbs says he hasn't; DiNozzo Snr says he should as it had the best rib eye in town. Outside Ducky concurs that is true.

DiNozzo is out in the hall and Gibbs tells him to keep his father away from the Alwaans. He then goes into the observation room and is surprised and a tad annoyed to see Abby there; she hurries away. We have a wee Gibbs/Ducky moment when Gibbs says that DiNozzo's father is not involved, but he does have an agenda and Ducky agrees with him.

At the hotel DiNozzo brings his father a drink - three fingers of Macallan. His father says he remembers and DiNozzo comments he would as cocktail hour was always Macallan and a lecture from Senior. He is drinking non-alcoholic beer; DiNozzo Snr comments it the downside of law enforcement and asks if there's an upside; DiNozzo says he gets to carry a gun.

And then father and son talk and cover virtually everything that DiNozzo has mentioned about his father and childhood in past episodes. He begins by saying his father had never liked him becoming a cop. DiNozzo Snr is genuinely surprised by the accusation and says he was always supportive, he never said anything. DiNozzo says that's the problem, he wanted him to say something like 'Hey, Junior, I'm glad you've found a career you're passionate about'. His father asks how DiNozzo knows he doesn't feel that way.

DiNozzo asks how could he as they've never talked. He gets it; his mom died when he was eight and his father was left with him. He didn't know what to do so he was sent off to boarding schools and summer camps. DiNozzo Snr says they had some great vacations and DiNozzo brings up the time he was left in a hotel room for two days whilst his father went off, supposedly on business, but she was a very attractive woman. His father says it was still business and he certainly seemed genuine. Then DiNozzo asks after his step-mother; who, his father tell him, is in fact his ex-step-mother. He says he's sorry as he'd always liked Karen; his father explains that actually he's missed one; the one he's just divorced was Phoebe. And then DiNozzo goes off to relieve Ziva after telling his father to stay away from the Alwaans; he adds that he'll call his father later.

I personally thought the scene was not only poignant and extremely well acted by both men, but explained pretty much everything DiNozzo has said about his upbringing and relationship with his father in a completely believable way and in the way I'd always got the feeling it was. Yes, he was sent away to boarding schools and summer camps, but that wasn't abuse or even neglect. It was the kind of thing that a man of DiNozzo Snr's ilk and class would do. He didn't know how to deal with an eight year old who'd lost his mom, so he did what a lot of people in his position and income bracket did - he made sure his son was well looked after and cared for, even if not by him. The hotel room at least DiNozzo was safe there (he didn't get left on a bus as a baby *g*) and the whole 'not talking' again is akin to the class and age of DiNozzo Snr he couldn't talk to his son; it wasn't what he did. And his silence over DiNozzo's career choice was also logical and believable. He really thought by not opposing it, DiNozzo would get that he was happy about it. Of course it would have been far better had he told his son he did approve and even told him why the boarding schools, but that isn't the man he is and he is DiNozzo's father. You can see from where DiNozzo gets many of his traits from; he talks constantly and says very little. I thought it was an excellent scene and I hope it will appease everyone and covered all the things people wanted addressing from the snippets DiNozzo had shared.

Gibbs and McGee are in the squad room looking at footage taken at the garage where Sayif's car had gone for a service the day before the assassination attempt. There is no evidence at all that the bomb was planted there and checks on the mechanic who worked on the car check out - he's clean. McGee says he'll focus on the time period concerned.

At that moment Ziva returns saying that Sayif is a chauvinistic pig and a pain in the tush. She adds that Gibbs might have to hire someone to protect him from her - nice Ziva.

Vance then appears to let Gibbs know that he'd had a call from MI6 who said they had a mole deep undercover in the group who claimed responsibility for the bomb and the mole says the claim was bogus. It had not been a terrorist attack. Gibbs says he doesn't have any other leads at that point.

Gibbs and Ziva go to the hotel and she is 'testing' him on the constitution and he gets it wrong. In the lobby is DiNozzo Snr who says he's indulging in one of his favourite past-times: people watching. He tells Ziva her hair looks lovely down.

Gibbs and Ziva go up to Sayif's room and find DiNozzo on one leg bending over, wearing a cowboy hat, whilst a woman hold his other leg; another woman is sitting on Sayif's lap, another is asleep on a sofa. Gibbs is, not surprisingly, livid with DiNozzo. He takes the hat off and hits DiNozzo several times with it and demands to know what the hell is going on. DiNozzo says Sayif had a couple of dates and wanted to go clubbing, so he took the decision to go clubbing in the hotel suite and then the yoga girl had turned up and things got somewhat out of hand. You think, DiNozzo.

Abdalla arrives and tells Sayif their father's plane landed half an hour ago and he's on his way to the hotel. Sayif immediately orders the girls to go, for the first time he actually seems concerned about something; he clearly has more respect for his father than for his brother. One of the girls, the one who'd been asleep, has DiNozzo's handcuffs on.

The lift doors open and there, much to Gibbs's annoyance and DiNozzo's chagrin, with Prince Omah is DiNozzo Snr They are talking about when they last saw one another. Gibbs asks DiNozzo if he can give him a reason not to bench him and DiNozzo says he won't let his father out of his sight.

In Abby's lab both she and McGee have something. McGee tells her to show hers first. She tells him that the bomb maker was sloppy, cheap parts were used and the timer should have gone off thirty minutes after it did. However, it was triggered by something like a loud noise or vibrations and it's her theory that the low flying jet set it off. She then tells McGee to show her his. McGee tells her that after the service the car only went to two places and the only place it went that wasn't under surveillance cameras was a remote place at Pax River. It looks as though Walid placed the bomb himself.

A really lovely Abby/McGee scene with lots to squee about for A/Mc lovers :-)

Vance is with Abdalla, outside Autopsy, who says he'll be accompanying Walid's body home. Ducky and McGee are in Autopsy and Vance goes into speak to Ducky leaving Abdalla outside. He brings Ducky back with him and Ducky tells Abdalla that he can't release the body just yet as he has one more procedure to carry out, but he assures him there won't be any desecration. Abdalla is not happy, but has to accept it.

DiNozzo Snr is at DiNozzo's computer, whilst DiNozzo sits at another desk. DiNozzo Snr won't let his son near. He tells him that he's straightened out the Bank problem and DiNozzo will be able to get the money. DiNozzo goes towards the computer and his father asks if he has to stick his nose into everything - oh, yes, Mr. DiNozzo, he does. DiNozzo says it makes him a good investigator. Then the phone rings and DiNozzo Snr answers it; it's for him, the hotel spa have arranged a massage for him.

Gibbs and Ziva arrive, Sayif is in the air and will be for the next two hours. DiNozzo Snr is about to leave, but DiNozzo says Ziva, or as he calls her 'very special probationary agent David' (DiNozzo does like the 'very special' term) will give him a tour. DiNozzo Snr says he's sure Ziva is busy, Gibbs says she is and says he'll take DiNozzo Snr on a tour - starting with the armoury.

When they've gone we have a nice moment when DiNozzo says he's flashing back to boarding school when his Headmaster wanted to talk to his father. He then calls McGee and says that Gibbs wants him in the squad room immediately and he tells Ziva he needs McGee to find out what his father was doing on DiNozzo's computer as he's up to something.

Gibbs takes DiNozzo Snr to the conference room and says he wants to talk about DiNozzo. DiNozzo Snr asks what his son has done now. Gibbs says DiNozzo likes to hide behind the face of a clown, but is the best young agent he's ever worked with. He asks when the last time was they really talked; DiNozzo Snr says they keep in touch. Gibbs then tells him about DiNozzo's brush with the plague and DiNozzo Snr is surprised - DiNozzo hadn't told him. Gibbs says DiNozzo has inherited a lot of his personality from his father (very true) and there's a lot he doesn't share. DiNozzo Snr says he should tell Gibbs to piss off, but as he knows DiNozzo thinks the world of Gibbs he'll be civil. He asks if Gibbs has kids. Gibbs says he had a daughter, but he never had a chance to know her as an adult and says DiNozzo Snr has that opportunity. DiNozzo Snr is not happy - the truth does tend to hurt - and leaves.

I think part of the reason, apart from the truth hurting, that DiNozzo Snr was not happy with Gibbs was that no father likes to see the person who has usurped him in his son's affections; he has met the man who has become DiNozzo's surrogate father and no father wants to see that. MW himself mentions the fact that Gibbs has taken Anthony DiNozzo Snr's place as Anthony DiNozzo Jnr's father. It really is a season of 'fathers', with Ziva saying Gibbs is the closest thing to a father she now has and now DiNozzo. Okay, it was MW who said it and not DiNozzo and I tend not to think of interviews or episode commentaries as canon, but MW has said it more than once. Although I have to say that as good as the scene was, to my mind Gibbs was somewhat out of line to talk to DiNozzo Snr like that. I know he has taken his place as DiNozzo's 'father' but I do think he over stepped the line a little. But that aside it was a good scene.

McGee is in Abby's lab again and we learn that substance Ducky swapped from Walid's hands matched the substance on the bomb. They slap hands and look at one another. The victim was his own killer; Abby comments that's hinky. Well solved Timmy and Abby.

Gibbs, McGee and Ziva are discussing Walid's reasons for planting the bomb. Ziva suggests he should have been in the car with Sayif when it went off and thus it would have looked like a suicide bomber and look like a terrorist attack. Gibbs asks DiNozzo if he's with them.

At that moment Abby and DiNozzo Snr arrive, Abby has her arm through DiNozzo Snr's. He comments that whoever hires the women in NCIS do a grand job as they are not only beautiful they are bright. Abby had taken him on a tour and then DiNozzo says the polygraph person would like to give his father a demonstration. DiNozzo Snr refuses, but says he'd like to ask Abby some more questions. Gibbs nods at Abby and she and DiNozzo Snr go off and Gibbs says they should look into Walid's background.

The way DiNozzo Snr interacted and flirted with both Abby and Ziva was so reminiscent of how Jackson Gibbs interacted and flirted with Abby and Ziva.

Gibbs sends Ziva and McGee off to meet Sayif's plane and he and DiNozzo go to MTAC. DiNozzo says he has to break Rule #06 and say he's sorry for the hotel room; it got out of hand. Gibbs says it's covered by Rule #18 which DiNozzo quotes as 'it's better to seek forgiveness than ask permission'. He asks if Gibbs has forgiven him and Gibbs says he hasn't. He says that DiNozzo is distracted by his father. DiNozzo says he's not the man he thought he was; Gibbs says he doesn't know his father. DiNozzo say his father had always been a mystery to him, just a wealthy one, but now he's broke (the telegraphing was correct) and has been for years. He has overdrawn Bank accounts, his credit cards are frozen, property is foreclosed, everything is tapped out. McGee got DiNozzo into DiNozzo Snr's records. DiNozzo wonders if his father had ever been as rich as he appeared. He thinks his father came to DC to tell him about the charade, but then when he learnt about the Prince Omah coming to town he decided to have one last score; his life was one big con. Gibbs asks what DiNozzo is going to do about it. DiNozzo says he's going to end the game when his father checks out of the hotel; he's staying in a $1,000 a night room he can't pay for.

McGee and Ziva meet Sayif and want to ask about Walid; Sayif asks if they want to know if he passed, they ask; he did. He says that Walid wasn't his friend, but his brother's. They had religion and politics in common and Walid would do anything for Abdalla. McGee and Ziva look at one another and yes, they're thinking what I was thinking. McGee tells Sayif that Walid planted the explosive.

Gibbs and DiNozzo go to the hotel. Prince Omah is about to check out. They learn that Walid was indeed following Abdalla's orders to kill Sayif as his life style was bringing shame to the family and it was better for him to die as a martyr. They ask where Abdalla is and Prince Omah tells them he's at the airport on the royal jet and as he works at the Embassy, he has diplomatic immunity. Gibbs asks if he is just going to let it go and Prince Omah says: "He is still my son. Fathers do what they have to do for their children." The look on DiNozzo's face is really telling at that point as it hits him. Prince Omah says Abdalla is his problem now and he'll deal with him. He asks DiNozzo to tell his father he's sorry he had to go so quickly and that he'll be at Monte Carlos next month and they can meet there.

DiNozzo and his father go to the desk for his father to check out; DiNozzo Snr tries to persuade DiNozzo to go, but son is sticking to father. He goes to the girl on duty, but then 'Bruce' takes over. DiNozzo Snr says he's having trouble with his credit card, but Bruce looks at the screen and tells him the bill has been settled. He also gives DiNozzo Snr a note from Prince Omah with an open ended first class flight to Monte Carlos. DiNozzo comments that his father leads a charmed life. DiNozzo Snr says it' been great seeing DiNozzo and they should, and will, talk more often; they shake hands. Then DiNozzo Snr pulls his son into a hug and tells him he loves him; in fact he tells him it twice. I doubt he's ever said the words to DiNozzo before - so Gibbs's pep talk did hit home. Maybe Daddy DiNozzo is going to reclaim his son.

And again I knew just how had paid the hotel bill and bought the ticket. It wasn't Prince Omah; it was DiNozzo.

The final scene is in Gibbs's house. DiNozzo turns up with a pack of beer and Gibbs has been cooking a steak (rare *shudders*) on the open fire. He asks DiNozzo how it went and DiNozzo tells him his father skated again. Gibbs asks from where DiNozzo got the money. DiNozzo tells him he didn't need to go on a cruise with his frat brothers. Gibbs said he's conned the con man - it runs in the family. He asks why DiNozzo did it. DiNozzo tells him his father is who is he, he couldn't bust him and that some things are better kept to oneself. He and Gibbs clink bottles of beer.

OVERALL

An okay episode that I felt worked fairly well insofar as it answered a lot of questions and fully satisfied me as to the whole DiNozzo and his father in the past.

Great interaction between DiNozzo and his father, despite everything there was a lot of love of deep affection on both sides. And DiNozzo really is his father's son.

It was interesting to see that DiNozzo had made a point of mentioning Ziva to his father; clearly she's important to him. Again, I liked the way it was done, as DiNozzo/Ziva fen can see it as important as in a romantic sense; whereas non-DiNozzo/Ziva can just see it as important in a friend sense. Yet nothing was said that he'd mentioned either McGee or Abby.