We’re back on the summer classics recap couch for another fun spin around the block with one of our favorite past episodes. OK, so it’s one of my favorites because any time Gibbs crosses paths with one of his exes is always entertaining. Oh, didn’t I mention it? This week’s fun is from season five. An episode titled Ex-File.
Mark Harmon as Gibbs, Michael Weathehly as DiNozzo and Cote de Pablo as Ziva in the season five episode Ex-File of NCIS. (Photo: Cliff Lipson, CBS)
And speaking of Gibbs’ personal life, have you heard the latest season 15 news? First up is the news that Agent Alex Quinn will be exiting the team as Jennifer Esposito heads out for other projects. I know! Just when we were getting used to the new team. My mail has been running about 60-40 for those sad to see her go to those happy to see the team being brought back down to a more manageable number. For me, however, the bigger news is the casting call CBS sent out for a new character named Reagan. Now, before you go getting all, “Don’t make the team too big again” on me, this isn’t for a new agent. They’re looking to cast a woman in her 40s to play a potential love interest for Gibbs. (So, all you forty-(or fifty)-something redheads out there … now’s your chance!) Also? It’s about dang time he had someone new to tangle with. I hope they do a good job with it!
In the meantime, let’s trip down memory lane as Gibbs tangles with Wife No. 3.
We open with two women — one blonde, one redhead — letting themselves into the blonde’s home. She’s thanking Red for the lift from the airport, and they commiserate over husbands who are always too busy working. The music is up loud and hubby doesn’t answer Blonde’s call out to him. Blonde turns down the tunes while Red walks into the study, only to find Hubby sitting at his desk in front of his computer, propped upright by a slender stick (pointer, maybe?) that runs through his chest and out the middle of his back.
Two guesses who Red turns out to be … and the first one doesn’t count.
Cue awesome season five opening theme song and credits. Hey, Ziva! Hey, Tony! Hey, Jenny! Hey, Director Dennis Smith! (Who has captained some of my fave episodes over the years.)
We meet up with our team as Ziva is exiting the elevator, jamming out to some Israeli funk on her headphones. She tugs out her earbuds to greet Gibbs, then in comes Abby, who snags a little prezzie from Gibbs’ desk drawer, saying she got something for everyone on Team Gibbs with her tax refund. That would be iPods for all, it appears. Enter Tony, also sporting earbuds, singing Luck Be a Lady in his best imitation of The Chairman of the Board. (Frank Sinatra, for those of you younger than, well, younger than me, OK?) Ziva tries to give him the ixnay-on-the-eadphonehay signal, but of course, he’s too deep into song mode to notice until, oh, hey, Boss! When Gibbs isn’t having any of his explanation, he says he’ll just “Rat Pack it up.” HA. Then we shift to McGee at his computer, earbuds in, as he learns how to become an alpha male. Gibbs’ face lowers until it’s right next to McGee’s. Sadly, McGee will have to earn how to project his sexuality another time. He yanks the buds out, tells Gibbs it was an MIT lecture. Heh. Abs comes over with Gibbs’ iPod, excitedly telling him all about it. You can imagine his enthusiasm meter is, well, is there a sub-zero setting? She explains it holds 40,000 songs and he explains he listens to only five. No, not 5,000. F-i-v-e. Oh, Gibbs. (Just me or are you dying to know what five songs those would be?) Abby offers to download some of her favorites from Green Satan, or Flesh Eating Foundation. Gibbs answers his phone, listens, hangs it up, says, “Dead Marine.” Abby says she hasn’t heard of that one. Heh. The team heads out, and hey, Gibbs, rocking those jeans. Do that more often, m’kay?
Susanna Thompson as Mann in the season five episode Ex-File of NCIS. (Photo: Cliff Lipson, CBS)
We’re at the scene of the crime, and our stoke meter begins to build as we wait for the inevitable clash that’s going to happen as soon as Gibbs finds out who saw the body first. Ooh, but before we get to that clash, we get Gibbs and a different redhead. Hello again, Army Colonel Mann. Both Mann and Gibbs could claim jurisdiction over the murder. Dead Marine points to Gibbs. But given said DM is on the Colonel’s Army base, well … I think she’s got dibs over Gibbs. She says he works for her, her dead body, her crime scene. Gibbs nods, says his people, his office, and … we have an accord. For now. Mann moves in closer, smiles, wants to know if Gibbs’ team knows they’re still seeing each other. There’s so much steam going on I’m surprised the screen hasn’t fogged over. (Oh, the stoke meter just builds and builds … Hello, Red? Over here!!) Said team is asking that same question. Are they, or aren’t they?
We move inside to the scene of the desk. DM still in chair, slender wand object still plunged through the back, out the front and into the desk. Through a series of crime scene snaps, we see that the slender wand is actually a harpoon, fired from a gun that seemingly came from an empty rack on the wall. Ouch! Mann tells us that DM works with the Defense Intelligence Agency on an interagency task force. Blonde was returning from a convention in Charlottesville, Virginia, when she found him and is now staying with her mother. Only we know she didn’t exactly find him. Hello, Red? Anytime now?
Ducky arrives and asks who he should report to. Mann says, “Me,” and Gibbs says, “Her,” and Tony says, “Better get used to that.” Heh. Mann questions that and Tony quickly looks at the spear gun rack, goes all James Bond Thunderball, then quickly goes from boss to ma’am to Colonel in the face of Mann’s unflinching gaze. HA. Mann tells him and us that DM was a recreational diver. No robbery as DM still had his wallet and cash. Ducky says time of death was previous evening, between seven and nine. Gibbs takes a call, Mann instructs Tony to review witness statements, Ziva goes after the bank records, and McGee is instructed to look for prints on the jimmied back door. Gibbs re-enters and asks Mann if she knows a Major Sweigart.
We shift back to NCIS HQ and hello, Director Shepard! She informs Gibbs and us that Major Sweigart was DM’s superior at DIA and happens to also be standing with them in Director Jenny’s office. DIA wants DM’s agency computer back given the sensitive nature of his work. Mann assures him her people have clearance. He assures her that they don’t have clearance for the kind of work DM was doing. Gibbs guesses black ops. Gibbs is, once again, likely not wrong. Director Jenny informs Sweigart that they can either read in Abby, or send someone to oversee her work. Boom. Sweigart opts for the latter. Mann asks Sweigart if he has any suspects who would want DM dead. Swi Guy has nothing, didn’t know the man personally. Gibbs asks SG’s lieutenant sidekick if he knew DM and, other than some pickup ball, he says no. He says DM spent his spare time with his wife as he always seemed to be rushing home to be with her.
We get a little Tony-Ziva byplay in the elevator back at HQ, and we meet the DIA guy sent to oversee Abby’s work. He claims to be a “people person,” but Abs isn’t down with having anyone in her space. Not even happy People Person Guy.
Up in the Bull Pen of Orangey Goodness, Mann is giving Gibbs a lesson in computer science (aka, press this button to make the search stop). She cuts in when Gibbs’ pressing turns to punching only to find she’s punching the keys a moment later when the screen locks. McGee rushes in to the rescue. Turns out they got a hit on the fingerprints found on the jimmied back door and … ruh roh. Hello, Major Swi Guy.
In Sweigart’s office, we learn he was delivering documents to DM and used the back door since Blonde was having friends over. Doesn’t know if Blonde saw him or not. Gibbs notes a photo of Sweigart spear fishing and comments on how if he was in DM’s office, then he knew DM had spear fishing gear and apparently the knowledge on how to use it. Sweigart offers up his alibi, saying he was on a date the previous night. And? Oh yeah, it’s Red. Mann comments on how she was with Blonde when they found her dead husband. Gibbs is still stuck on Sweigart’s date. He repeats the name, and Sweigart confirms. Mann asks if he knows the person, and Gibbs is all, Uh huh. Married to her. And picture the look on Mann’s face as we fade to black and white.
Stephanie Flynn as Kathleen in the season five episode Ex-File of NCIS. (Photo: Cliff Lipson, CBS)
We return to Mann and Gibbs explaining to Director Jenny about how Gibbs’ ex-wife is a material witness in their little murder investigation. Jenny asks, with perhaps a bit too much delight, which ex this would be. Number two, is it? Forcing Gibbs to admit, Uh no, she would be number three. She goes on about how they lived in Moscow for two years, making him correct her that it was only one, and she’s all, “Well, it’s hard to live in Moscow. With anyone.” Mann, to her credit, is smiling as she watches Jenny make Gibbs squirm a little. Jenny doesn’t see the problem if Mann is the one who interviews Red. Jenny asks Gibbs if that is OK, and he counters with, Does he have a choice? Both women say, “No.” And HA.
Off we go to interrogation, with Mann and Red. Pass the popcorn!
Mann questions Red on the time frame of her date with Sweigart. Red wants to know where Gibbs is, and Mann is all, “He’s busy.” Red isn’t having it and puts it out there that she is aware Mann must know she’s Gibbs’ ex. Behind the two-way, Tony asks Ziva which woman is prettier, ex number three or future ex number four. Oh, Tony. In the room, Mann asks Red how long she’s known Gibbs, then corrects herself and says Sweigart. Eight months. She then adds she’s known Gibbs longer than that. Heh. Mann asks if there’s wedding bells in their future, would Red perhaps be in love with Sweigart and willing to lie for him? Red loses patience, assumes Gibbs is behind the two-way and tells him to come do the interrogation himself. She airs a bit of their dirty laundry, prompting Tony to smile and say, “Feisty.” Just as Gibbs enters the room behind him. “In an attractive kind of way,” he adds. Too late. Tony adds that he found nothing to help them talking to witnesses at Fort Belvoir, but as the awkward silence continues, both he and Ziva beat a quick retreat.
Down in the lab, Abby is trying to work around DIA Guy and it’s not going well. Until he notices an aberrant item in the code she’s sifting through. They bond over discovering that DM was a hacker.
Back in interrogation, a weary Red continues to answer Mann’s questions, still yelling at Gibbs through the two-way. Enter Gibbs with two cups of coffee, hers decaf, just like she likes it. She says they need to talk, he counters that Mann is conducting the interview. Mann says she’s done and Red demands Gibbs tell her why he’s targeting her boyfriend. She thinks since he couldn’t make her happy so he won’t let anyone else make her happy? Boy, the ego on this one. He (and we) assure her that is not the case. She gets a little bickery as Mann watches from across the room. She tells Gibbs not to screw up the relationship for her, that her boyfriend didn’t do it, and he says it’s not about her, prompting the age-old reply, “It was never about me, was it?” Oh boy. McGee clears his throat behind them, much to Mann’s amusement, and relays how Abby needs to see him. Also, what the heck is up with McGee’s long-on-top hairdo? I don’t remember this phase, but am thankful it was mercifully brief. Mann and McGee exit, leaving the two alone. Gibbs tells Red he’s happy she found someone and he’ll send an agent down to escort her out. Took the wind right out of her sails. Oh, Red.
We come back to find DIA Guy and Abby further bonding over some tribal story that sounds a lot like a plot for a zombie movie. Enter McGee, Mann and Gibbs, and Abby tells them that DM was hacking into the computer belonging to … Major Sweigart. Specifically, DM was looking at Sweigart’s e-mails, which Abby is still sifting through. But she also discovered that DM uploaded a shareable song file right about the time of his death. And the song? The Elements, which is about the elemental table, written by a Harvard math professor in the fifties. Abby promises Mann to find out why DM would have uploaded that particular song, and Mann and Gibbs exit. Leaving McGee, who is not liking this new bonded relationship between Abby and DIA Guy. He tries to one-up by offering that in the sixth grade he once built a periodic table made out of licorice and Junior Mints. Abby and DIA try to look suitably impressed. McGee exits with what he believes is his restored integrity. Oh, McGee.
Down in Ducky’s Digs, Mann puts Ducky on the spot, asking about what went wrong for Gibbs in marriage number three. Ducky defers a direct response and says she won’t find a better man, or a more loyal one, but that he does come with his challenges. Mann concurs. She claims she doesn’t want to be another mistake for Gibbs and Ducky tries to duck, but Mann reminds him of her madd interrogation skillz. So Mann learns that Gibbs has been divorced three times, but married four. She learns about his first wife and child dying, and when Mann pushes, Ducky tells her to ask Gibbs for more details. She presses and he gives her the history. (For those who don’t know: Gibbs’ wife, Shannon, witnessed a murder, she ID’d the shooter, the shooter came after her. Killed her and their only daughter, Kelly.)
Mann is still absorbing that when Gibbs enters. Ducky tells him DM died from the harpoon through the heart. Which, kind of a metaphor for this scene, in a way. One new discovery was that Ducky found traces of tears on DM’s cheeks. He was crying when he died. Enter Tony and Ziva (where have you two been?), who came up dry on checking DM’s phone records, but on checking Sweigart’s, they found 10 calls to the same woman. Gibbs assumes Red, but no … they were to Blonde! DM’s wife. Ruh roh. Fade to a bemused Gibbs black and white.
Lilli Birdsell as Jill in the season five episode Ex-File of NCIS. (Photo: Cliff Lipson, CBS)
We come back to the Screen of All Knowing, with Gibbs, Mann, Tony, Ziva and McGee. McGee shows a map and posits that Blonde had time to drive from Charlottesville to Fort Belvoir, kill her husband, drive back again and fly home so she could come home to find her dead husband with witness in tow. Might not be probable, but it is possible. Motive? Tony relates that there is a $400,000 government-issued life insurance policy and another quarter-million from a private policy, and Blonde is the beneficiary for both. (It should be noted the exquisite tension in the room, given the topic of Blonde being a cheater, and possible killer, and Gibbs’ ex is possibly involved, all of which the team is trying to tackle and avoid the elephant in the room, which is that Gibbs’ present lover is right there, also running the investigation. Good times!) Gibbs notes that the crime scene is now also the location of their prospective suspect, so a warrant is required there, and yeah, time to question Blonde.
Down in Abby Lab, Abs is listening to The Elements song, and now, sans white lab coat, DIA Guy is more focused on the length of Abby’s skirt. Or, more to the point, the lack thereof. Abby hits on an idea and asks DIA Guy if he’s thinking what she’s thinking and he hopes so, only no. She’s focused on the case. DIA Guy is focused on … not the case. He says what he was thinking was more fun, and it’s all very cute, but they return to the matter at hand. Flirting commences as Abby follows her idea (something about steganography) and bingo! For the case, not bingo for DIA Guy. Not yet, anyway.
Upstairs in HQ, Gibbs steers Mann away from the conference room to the Elevator of Private Conversations. He stops the lift, asks her to tell him what’s bugging her. She pauses, then asks him how long they’ve been together. This prompts an eye roll from him and elevator button, back on. Not so fast there, buddy. Mann pushes the button. Elevator back off. He says, “Weeks.” She counters, “Months.” He counters, “Meaning many weeks.” Elevator on, then back off. She says they’ve shared a lot. He agrees. She says she knew he was divorced three times, but not that he was married four times. She says he didn’t tell her about Shannon, or Kelly. Ooh, danger, danger, Colonel Mann. She asks why he didn’t tell her about them. He tells her that they’re dead, end of story, that he’s put it behind him. She questions that. His patience fraying, this time he punches the elevator on with a little force. Mann shakes her head, but she lets go.
We see Gibbs striding into the Bull Pen with Mann several steps behind now. Running, but you can’t hide, Gibbs. He wants to know if McGee has run down the ATMs in Charlottesville, assuming, I guess, that Blonde would have needed cash to make her run to Fort Belvoir and back off the radar. McGee makes an aborted attempt to get Gibbs to let him join Abby and DIA Guy. Gibbs exits and McGee grouses to Mann how guys like DIA Guy are a dime a dozen, charming, good-looking. Mann assures him that women see right through that, then heads out herself. Heh.
Move to Ziva and Tony going to talk to Blonde, warrant in hand, only to be greeted at the door by Lieutenant Sidekick, who says he’s there to discuss the military life insurance benefit to Blonde. Sidekick leaves and they enter to find Blonde scrubbing the blood out of the floor. Surprised, she looks up and explains that she finds cleaning therapeutic. Uh. Yeah.
Back in Abby Lab, McGee enters, Caf-Pow in hand (oh, McGee) and hears what sounds like suggestive talk, but it’s Abby cajoling her computer to spit out the desired answers. Abby and DIAG turn around, and both already have Caf-Pows. McGee offers some guidance on how else to find the password, prompting DIAG to assure him they’d already done that, but McGee’s comment spurs Abby to another possibility … only she hugs DIAG in thanks, then heads out. Leaving McGee and DIAG eyeing each other. Again, McGee. Dude.
Up in Director Jenny’s office, Red is facing her down on how Gibbs shouldn’t be running the investigation and Jenny assures her that Mann is running it. This earns a look from Red that Jenny wonders, aloud, if Red got from Gibbs. She says she got a lot of bad habits from Gibbs. Zing! Red assures Jenny that her BF didn’t kill DM and is afraid that the investigation alone will harm his career. Jenny assures Red that if Sweigart is clean, she’ll make sure his career doesn’t suffer. Red wants to know if, hey, before I married Gibbs, did the two of you have a thing? Oh boy! Also? Oh, Gibbs! Jenny assures Red it was always strictly professional between them. Red believes her about as much as the rest of us do.
Lilli Birdsell as Jill, Mark Harmon as Gibbs and Susanna Thompson as Mann in the season five episode Ex-File of NCIS. (Photo: Cliff Lipson, CBS)
Downstairs in the Bull Pen, Ziva and Tony are entering as Jenny and Red come down the stairs and Mann and Gibbs are already in the Bull Pen. “Train wreck,” Tony observes, with not a little glee. Aaaand, we get Gibbs, Mann, Jenny and Red, all in a comfy, cozy little chat circle. (This right here is why I chose this episode. HA!) Jenny explains how she was just reassuring his wi-her-witness that Gibbs could remain impartial, prompting Mann to assure both Jenny and Red that she’ll “monitor him.” Wait a beat. “Closely.” The women all size each other up and Gibbs wishes he were anywhere but there. Not me! I like being Right. Here.
The gang breaks up and Gibbs walks with Tony and Ziva, with Mann trailing right behind, as they explain that Blonde had cleaned the apartment “like that professional cleaner in Pulp Fiction.” Heh. All they found was a tiny partial, but Gibbs orders them to run it. Meanwhile, Mann enters the interrogation room where Blonde awaits. Gibbs enters, and they tell Blonde that they know she was having an affair with Sweigart, and that her husband did, too. She says he didn’t. They say he did, because he hacked Sweigart’s e-mails. They tell her he was crying when he died, and they know about the insurance policies. Mann gets in her face, saying if she wants to clean things, then she should clean her conscience and tell the truth. Blonde swears she is. Mann slaps the table and shouts that she’s not. Working out some issues there, Colonel? Meanwhile, over in the corner, Gibbs fields a call from McGee telling Gibbs there’s something he needs to see. Gibbs escapes and thankfully takes us and Mann with him.
McGee is looking at ATM security cam footage in and around the convention center in Charlottesville and lo and behold, what does he see? Blonde walking with friends outside the (fictional, it should be said) convention center, and the time stamp puts her there square in the middle of the time-of-death window. Alibi. Fade to black and white.
Back in the Bull Pen, Ziva speculates Blonde hired a contract killer. Mann asks about the partial print pulled from Blonde’s house, but it’s so small McGee got 80,000 potential hits, which they are narrowing down to those who live on the Army base. Mann wonders if Sweigart isn’t their guy and is reminded he has an alibi. Mann comments that the alibi comes from a woman hoping to marry the guy. Gibbs calmly says that Red wouldn’t lie and Mann questions whether that’s true. Oh boy. Now you’ve gone too far. Mann thinks that telling Red that her BF is having an affair with her best friend might change her story a bit. Worth asking. More good times straight ahead. Pass more popcorn!
Except Tony and Ziva hop up to follow Mann’s order, but Gibbs says wait. Mann says go, and Gibbs repeats himself. The team looks at Gibbs and Mann, all, uh oh, Mommy and Daddy are fighting. Mann press Gibbs, saying if it weren’t his ex-wife, he’d be the one calling for her to be brought in. Gibbs calmly stands by his word. Mann supposes that maybe it’s worse, maybe Red was in on it, framing her friend for sleeping with her BF. Gibbs politely tells Mann, who is now in a personal relationship hole so deep she might as well toss the shovel out, that she doesn’t know Red. Then he tells Tony to call Red, ask her to come in, say that Gibbs needs to speak with her. Tony gets voice mail on her cell and home phone, and when he calls her place of work, he’s told she suddenly up and quit. That day. Ruh roh.
Down in Abby Lab, Abs and DIAG are still trying to hunt down the password to the plug-in for the audio file. In the end, she works her Abby Magic, impressing DIAG almost to the point of feeling emasculated, except no, he’s just more turned on, and bingo! She discovers it’s a filter for The Elements song that filters out all but a few of the elements, and the numbers associated with the remaining elements are some kind of code. Gibbs calls Abby up to the Bull Pen before she can decipher it. DIAG awaits her return, and I begin to wonder. Hmm … He was assigned to watch Abs by Sweigart, or by Sidekick, one or the other. So, is he somehow in on this, too?
I digress. Up in the Bull Pen, Gibbs is still waiting for Tony to get through to Red, but no dice. Abby tells him about her discovery, but hasn’t figured out what the numbers mean yet. Mann says could be GPS coordinates, Gibbs says maybe a bank account. Abby asks what Gibbs wanted and he says he didn’t call her up there. Ruh roh. SEE! Just as McGee gets a hit on one of those 80,000 fingerprint possibilities he’s been filtering down to the military ones. And bingo! DIAG! Who is still down in Abby Lab, with the laptop in question.
They all head down and DIAG is all, Hey, there must have been a power surge. Abby discovers both her copy and the original hard drive have been wiped clean. DIAG is all, Hey, anyone could have done it, can’t prove it was me. Abby asks for permission to hit him. Gibbs says no. I’d like my shot at his smug face and I’m a total pacifist. I don’t even care that he tampered with evidence. He tampered with Abby’s rarely given trust. He says they have nothing on him and exits, claiming a date with his Pilates instructor. The team walks about behind him and Abby swipes his phone from his pocket. Confirms he just booked a flight on Thai Air. He still claims they have nothing on him, that he did nothing. They all enter the elevator together. Mann wonders if DIAG got a foreign buyer for all that intel he just copied off the computer, but he claims no knowledge of that. Abby asks if she can slug him now, but Gibbs says no. Abby confirms to Gibbs that only an expert could have wiped both the hard drive and laptop clean. He says if they have the evidence, arrest him, otherwise, have a nice day, and he slaps his NCIS pass on Mann’s chest and exits the elevator.
As he heads through the Bull Pen, Ziva confirms that she’s learned DIAG volunteered to be the one overseeing Abby’s work on the laptop. Mann wants to know why he didn’t wipe DM’s hard drive after he killed him, and Abby says it’s because he didn’t think anyone was smart enough to break the code, until he met her. Gibbs urges McGee to hurry up as DIAG is set to get on the elevator. Doors open and Tony is on the lift, stops DIAG from getting on. He’s all, “I know my rights” just as McGee finally pieces together the offshore account info in both DIAG’s and DM’s name. Bingo! Half-mill put into the account right before DM died, then cleaned out two hours later. Somebody got greedy.
Gibbs wants to know what DIAG sold and who he sold it to. He turns to face Gibbs and says if Gibbs cuts him a deal, maybe he’ll talk. Gibbs steps aside and just says, “Abby.” HA! And HA again. One punch, right in the kisser, and it’s all over but DIAG’s cryin’. Don’t mess with Abby!
Susanna Thompson as Mann and Lilli Birdsell as Jill in the season five episode Ex-File of NCIS. (Photo: Cliff Lipson, CBS)
Now we’re in Gibbs’ basement and the boat he’s working on. Enter Gibbs and a clearly not-on-the-relationship-rocks dressed-up and hair-down Mann, a six-pack of bottled brew, and Mann wondering why their romantic night on the town always turns into an evening spent in his basement, sanding his boat. HA! Better? Red is in Gibbs’ basement, too. Oops. Sorry to ruin that moment there, Mann. Red smiles a bit uncomfortably, says Gibbs still isn’t locking his front door, by way of explanation. She’s standing by the boat and sees that Gibbs has named it after his late daughter. “Sweet,” she says, clearly sincere. Red says she came by to give Gibbs something she found in a drawer some years back and hands him his dog tags. Gibbs says he thought he lost them, and Mann offers to go upstairs to give them some privacy. Red says no, not necessary. Gibbs offers to walk her out and heads up the stairs. Red pauses as she passes Mann and says an equally sincere, “Good luck.” Surprised, Mann says, “Thanks.”
Outside, Gibbs asks why she quit her job. She tells him she’s moving to Philly. Her folks are getting older, her sister had a baby. Her third. Red comments on how at least someone in her family is doing that. The Capitol dome is lit in the distance, a nice touch. Red says she’ll have to settle for being the doting aunt who still looks great in a bikini. Gibbs smiles, goes to open her car door. She stops him, says she broke up with Sweigart after he told her about his affair with Blonde. Red asks Gibbs if he knew, then said after all her comments to him, he missed an opportunity to throw that in her face. He says he wouldn’t do that to her. She smiles, gets a bit teary and agrees, he wouldn’t have. She wonders aloud why things never seem to work out for her. Gibbs pulls her in for a hug, rubs her back, says he’s sorry for that. He tells her that their relationship not working out is not her fault. She says it wasn’t anybody’s fault, then finally, sniffling, gets in her car. She smiles and says, “But we’ll always have Moscow.” Gibbs smiles, nods, and she drives off.
Down in the basement, Mann finds a cassette tape and player and is surprised that Gibbs listens to music. She turns it on … and we find out what five songs Gibbs listens to. Pass me the Kleenex! They are all his daughter, Kelly, playing the piano. Only Mann doesn’t know that until the piano recital is over, and she hears Kelly’s voice, talking to her daddy about how she won second place, and then Shannon, saying he’d have been so proud of her. A tape made, perhaps, and sent overseas to wherever he was stationed at the time. Perhaps the last thing he has of both wife and daughter. Mann, struck, walks over to the cassette player, and we see Gibbs sitting on the steps behind her, looking pensive, introspective, as he listens to Kelly saying, “Love you, Daddy. Love you.” Seriously, more Kleenex!
Mark Harmon as Gibbs, Stephanie Flynn as Kathleen and Susanna Thompson as Mann in the season five episode Ex-File of NCIS. (Photo: Cliff Lipson, CBS)
Yeah, he’s not over it. It’s not in the past. We knew that. He knew that. Now Mann, who could also use a tissue, knows that, too. We see Gibbs looking over at her, standing in front of the cassette player, knowing his reality has just been laid bare, in the most poignant terms possible. She turns, catches his gaze, and we fade to black and white.
Yep. A definite classic. Oh, Jethro.
So now that we’re all sniffly, it makes it harder to get to the next part. But I have one last thing to share. MY NEW BOOK IS OUT!
Ahem. I swore I was going to be more casual about it, you know, maybe make a little mention of it, but then, you know, Gibbs, and Kelly, and my defenses are all lowered. Plus, my new book is out!! Yep, as of yesterday (June 27), you and every last one of your closest friends can purchase, download or otherwise borrow from your library a copy of Blue Hollow Falls, the first book in a long-awaited (by me) new series set right here in my home area of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Here’s a handy link, you know, if you need something to cheer you up and you can’t wait another second to get your hands on it. I hope you love it! No Kleenex required! OK, maybe one or two. But it’s a happy book, about good things happening to deserving folks, I swear. And don’t we need more of that right now?
I also hope Chery Zelenka loves this book, too, because she won herself an autographed copy of Blue Hollow Falls and a beautiful bookmark charm designed exclusively for the book by The Cotton Thistle that I put up for grabs in my last classic recap. Cheryl drop me an e-mail to donna@donnakauffman.com with your address and I’ll pop your prizes in the mail to you!
I’ll be back in two weeks with another summer classic and another chance for someone to win an autographed copy of Blue Hollow Falls. (Which means if you win you can give the copy you’re rushing out to buy rightthisveryseccod to a friend. Win-win!) Want in? Drop me an e-mail to donna@donnakauffman.com with “Yeah, I want my own signed copy of Blue Hollow Falls!” in the subject line and you’re in the running. If you want, please also feel free to offer your opinion on Agent Quinn leaving (and how you think that exit is going to play out) or about Gibbs’ potential new love life (because he’s come a long way from that moment, sitting on the steps) or about how much you lovedlovedloved my latest book (did I mention, it’s ON SALE NOW? I can’t recall …)
Hope you’re enjoying your summer (or your winter, for all my Aussie followers). See you in two weeks when we go allll the way back to season two for an episode where Ducky gets to solve a cold case, titled Lt. Jane Doe. Hope you’ll join me!
Until then …
Donna Kauffman is the USA TODAY bestselling author of 70-plus titles, translated and sold in more than 26 countries around the world. (Including a brand new one! Blue Hollow Falls. Check it out!) Born in Washington, D.C., she now lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, thankfully surrounded by a completely different kind of wildlife. You can check that out for yourself and more at www.donnakauffman.com. She loves to hear from her readers (and NCIS viewers!). You can write to her at donna@donnakauffman.com.
MORE ON HEA: Read what Donna learned while writing Blue Hollow Falls
EVEN MORE: See more of Donna’s NCIS posts