Back in May we began our between-seasons recaps with an episode featuring one of Gibbs’ most beloved sidekicks, and I thought who better to come back for an encore as we wrap up our final classic recap of the summer? Yep, it’s Fornell time! And this time around we get Diane in the mix, too! Join me as we travel back to season 10 and an episode titled Devil’s Trifecta.
Joe Spano as Fornell, Mark Harmon as Gibbs and Cote de Pablo as Ziva in NCIS. (Photo: Monty Brinton, CBS)
We open with Agent Fornell at a late-night drive-through, picking up a burger and fries. We see he’s being watched by someone across the street. Said someone gets out of his car, crosses over to where Fornell is parked, just diving into his fries. Said Someone raises a gun and fires multiple times through the windshield. Oh no! Then, from an overhead shot, we see another fusillade of bullets explode through the windshield, only this time they’re coming from the inside. Down goes Said Someone, then we get a glimpse of Fornell, a stunned look on his face …
… and it’s awesome opening credits and theme song time! (Hello, Tony! Hello, Ziva!)
But wait! How is Fornell even alive after that?
Sean Murray as Murray, Pauley Perrette as Abby, Mark Harmon as Gibbs and Joe Spano as Fornell in NCIS. (Photo: Cliff Lipson, CBS)
We don’t have to wait long to find out. Morning has broken and our agents are on the case, taking photos of Said Someone and processing the scene. Gibbs quickly moves past that and over to Fornell, who is sitting on the back of the ambulance. Fornell tells Gibbs he didn’t need to worry. Fornell is rubbing his chest and Gibbs looks over at the bullet-proof vest Fornell had taken off. The one with multiple bullets wedged into the front of it. “Rough day at the office,” Fornell explains, saying he was too tired to take the vest off after his shift ended. “Not too tired to shoot back,” Gibbs replies. Fornell says the guy shot up his favorite jacket, that he’d have shot his own mother for that. Heh. That earns an eye roll from Gibbs. More quietly, Fornell thanks him for coming. See, which is why I love these two. Cracking wise one moment, then all the feels the next. Pass the popcorn! Gibbs tells Fornell he had no choice, the shooter was Navy. HA!
We learn SS was a 22-year-old seaman just back from his first deployment. Fornell doesn’t recognize him or the name. McGee asks Fornell if he’s received any threats recently, and he says just from his ex-wife. Heh. Who, we all know, is also one of Gibbs’ ex-wives. Ducky commends Fornell on the tight cluster, six shots to the chest. Ziva wants to know if he’s antagonized anyone lately and Fornell asks who hasn’t he antagonized? Heh. We learn that Fornell has put 30 men behind bars in the past year alone, and 12 of them have already been released. Gibbs asks for a full list. Fornell agrees, but says he’s sure he was simply a target of opportunity, someone hopped up on drugs, looking for a fix, a carjacker maybe. Ducky says that SS’s eyes show he might have been on some kind of stimulant. Fornell’s relief is short-lived, though, as Tony shows a bagged receipt taken from the front seat of SS’s car. A receipt with Fornell’s license plate number written on it.
We shift to a bar frequented by Navy personnel. Gibbs and Fornell show the bartender SS’s photo, and we learn he was the bouncer. An inebriated regular speaks up about how SS liked banging heads. Bartender has to go break up a disturbance in the back of the bar, tells Gibbs and Fornell not to pay any attention to what the drunk guy says. Drunk Guy goes on to tell Gibbs and Fornell that he was pretty sure SS was also dealing drugs. Fornell and Gibbs step away from the bar to discuss their next move, when the ladies’ room door behind them opens, and who should step out? Their ex-wife, Diane. She smiles a bit nervously, says how isn’t it a coincidence, them running into each other like that. Gibbs shakes his head, says, “Oh, I don’t think so.” HA. Fade to black and white. Good timing. Because we’re going to need a LOT more popcorn.
Melinda McGraw as Diane and Cote de Pablo as Ziva in NCIS. (Photo: Monty Brinton, CBS)
We come back as Diane is trying to leave the bar. Gibbs and Fornell block her exit, ask why she’s there. She says she’s returned to the IRS and the bar’s books were being audited. The bartender returns and Gibbs and Fornell tell him they have a few more questions for both the bartender and Diane. Diane turns to the bartender and tells him to remember that their conversation is confidential. He nods, then calls her Mrs. Fornell, and how he talked to the owner and the owner isn’t interested in selling her the place. Fornell and Gibbs have been parroting back each statement, and Diane is glaring at the bartender, all, “Do you know what confidential means?” And Gibbs is all, “Do you know what obstruction of justice means?” Heh.
Over at the Bull Pen of Orangey Goodness, Ziva and Tony enter and tells Gibbs that Diane is in the interrogation room, and she is hopping mad for being brought in. Tony comments that he’s glad he got his tetanus shot and Ziva wonders if maybe they should have put her in the conference room. Fornell is explaining to Tony why they’re considering an obstruction of justice charge, listing, among other things, that she’s calling herself Mrs. Fornell, which she is not. Enter McGee, who says she’s actually using two aliases and puts up two driver’s licenses, one showing her as Diane Fornell, the other as Diane Gibbs. Ruh roh! McGee begs them to never make him spend time alone with her again. Heh. Fornell quips that maybe Diane finally hired that hitman she’d been threatening to kill him with, and everyone turns to look at Fornell. He laughs, as if joking, then pauses and says, “Maybe we’d better stick a pin in that.” HA!
Shifting to SS, we learn that he’d been reprimanded multiple times for getting into fights with his shipmates and was in the middle of getting a dishonorable discharge. McGee couldn’t find any connection between him and Fornell. Fornell says it’s time for them to interrogate Diane. No way was she at his wannabe killer’s workplace by coincidence. Tony is all, “I can’t wait to see this,” and Gibbs is all, “Good, you’re gonna have a front-row seat.” Heh.
We shift to interrogation where Diane is lighting into Tony, who she calls Agent Coif. HA! Then she stalks to the two-way and yells at Gibbs and Fornell, calling them too chicken to come in there and question her themselves. Tony all but begs her to sit back down, then makes a face at Gibbs and Fornell before turning back to the table. The two go back and forth with Tony alternately wincing and wishing he were dead. We find out that Diane’s current husband is out of the country with her daughter at a wedding and that she stayed behind for some alone time. She barks at the two-way again, telling Gibbs and Fornell to wipe the smirks off their faces. A quick shift to Gibbs and Fornell show them both doing just that. HA. Enter Director Vance, who announces the interrogation is over, and Diane hops up and flounces out, saying it took Vance long enough.
Pauley Perrette as Abby in NCIS. (Photo: Cliff Lipson, CBS)
Up in Vance’s office we learn that Diane has indeed gone back to work for the IRS, only she’s been promoted to an enforcer. She slaps her badge on the desk and Fornell announces he’s about to be reacquainted with his breakfast burrito. Heh. We learn that there had been a string of identity thefts, each filing fraudulent tax returns, costing the IRS billions. A few of the thefts had been traced back to that bar, so Diane had gone in, posing undercover as a buyer, so she could interview the employees without raising any suspicion. Fornell asks why she was claiming to be Mrs. Fornell, and she claims with budget cuts, she had to improvise by using her old driver’s ID. Fornell barks at her that her improv almost got him killed, that she had clearly triggered suspicion with her questioning. Much bickering ensues, with Diane staunchly refusing to share her intel with either Fornell or Gibbs. That is until Vance intervenes and says that since the case now spans three federal agencies, the FBI, NCIS and the IRS, the heads of all three agencies have decided their agents will work together to solve it. Oh boy! Cue very unhappy expressions from Fornell, Diane and Gibbs. Fade to black and white.
Down in the Bull Pen the team cringes when they see Diane approaching, so you can imagine their joy when she flashes her badge. She calls McGee “Chucky” and tells him to pull up the file for Agent Sterling (her actual current last name) and gives the password “Tobias Cheap.” Heh. Diane explains that someone is masterminding an identity-theft ring from the bar and filing fake tax returns to bilk the government out of millions of dollars. Tracking them via the returns has led them to fake post office box addresses, which are switched out as fast as they can track them. SS was likely used by the group perpetrating the crime because, as the bar’s bouncer, he had to look at everyone’s ID. Diane says he couldn’t have been the mastermind as he didn’t have the skill set, but no other leads have popped up. The outlets where the tax refund checks are being cashed are on the other side of town and have been checked as well, but no leads. Gibbs and Fornell head out to take another look at the post office boxes and send Diane out to take another look at the check-cashing places. You know, on the other side of town. Heh.
Turns out it wasn’t exactly on the other side of town. Diane just wanted to work with Ziva and not either of her exes. Diane confides in Ziva that she’s grown tired of her marriage to Victor, that she wonders if she missed out on her chance to be a little wild. Something she can’t do while married — again — nor while working for the IRS. The two women talk to the man behind the counter of the check-cashing business and he recognizes the billing codes for one of the files Diane has.
Michael Weatherly as DiNozzo in NCIS. (Photo: Monty Brinton, CBS)
We shift to Abby Lab where Abby is looking at actual footage of the accountant who makes weekly stops by the check-cashing place to cash a stack of checks “for his clients.” McGee enters and we learn that he got the accountant’s computer from his home, but so far they haven’t been able to find the guy to bring him in. Abby notices that Accountant has a folded betting sheet in his back pocket every time he comes in to cash checks, so she thinks they should check out the racetrack. McGee says Accountant has already emptied his bank account, so he’s likely already long gone. Gibbs mentions that it’s pretty obvious Accountant knows the feds are on to him, hence trying to have (Tobias) Fornell killed. Fornell comments that Diane is probably also on Accountant’s hit list, so, you know, she should probably bunk at Gibbs’ place. He turns to make a quick exit, but Gibbs says since he was married to Diane last, she should stay with him. The two trade reasons why they can’t house her while Abby and McGee watch them like it’s a tennis match. McGee smugly says he doesn’t mind watching Fornell and Gibbs duke it out since he knows the one place she definitely won’t be staying. Oh, McGee.
Yep, we shift to McGee letting Diane into his apartment. The Bickersons try and get her settled, but Diane alternates between giving McGee grief and unloading all her marital problems on him. Seems like maybe she’s not the only one who wants out of the marriage. Diane figured her marriage to Gibbs ended because he was still in love with his deceased wife, but then her marriage to Fornell ended, and now her third is in trouble. She’s worried that the problem is her, so she alarms McGee by asking him if he finds her attractive. He grudgingly says she is … on the outside. HA. He keeps trying to back out of the room, but she keeps talking and finally says she thinks she just needs a hug. McGee goes from alarm to full-on panic. He states, quite firmly, that no hug will be taking place. She commands him to come over there and hug her. Oh, Diane. McGee holds his ground, then she says that his co-worker (her) is miserable and he won’t even hug her? She tells him his parents failed in raising him (she’s such a charmer), which does the trick. McGee slowly crosses the room, a move that clearly goes against every fiber of his being, and hugs her. Well, it’s more like he lets her hug him. Which she does. Then she breaks down in sobs. All we see is McGee’s eyes, wide in panic. Heh.
The next morning, we see shoes on the floor, and Diane sprawled on the couch, with Gibbs staring down at her. The camera pans back so we see that McGee is also on the couch, fast asleep, holding Diane. Yes, they are both fully clothed. And I get to keep my dinner. Win! Gibbs is just staring, a confused look on his face, when Fornell enters. Oh boy. Fornell explodes, Diane and McGee leap into awakeness, springing apart, with McGee swearing nothing happened and Diane asking Fornell why he’d care if something had. Gibbs tells them all to put a pin in it. Abby has a lead on Accountant.
We shift to Tony leaning tiredly against his car, the warrant in his hand. Gibbs, McGee and Fornell pull up. They’re at a rental house owned by Accountant, who went out of his way to hide his connection to it, so it might provide some clues or, if they’re lucky, accountant. Tony asks where Diane is and gets mixed responses. Fornell draws his gun and tells McGee the two of them will take the back. Heh. Jealous, Fornell? Gibbs goes around back with Fornell, leaving McGee to be questioned by a very interested Tony. As you can well imagine.
Tony kicks the door in, and once inside, they move into a room closed off by a heavy plastic sheet. It’s as cold as a meat locker on the other side, and the room is filled with cartons and big freezer chests. Tony opens one, then another, and they appear to be lined with ice and big fish. “Fishy,” he says. Oh, Tony. Gibbs and Fornell enter, saying the rest of the house is empty. McGee opens the last cooler and says, “Nobody living, at least.” Turns out it’s the drunk guy from the bar. Fade to black and white.
Melinda McGraw as Diane, Cote de Pablo as Ziva, Mark Harmon as Gibbs and Joe Spano as Fornell in NCIS. (Photo: Monty Brinton, CBS)
We return to Tony and McGee entering Ducky’s Digs, where Tony, Palmer and Ducky all gang up on McGee, wanting to know what really happened with Diane. McGee swears they were just talking and fell asleep, that’s all. Ducky says that, given Gibbs’ and Fornell’s “propensity for violence,” that’s the story Ducky would stick to. HA. Poor McGee. Do a gal a favor. Ducky turns our attention to Frozen Drunk Guy. For some unknown reason, we get a shot of him with the top of his head peeled back, showing his brain, so I guess that dinner is in jeopardy, after all. I avert my eyes and listen as McGee explains apparently both Drunk Guy and SS the bouncer worked for Accountant. SS got their ID info, Drunk Guy chatted them up and got more details, then they gave the details to Accountant, who filed phony tax returns using their identity and cashed the refund checks. Apparently, with SS dead and the feds on his case, Accountant figured Drunk Guy had outlived his usefulness. The bullets in Drunk Guy’s brain match those of a gun registered to Accountant. Boy, he’s not too good at covering his tracks, is he? Ducky asks if they’ve figured out what the deal was with all the fish.
Up in the Bull Pen, Diane and Ziva are working the fish angle. Diane thinks she finally has it figured out, but wants to make absolute sure. Meanwhile, Ziva wants to know if Diane fulfilled her desire to go do something wild. Like, the previous night, maybe? HA! Oh, Ziva. Diane doesn’t respond because she’s found the connection. Enter Gibbs and Fornell. Diane and Ziva tell them that all the fish are being shipped to small fishing villages on the borders of volatile countries, like Syria, Iran and North Korea. Diane says she knows a Customs agent who might let them look at similar shipments. Then she orders Fornell to do the same with the FBI and Gibbs as well, then stalks out, leaving Ziva trying like mad not to grin. HA. Yes, I do love it when murder and mayhem mix with hijinks and hilarity. The men leave to do Diane’s bidding, after agreeing that the orders, while rankling, were good ones. Enter Abby who has found something else just as, well, fishy.
Down in Abby Lab, we learn that inside the fish? No, not drugs, not diamonds. Cellphones. Yep. Cellphones. One in every fish. All of them unregistered, but with IMEI numbers from the same manufacturing batch. Abby ran the list of numbers and someone with a fish phone has made a phone call … to Accountant. A voice mail was left and retrieved. The message wasn’t useful, but Abby was able to trace the caller, who happens to be right there in town. How conveeeeeenient. The call was made from a park, so we see Gibbs and Fornell playing chess. Tony and McGee tossing a Frisbee. Ziva jogging by. So far, no Accountant.
Fornell wants to call it quits, assuming Accountant is long gone, but Gibbs reminds him that would mean going back to HQ, where Diane is. Fornell opts to stay. Heh. He tells Gibbs that he spoke with someone at the IRS and before he can finish, Gibbs says he knows that Victor is leaving Diane, not the other way around. Fornell is surprised Gibbs figured it out, but then tells him more. He learned that once the Navy got involved in the case, Diane asked for a transfer to Gibbs’ jurisdiction. Gibbs says her father was Navy, so she’s just familiar with the military angle. Fornell thinks she did it to be close to Gibbs. Gibbs laughs at the thought, just as Tony spots Accountant.
Melinda McGraw as Diane and Michael Weatherly as DiNozzo in NCIS. (Photo: Monty Brinton, CBS)
Accountant is sitting on a park bench, jacket closed, hands in his pockets, looking dazed. Gibbs and Fornell show him their creds, saying he’ll need to come with them, but Accountant just sits there, looking out of it. One by one, all five agents point their gun at him, and Fornell keeps asking Accountant to show them his hands. Accountant keeps saying he was just trying to set things right. He keeps mumbling about how he’ll tell them everything, but they might try to kill him. Gibbs orders his hands out of his pockets, which is when we see he’s got blood staining the front of his shirt, over his abdomen. Then he keels over to his side. Fade to black and white.
Back in the Bull Pen, we learn Accountant died of multiple stab wounds. Eye witnesses saw him in a car, but give conflicting statements on who was with him, if anyone. Accountant said he was giving the money to someone he owed and McGee comes up with a thumb drive found in Accountant’s wallet. Apparently, Accountant owed money to one of his own clients. He embezzled money from one of his clients because of his racetrack gambling debts, but was apparently gathering evidence to use as leverage to cop a plea. No name of the client. Ziva says Diane has tracked down another fish shipment headed to China. This one had luxury soap and DVDs inside the fish. Gibbs figures out that all of the countries that border the fishing villages are under U.S. sanctions, making the seemingly low-end items a real commodity. They smuggle the fish to the markets, which then smuggle them across the various borders. Unfortunately, all the other shipping info was fake. So no new lead there.
Abby has a lead, however. She got Palmer to pick up the same kind of tuna from every market in the area, then ran DNA on them and the fish she had from Accountant’s fish freezers and actually found a familial match between one of them. So now they know where Accountant bought all the fish, and Diane enters with the name of the guy that market buys all their fish from. As it turns out, that guy was a client of Accountant’s and is their smuggler. And their killer. Unfortunately, all they have to tie him to any of that is circumstantial. Diane comments that with Accountant dead, Smuggler is going to need a new middleman to do his books. Diane nominates herself to go in undercover. Gibbs hesitates, but Diane says it’s a good plan, and he grudgingly agrees. Gibbs says she’s not going in alone, that he’s going with her. Diane smiles and says he might regret that when she tells him where Smuggler is that day.
Sean Murray as McGee and and Pauley Perrette as Abby in NCIS. (Photo: Cliff Lipson, CBS)
Aaaand, it’s a wedding. HA. Oh boy. Gibbs watches the bride walk by and mutters how much he regrets this. Outside in the surveillance van, Fornell is so happy it’s Gibbs and not him. Heh. Gibbs is wired for sound and Diane is wearing a camera broach. In the van, Fornell comments that McGee took way too much time attaching that broach to Diane’s bosom (his word), and before McGee can deflect that, Diane comments on how maybe McGee didn’t get enough the night before, making McGee splutter and Fornell scowl. Pot-stirrer. As Diane and Gibbs stroll through the room looking for their man, she asks Gibbs if he remembers how he proposed to her. He pauses, at a loss, then she saves him, says she doesn’t remember either. Wow. That bad, huh? Back in the van, Fornell is pressing McGee about what, exactly, it was he got. HA.
Smuggler walks in and Diane greets him, leans in for a hug and tells him she’s an accountant and understands he’s looking for one. Smuggler excuses them from the people he was talking to, but tells Diane she’s mistaken. Diane comes back at him with a host of info that all boils down to, you need an accountant who can cook your books or you’re going to jail. She tells him she worked with Accountant, so she knows the deal. Smuggler turns, looks over his shoulder, as if for approval. Diane looks that way, too, and says that he must not be the lead on this and she’s talking to the wrong man. Smuggler keeps her from walking off, tells her to wait. She looks pleased, Gibbs does, too. Until in walks the guy from the check-cashing place. So that’s the Big Boss. Ruh roh! He’s not happy at all, especially since he knows she’s really an IRS agent. He pulls a gun between them, aims it at her stomach, then turns her so it’s at her back and starts to escort her out of the room. That is until someone taps a spoon against a glass and offers to make a toast to the bride and groom, bringing everyone to a halt. That someone is Gibbs. Heh.
He makes a short toast to the bride and groom, then Big Boss starts to move Diane forward again, so Gibbs adds another toast, to “the lovely lady with the lovely red hair.” That stops Big Boss and Diane again. Gibbs walks down the stairs, toward Diane and Big Boss, saying, “I’m not much for words. Some things are better left unsaid. It would be easier if I could just pick you up, and we could just start running, and never stop.” I suspect this is exactly what he said to Diane when he proposed. Aww, Gibbs. “Maybe I will,” he goes on, then says he just needs to ask her one thing. Then he sinks down on bended knee. OMG. If only, right? Just not with Diane. She smiles, says yes, then breaks Big Boss’ grip on her arm to go to Gibbs. Everyone is clapping and sighing. Except BB, that is. He turns to make his exit, only to walk right into the grasp of Fornell, Ziva and Tony. Diane asks Gibbs why he didn’t just shoot BB. Gibbs tells her he figured they’d ruined enough weddings. Aw.
Melinda McGraw as Diane in NCIS. (Photo: Monty Brinton, CBS)
Back at HQ, Gibbs, Diane and Fornell give their joint report to Vance. Apparently, Smuggler was just one of four middlemen working for Big Boss. Vance asks if Big Boss was the one who put the hit on the Fornells, and Diane corrects him, saying she changed her name to Sterling before the ink dried on her divorce papers. Fornell says she never had it so good, and she relents, saying he was a step up from the last one, prompting a “hey!” from Gibbs. HA. Vance tells them to knock it off, but then praises them on how well they worked together. Fornell and Diane both grumble in disagreement, but Vance continues, saying he’s spoken with the other two agency heads and they’re thinking of making the three a permanent group. He asks if that’s something they might be interested in and looks up to find his office has emptied out. He smiles. HA.
We end the episode down in Gibbs’ basement. Diane comes down the stairs. They have a drink. She tells him that was a sweet proposal, then adds she thought he didn’t remember it. (I knew it!) He says he thought she didn’t either. She says she didn’t remember how sweet it was. She says the last time she was there, she said he never loved her, but she now thinks she was wrong, even if he didn’t correct her. Gibbs smiles, but says nothing. Diane goes to leave and Gibbs tells her she has to give Victor a break. Annoyed by that, she wants to know what she needs to forgive Victor for. Gibbs says she needs to forgive him for being him and not somebody else. Ah. Ouch. He tells her she has to let it go, then adds that he couldn’t, and in the end, that drove everybody away. He says the last person she wants to be like is him. Aw. She says he’s not so bad, but agrees he has a point. She’s worried it might be too late. He says it’s not, and she laughs, asks him how come he knows everything. He laughs, too, says he doesn’t, that he just listens. She asks him if it’s too late for him, if he thinks he’s destined to spend the rest of his life alone. He smiles, tells her he’s not alone. Fade to black and white.
Aw, you just can’t go wrong with the dynamic duo of Gibbs and Fornell. And Diane is always guaranteed to keep things interesting. Even after she’s gone.
Not a bad bookend to our summer classic recaps! We only have a few short weeks to wait until the big season 15 premiere, happening Sept. 26. Set your DVR now! I’ll be back on the recap couch for another full season of murder and mayhem, hijinks and hilarity.
But first! When last we met, I put a signed copy of the first in my Blueberry Cove series, Pelican Point, up for grabs. Thanks to you all for the enthusiastic response and for sharing your thoughts on all things NCIS, Gibbs and company. The winner of this giveaway is L Lam. L, drop an e-mail to me at donna@donnakauffman.com with your address and I’ll get your book right out to you! And if you’re looking for a book to get you in the mood for fall, give my latest, Blue Hollow Falls, a try. It’s set in the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains at exactly that time of year. Even better, all major online retailers have it on sale right now for just $1.99! I know!
When next we meet, I’ll have a very special giveaway up for grabs to go along with our big premiere week recap. In the meantime, feel free to drop by my Facebook page for all the day-to-day goings-on (and perhaps another chance to win some free stuff!). Or check me out at my new Instagram home.
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. Born into the maelstrom of Washington, D.C. politics, 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 or visit her on Facebook or Instagram.
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