Thomas Ellis, a Marine convert from Christianity to Islam, is found to have been killed by a blow to the back of the head while kneeling in prayer on a snowy morning in the park. Gibbs and the team must find Ellis’s killer while Gibbs’s father (Ralph Waite) visits with a mystery of his own.
The suspects in Ellis’s murder mostly came from his family. Thomas’s father George Ellis (Joe Regalbuto) was a retired Marine colonel who’d become a preacher. Thomas’s wife had an affair while his unit was in overseas. Members of Thomas’s unit were mysteriously paid to discourage him from his faith. Given all these possibilities, I was still able to predict Ellis’s killer as soon as he showed up early in the episode: Thomas’s younger brother Patrick walked in on Gibbs giving the family the news of Thomas’s death. I’ve just seen the scenario of the seemingly unknowing sibling so often. There really were no better suspects than Patrick once the team linked the mystery payments to George Ellis.
More interesting to me than Ellis’s murder was the visit by Gibbs’s father Jackson. Since the Season 5 episode “Heartland,” I had thought Jackson and Jethro had reconciled more than they had. They still got on each other’s nerves, and Jethro even had to put the case on hold when Jackson started a chimney fire that spread out of control (very similar to what Pops Booth, also played by Ralph Waite, did on a recent episode of Bones).
I enjoyed the scene of Ducky and Jackson drinking and talking at Jethro’s house. They appeared to be just swapping stories, but Ducky was also analyzing Jackson for ailments like Alzheimer’s disease. After Thomas Ellis’s murder was solved, Jackson finally revealed that he was traumatized, having shot and killed a would-be robber back in Stillwater. This gave father and son a chance to bond.
Overall, this wasn’t a bad episode, but it could have been better. Without one of the subplots—DiNozzo playing Secret Santa for someone in the office, McGee working to allow an ensign overseas to communicate with her son at Christmas—the writers might have devoted more time to covering up Patrick’s crime. I also have to say I didn’t find the snow effects convincing. The sunshine of Valencia, California was still visible through the filters.
I never saw NCIS when it was in prime time. I only saw reruns and fell in love with this show. It is the best show on TV today. I wanted to see the episodes from the beginning to get the time line of events, so I ordered the first five seasons and am now waiting for the sixth to be released. I am so hooked on this show that I hope it never ends. The dynamics between the characters is what makes this show so special. I love Tony, I wish he and Ms. David would hook up. I was sad when Kate was killed. Abby is a hoot. McGee reminds me of a sweet puppy. I think the show is held together because of the boss, Gibbs. Let us just face it, they are all wonderful. I am surprised it took me 5 years to hear about the show. My sister told me that if I would watch it I would never watch anything else. She was right. I love that the USA Station has back to back episodes on every day. Some of the shows I have seen 2 or 3 times and still love them.