Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs’ (Mark Harmon) team thought it was too soon for him to return to work following the death of his goddaughter Emily (Juliette Angelo), but he didn’t listen.And he was acting erratically, so much so that he ended up having to turn in his gun and his badge when he got arrested for assault. And then to make matters worse, he got suspended indefinitely by Director Vance (Rocky Carroll), who at first is on his side! The initial case involved the team heading out to investigate when a live missile wound up in the middle of a road in Falls Church, Va. But it took a different turn when Gibbs discovered a dog that had been shot and then found out from the nearby vet that two other dogs were also shot, but she couldn’t save them. When the vet said, “I hope to God someone pays for this,” Torres (Wilmer Valderrama) took one look at Gibbs’ face and told her, “I have a feeling someone will.” Gibbs staked out the spot on the road where he discovered the wounded pit bull, but the night passed without any sign of the perpetrator. So, the next morning, he went to investigate and he saw something suspicious at a pond. He pulled it up and it turned out to be a dog crate with several drowned dogs in it. When Gibbs saw the man–Luke Stana (Max Adler)–he believed responsible for the deaths, he lost it and attacked him. Luke ended up in the hospital with a broken nose, multiple head contusions and a concussion. Enter Inspector Coyle (Hugo Armstrong), who arrested Gibbs and told him, “I always knew you would be sitting opposite me because of the kind of agent you are–the kind who breaks the rules to get what you want.” Gibbs refused to talk but he told McGee (Sean Murray), Torres and Bishop (Emily Wickersham) to tell the truth. Of course, they lied to Coyle, putting their own careers in jeopardy as well. It turned out that Luke was a member of Gamblers Anonymous and his game of choice was dog fights. But the team can’t prove it, despite the fact that Luke was illegally in possession of steroids, and Coyle threw them off the case. Of course, they didn’t listen and continued to investigate. Kasie (Diona Reasonover) discovered a clue when she figured out why “Lucy”–she named the pit bull Gibbs rescued–was missing hair, and it was because Luke, who was a pool cleaner by profession, was exposing the dogs to one of the products he uses. It wasn’t all the proof they needed, but they took it. When Luke got out of the hospital, he shut down his phone, but McGee figured out that the poodle that Luke owns–the only dog he is actually fond of–had a collar with a GPS, so the team tracked him down to the barn where he holds the dog fights and caught him in the act of trying to get rid of the evidence, meaning killing more dogs. In the meantime, Gibbs confessed to Coyle in order to save his team. So it’s surprising when Coyle showed up at the dog barn, too, with a couple of sheriffs in tow to arrest Luke. Inexplicably, Coyle released Gibbs and his report said there are “evidentiary issues.” Gibbs returned home with Lucy and asked Vance, who dropped by, why he was released. After all, he confessed. Vance explained to Gibbs that he had no clue what those evidentiary issues were but he learned that Coyle and his wife had two rescue dogs. Gibbs told Vance that he was sorry for what happened, and Vance asked if he would apologize to Luke. Gibbs said no. “I regret I didn’t kill him.” Vance said, “What do you expect me to do with that?” That’s when Vance realized there is more going with Gibbs than usual and asked Gibbs for his gun and badge and suspended him indefinitely. What’s it going to take to get him reinstated? Sessions with shrink Grace (Laura San Giacomo)? Or maybe Gibbs has seen enough and this is it for him; Emily’s death was the last straw. As this was the midseason finale of NCIS, it will be several weeks until we learn the outcome. There had been talk that Harmon isn’t interested in returning for a 19th season, so maybe this is a way for CBS to test the waters to see if the show can work without Harmon’s presence–at least in every episode. NCIS airs Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS. Next, find out who died on last week’s episode of Grey’s Anatomy.
