Last time on NCIS, the team continued their hunt for the lethal terrorist, Benham Parsa, who narrowly escaped Gibbs. The agents learned that Parsa boarded a transport train bound for Miami, with plans to get off somewhere along the way. We also learned the heartbreaking news that Delilah, McGee’s girlfriend, was paralyzed as a result of Parsa’s drone attack.
This episode of NCIS, titled “Monsters and Men,” sees the team continuing their search for Parsa while Bishop exposes some information about her past.
Batter Up
The show opens with Bishop at the batting cages when she is approached by a man. Marlens is Bishop’s supervisor at the NSA, and he is upset that she didn’t tell him that she is working on the Parsa case. He mentions pulling her joint duty assignment. Bishop admits this is the reason she didn’t tell him, and she states that this is not the same situation as last time.
Meanwhile at NCIS headquarters, Tony is whistling a happy tune and singing the praises of steaming baths with bath beads. Hilarious!
Gibbs arrives and lets everyone know that the Port Authority in Portsmouth has found a body in the water, and the victim matches the description of Parsa’s bodyguard.
The Parsa Connection
Bishop runs in and tells Gibbs that Parsa is in Pakistan. She reveals that the terrorist’s parents were civilians killed by a US air strike in Pakistan in 2004. Parsa is headed back to Pakistan since the 10 year anniversary of their deaths is in less than 48 hours.
Bishop believes that Parsa is headed to where his parents are buried. Although no official record of their burial place exists, she thinks that they are buried in the Swat district. Vance agrees to follow Bishop’s gut, and wants to get all other Parsa experts from other agencies to help in the search. Bishop makes things really easy for him — she is the Parsa expert. Gibbs is, understandably, shocked to discover that the NSA has had her working on Parsa for six years.
Trust Issues
Meanwhile, in autopsy, Ducky is chatting with the frozen corpse, who sustained a gunshot wound to the neck. McGee discovers that Hayat Parsa is planning to meet her brother outside of Karachi. Could it be false information to throw off the search?
Gibbs pulls Bishop to the side, and he is not happy. He demands to know why Bishop didn’t tell him about her experience analyzing Parsa, and he wants to know what she learned from her work for the NSA. She will not give the details of that assignment to Gibbs, citing clearance issues. Gibbs is furious, and he tells her that he doesn’t work with people he can’t trust. Bishop doesn’t buckle, and says again that they have to catch Parsa before he leaves the US for Pakistan.
Don’t Turn Your Back
When Tony arrives, McGee stops his coworker before he enters the tension-filled office. As they discuss the situation, they turn to see Vance behind them. Once he leaves, the duo start to relax, until they turn to face the office and see the silent, and often deadly, Gibbs standing there. I love it!
It’s Elementary
Gibbs goes to see Abby in the lab, and she is wearing a fetching Sherlock Holmes style hat. It turns out that the body pulled from the water belongs to a Port Authority officer, Alex Rio. The victim was re-dressed in the bodyguard’s clothes, which had a bullet hole in the leg. Since the victim did not have a gunshot wound, it is apparent that the bodyguard has been shot.
While Marlens is cagey about Bishop’s case work for the NSA, he finally agrees to tell Gibbs about Bishop’s history. When Bishop began working for the NSA, she was a deployed analyst in the Middle East. She was the first to peg Parsa as a rising threat, and tried doggedly to catch him. Gibbs knows she is not a quitter, and asks why she was pulled off the case. Marlens refuses to explain, and lets Gibbs know that if he has Bishop’s interests in mind, he will do the same.
Blood and Loyalty
McGee discovers that Rios’ stolen credit card was just used to book a flight to Miami. Bishop mentions that Parsa has contacts in Miami. Gibbs tells her that she is to stay at her desk, and leaves with McGee and Tony for the airport. They grab Parsa’s bodyguard, and Tony cautions other travelers about boarding with liquids.
Gibbs sits down with Parsa’s bodyguard in the interrogation room. Abby was able to pull the suspect’s DNA from his water bottle, and his name is Khalil. He is not only Parsa’s bodyguard, but also his cousin. Khalil will not give up his family.
Camp Fire
Bishop then corners Tony in the men’s room for a little chat. She wants to know how long it takes to figure out Gibbs, and how to persuade him to put her back on the case. Tony comments that Gibbs doesn’t need to know everything, but he needs to feel that she would tell him whatever he needs to know. McGee joins the “campfire” and hands Bishop some intelligence.
Parsa is Here
She joins Gibbs in interrogation, and lets Khalil know that the CIA knows about his three sons. She then tells him that Parsa has been seen with Khalil’s family in Sharbaga, and that a drone attack has been ordered. Khalil breaks down and tells Gibbs about Parsa’s compound in Mingora, near the graveyard where his parents are buried. It is decided to send a Navy Seal team to storm the compound.
A Good Rule
Gibbs finds Bishop, sitting alone on an autopsy table. She opens up to Gibbs and remarks that Parsa had actually contacted her a few years earlier, leaving her taunts and clues. She never told the NSA, and was pulled from the case when her secret was discovered. She feels guilty that she didn’t stop him sooner, and that she began to humanize him. Gibbs busts out trusty rule 11, and tells Bishop, “When the job is done, walk away.”
Gibbs, McGee and Bishop arrive on an aircraft carrier to interrogate Parsa, who sustained a gunshot wound to the shoulder. Gibbs asks Bishop and McGee to analyze Parsa’s laptop. The only other thing that he had in his possession was a picture of his parents.
The Price of Cooperation
Parsa tells Gibbs that he will give him all the information on his terror network in exchange for a conversation with Bishop. She sits across the table from Parsa under Gibbs’ watchful gaze. When Tony calls for Gibbs, Bishop convinces Gibbs to let her talk to Parsa alone.
McGee pulls up information on Parsa’s laptop about his next target, and the news is not good. Bishop is the target! When Parsa collapses to the floor, he takes the gun off his guard, shoots him, and locks himself in the brig with Bishop.
Parsa informs Bishop that he wanted to speak with her in private. He asks about Bishop’s husband, Jake. Gibbs tells Vance that he needs copies of phone calls between Parsa and his sister regarding their parents. Suddenly, Parsa hears his sister’s voice over the loud speaker, begging for him to come home. While Parsa is distracted, Gibbs shoots him.
Back at NCIS headquarters, McGee and Tony leave for the night, and tell Bishop to look in her desk drawer for some energy bars. She puts a note on her desk, simply stating “Rule 11.”
Bishop goes to the batting cage where Gibbs joins her and tells her to trust her instincts. He also offers her a job as a probationary agent. She grabs him and hugs him as she accepts the offer. Welcome aboard, Bishop!
I enjoyed this episode of NCIS. The background about Bishop was a surprise.
NCIS airs Tuesdays at 8pm on CBS.
(Image courtesy of CBS)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
Kim has been covering television entertainment since 2013. She is addicted to Real Housewives, Pump Rules, Dancing with the Stars, and many more shows.
