He didn’t escape from the bomb blast unscathed. Rather, he had a wooden spike protruding from his abdomen and he was bleeding profusely. Next thing, he woke up in a barn in excruciating pain, someone had done surgery on him, but he was a prisoner! The barn door was locked. Just as he figured out how to escape, Thelma McKeever (Katherine Cortez) entered and held him at gunpoint. She figured he was involved in some of the shenanigans happening nearby and she wanted to know why he said not to call the cops. Then her husband Virgil (Dave Florek) entered and explained he used to be a vet and he did the surgery. Meanwhile Nick (Wilmer Valderrama) stopped by Bishop’s (Emily Wickersham) apartment, but it is bare, and the owner is talking to someone off camera. It turned out it was Jimmy (Brian Dietzen), who explained that Bishop had called him the night before as she was heading to the airport to catch a plane out of the country. Later, Nick tried her cell phone, but it was disconnected. She was gone for good! Nick and McGee (Sean Murray) headed to the lake after hearing about the boat explosion. One of the sheriff’s told them that there were no survivors. She didn’t suspect foul play until McGee found evidence that it was a pipe bomb. A body was discovered, but it was a woman, not Gibbs. When a fake sheriff came on the McKeever’s property looking for information about Gibbs, he convinced Thelma to test the sheriff because he explained to her why he wasn’t a real cop. When Gibbs proved right, the McKeevers decided to help him and Thelma handed over her rifle. Meanwhile, back at NCIS, Director Vance (Rocky Carroll) pretended to add Special Agent Brett Hollister to the team. Hollister was green out of FLETC, so McGee suggested instead adding Jessica Knight (Katrina Law), who had some experience. That was Vance’s plan all along but he knew it would go down better if McGee thought it was his idea. Down in autopsy, where Jimmie was examining the dead woman’s body, he reassured McGee, saying “This isn’t how it ends,” meaning Gibbs was still alive. When Kasie (Diona Reasonover) figured out where Gibbs had been with the tracking device she put on the bug detector she gave him, the team headed to Marcie Warren’s (Pam Dawber) office to see if they could find a clue. They were surprised when they discovered whose office it was but found nothing much. They headed back to NCIS and Marcie was there, frantically searching for Gibbs, who called and told McGee to put her under full protection. She explained the situation to the team about the search for the serial killer since Gibbs hung up abruptly. Jessica only knowing what had been going on with Gibbs recently worried, “What is he going to do to him if he finds him?” The team figured out that there was something happening at the lake, and they headed there only to encounter Gibbs, who had broken into the cabin. Jessica figured out that there was meth hidden in some of the gas cans stored in the cabin. Just then, the drug dealers returned, and the team took them down, but they were not the killers of the woman whose body was found in the lake. After, Gibbs was back at the McKeevers where McGee found him, and said, “Rule 91 sucks. Because it is in direct violation to rule No. 1 never screw over your partner (not an official rule).” To which Gibbs responded, “I am not your partner. Do you see a band?” McGee: “The team is your partner and your not being a part of it is screwing us over.” Gibbs: “You don’t need me.” McGee: “You’re right. While you were out on suspension, we did our job. We made it work; we did it well. But we’re better together. Boss, you know I’m right. You have to. You built us. We have a serial killer to catch but in order to do that, we need to be a team. We need to be your team. Say something.” Gibbs: “I am proud of you. Keep pushing me. Always keep pushing.” McGee: “Does that mean you’re in?” Gibbs: “What do you got?” Whether that means Vance will reinstate him as an NCIS agent or not will have to wait for the following week, but at least for now Gibbs is reunited with the team. And we also have a clue as to who FBI Special Agent Alden Parker (Gary Cole) might be, because the tease for next week’s episode is: While trying to find the serial killer Gibbs was after, the NCIS team discovers another person has been tracking the case as well. Could that person be Parker? NCIS airs at its new day and time: Mondays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CBS. Next, Where’s Gibbs? Everything We Know So Far About NCIS Season 19
