Reviewer Rating: 4/5.0
4
When you turn on an episode of NCIS and Vance is locked in his office, covered in blood and with a body on the floor, you know things are about to get crazy.
NCIS Season 22 Episode 2 plunges us straight into a diplomatic meeting with Venezuela that quickly descends into chaos.
Vance’s covert operation with Venezuelan agent Diego Rojas takes a disastrous turn when Rojas collapses and dies in his office.
From that moment on, they begin a frantic scramble to cover the body and solve the mystery before the entire situation blows up in their face.
Naturally, Torres, McGee, Jesse, and even Jimmy—who seems to be in it just to avoid being an outsider—are all drawn into Vance’s off-the-books operations.
Watching them frantically try to dispose of a body without attracting any attention is exactly the kind of chaos we love about this team (and it’s so much fun).
And then there’s Torres, who in the midst of all the craziness is still looking for a draw, injecting just the right amount of comic relief into the tension.
You could always count on him to bring a laugh to the team, especially with Parker’s laid-back influence on the team’s energy.
Speaking of Parker, he has a charming wit and uses his usual humor to fend off reporters. Classic Parker, effortlessly distracting the media while the team gets sneaky.
At one point, he even deadpans, “Discretion is my middle name,” and you can’t help but laugh because you know full well that everything going on behind the scenes isn’t all that discreet.
twisted carousel
But let’s not forget the real elephant in the room: Jimmy and Jesse.
After all the build-up to NCIS Season 22 Episode 1 — with Jimmy nervously clearing out her desk and eagerly anticipating her return — you’d think we’d finally be happily reunited .
Instead, we’re left in limbo, with barely a moment between them and Jesse not revealing any details. It’s not like Torres and McGee weren’t curious about what happened between the two men.
But I guess we all have to wait. It’s as if the writers put this relationship in front of us just to keep us in suspense a little longer.
Still, it’s maddening to have no idea what happened on Jesse’s first day back at the office.
But instead of a Jimmy and Jesse reunion, we see a reunion between Vance and Lena.
Vance’s long-distance girlfriend from Berlin shows up as a NATO representative, surprising him and everyone else.
Of course, she has her own agenda.
Not only does she team up with Vance to take things to the next level, but she also digs deep into an undercover operation involving a diamond smuggling ring linked to Hezbollah.
As if the team didn’t juggle enough, they suddenly find themselves with two bodies to deal with.
After they make every effort to dispose of Rojas’ body discreetly to avoid an international disaster and a swarm of reporters, a second body magically appears in his hotel room.
This time, it’s Lena and her undercover agent Vega’s kindness. What about the victims? The killer was apparently sent to kill Roxas, but I’m not sure because wasn’t Roxas poisoned?
Either way, the whole thing is a mess.
Things take a turn for the worse when an officious reporter shows up – surprisingly, he’s not a reporter at all, but a Hezbollah terrorist trying to undermine the relationship between Venezuela and the United States by kidnapping Lina negotiations between.
It’s a tense moment, but, in true Parker style, he once again distracts the media—this time with a history lesson about U.S. relations with Venezuela—so that McGee and Jesse can save Lena, per Everyone can live happily ever after.
We go around and around like a merry-go-round.
Isn’t that the name of an old syndicated political column from the 1950s and 1960s?
I bet Drew Pearson was delighted with all the political machinations and cover-ups in this episode.
A “foreign object” indeed – especially when Rojas was murdered by a Venezuelan admiral for sleeping with the admiral’s wife.
Gada in life
Now, about the conversation between Vance and Parker.
Anyone who walks into Parker’s cozy conservatory lounge will feel right at home. It was as passionate as Parker himself, which is probably why Vance felt comfortable enough to want to exchange notes about their near-death experiences.
Parker didn’t reveal many details about his vision for Lily in NCIS Season 21 Episode 10, and I doubt he’ll reveal them publicly anytime soon.
However, Vance did open up about how time has become the most important thing in his life—like living a meaningful life in time.
Of course, he was talking about Lina.
Despite all the drama, he decided to take things up a notch with her, something she had already thought about before arriving in Washington
They both want the same thing, and with her move to New York, Director Vance will no longer be all work and no play.
It makes me wonder if Vance is leaving, giving McGee another chance to move up?
It’s not impossible. Those near-death experiences change you, and Vance knows there’s more to life than NCIS.
Speaking of unresolved matters – Jesse and Jimmy?
Either let them happen or move on because this long, drawn-out post-breakup-they-won’t-they storyline is going to get old quickly, even if it’s only one episode.
Yes, I admit, I am impatient.
Honestly, maybe the real romance should be between Parker and Jesse – they already have better chemistry anyway (Jesse would never question the agreement like Jimmy does). Yes, I said it. Shoot me.
So, what do you think of this twisted carousel episode of NCIS ? Hit the comments and share your thoughts.
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