NCIS In Review - Sea Dog (Episode 1.3)

 NCIS In Review - Sea Dog (Episode 1.3)

Teenagers are partying on the beach to the tune of "What I Like About You" by the band The Romantics when a high-speed boat, riddled with bullet holes, arrives on the shore. There's no one in control of the boat. Law Enforcement Officers (LEOs) later find Commander Farrell's body on the shore.

"Like how I hopped that fence?"

Episode: 1.3, Sea Dog

Air Date: October 7, 2003

Victim:  Known as Sea Dog among the street teenagers he mentored, his real name is Commander Farrell, according to his Navy record.

Teenagers are partying on the beach to the tune of "What I Like About You" by the band The Romantics when a high-speed boat, riddled with bullet holes, arrives on the shore. There's no one in control of the boat. Law Enforcement Officers (LEOs) later find Commander Farrell's body on the shore.

In short, we missed the chance to scare another group of teenagers.

The story begins at headquarters on a Monday morning. Gibbs isn't interested in discussing his weekend and acts like a senior partner at a law firm. He sarcastically questions DiNozzo about a Bloomingdale's theft falling under his jurisdiction. Tony is looking for a case to avoid mandatory internal sexual harassment training. A call about a dead naval commander washing up on the Virginia beach gives Tony the excuse he needs.

The on-site LEO assumes the Commander was involved in drug trafficking due to the DEA investigating dead dealers nearby. Gibbs encounters DEA Agent Kent Fuller, who also believes the Commander is a criminal. Gibbs is uncertain and finds cash with the dead traffickers.

Kate reports that there are no drugs on the Commander's boat. Gibbs mentions the money to Kate, and she offers to use her Secret Service experience to investigate it.

News reveals that Commander Farrell founded a nonprofit organization involving urban youth playing basketball. Due to the news portraying him as a drug dealer, the community center where the youth play is shut down. Gibbs talks to basketball-playing teenagers in the dark on the courts. The scene suggests that the youths don't believe Commander Farrell was involved in trafficking. One of the teenagers refuses to lie, even to get the lights turned on.

Kate discovers that the money is counterfeit because it reads "Untied States of America." Gibbs asks her to discreetly inquire about the counterfeiters.

The team aims to identify the boat that attacked the Commander's boat, bringing the head of the dead traffickers and a leader from a rival gang to a meeting in the autopsy room. Gibbs bluffs about the counterfeit money being linked to terrorism and threatens to use the Patriot Act. They provide the boat's location.

Gibbs and Tony search the boat, finding evidence of a shootout. Kate meets her Secret Service contact indiscreetly, leading to a problem with FBI Agent Fornell. Gibbs discovers that the notes belong to terrorists. Suddenly, a plot involving terrorists blowing up a power substation emerges. The team prevents a terrorist at a sensitive spot in the power grid and eliminates him before he causes destruction.

The episode ends with the reopening of the community center and local news clearing Sea Dog's name. Gibbs thanks the reporter he had lunch with earlier but leaves with a mysterious redhead.

I'm not particularly fond of this episode. The team members are unnecessarily aggressive. The mystery is confusing, and the sudden introduction of terrorists is intriguing. Most of the episode focuses on the drug trade, which doesn't interest me.

Two Abbys. However, things eventually get better.