NCIS In Review - Split Decision (Episode 1.21)

 NCIS In Review - Split Decision (Episode 1.21)

Once again, foolish youngsters. This time, they're recording a skateboarding stunt Jackass-style, which probably has already produced many Darwin Award winners. In this situation, our hapless individual flies through the air and lands near the body of a Marine, impaled on a small tree branch.

Episode:  1.21, Split Decision

Air Date: May 11, 2004

Victim: Sergeant Thomas Grimm

Once again, foolish youngsters. This time, they're recording a skateboarding stunt Jackass-style, which probably has already produced many Darwin Award winners. In this situation, our hapless individual flies through the air and lands near the body of a Marine, impaled on a small tree branch.

Honestly, this is a hilarious and unexpected opening, albeit a bit old-fashioned.

The story begins with Ducky talking to our deceased. The piece of wood is not the cause of the impalement; our friend had the wound before landing there. Ducky suspects it might have been caused by some kind of anti-tank weapon. Ducky believes the man died on the last day. Gibbs traces the trajectory of the shot and locates the ignition casing. Tony checks for warhead damage and finds a crater. Tony and Kate exchange some words. While it should be engaging, most of the time, it's annoying. The choice to have a middle-school brother and sister dynamic for them wasn't the best. It's forgivable, but keeping it for 21 episodes is less forgivable.

Ducky has a new assistant, someone who will stick around and grow into the job. But for now, we're back in the autopsy room, and Jimmy Palmer is an earnest individual who is literally recording everything Ducky says on a recorder. Who answers phone calls from their mother during an autopsy? Anyway, Ducky puts forth his theory that the deceased was a boxer, and that sums up the main plot details.

McGee!

The scene shifts to McGee working on Gibbs's computer. Tony is shocked, but McGee has permission. McGee is programming the "terrorist locator" on Gibbs's computer to cross-check facial recognition with British university records. This is based on Ducky's theory from a few episodes ago that the grammar, syntax, and references of our terrorist identify him as someone educated in the British Isles. Or, as Tony supposes, someone who watched a lot of Cary Grant movies, resulting in a Gibbs head-slap. Gibbs praises McGee's work and even jokes with him, like a proud father teasing Tony.

Kate identifies our victim as Sergeant Grimm, an armorer attached to the ammunition maintenance center in Quantico and in charge of inventory. He was also a boxer. The team visits the boxing gym to gather more information. Sergeant Grimm was a great fighter and a standout Marine, at least according to the Sergeant who runs the gym. Tony tries to get a list of Sergeant Grimm's opponents. Kate talks to a female boxer, Corporal McClain, who is unwilling to talk.

We go to Abby's lab. She finds a serial number on the ignition casing and manages to trace the murder weapon back to the arsenal in Quantico.

Tony and Kate check Sergeant Grimm's residence. The computer has been wiped. They take it back to Abby, who believes she can retrieve the data by reformatting the hard drive. She does so and finds pictures of heavy weapons in Sergeant Grimm's living room.

Kate checks Sergeant Grimm's phone records and discovers that he was calling a pawn shop. The former owner of the pawn shop is in prison, but his daughter now runs the business. Tony and Gibbs debate who will go undercover, and Tony argues that posing as a corrupt Marine right after Sergeant Grimm's death is too obvious. He chooses to infiltrate as a criminal. Gibbs agrees and asks Abby to create a fake background for him. Gibbs also questions Kate about her interview with Sergeant Grimm's commander, and Kate realizes her report is incomplete.

In the autopsy room, Ducky confronts Kate about her obsession with terrorists, and they have a brief argument about the use of the term "Grumpy Face" before cutting to another scene.

In Abby's lab, Tony gets his fake identity: Gus Bricker, with a dishonorable discharge, Leavenworth imprisonment for drugs, and now a civilian contractor with international experience. Agent Stone calls her buyer, and Gibbs makes arrangements to track them from a safe distance.

They meet with the buyers, who are paramilitary. Tony is nervous about Gibbs's disguise and repeatedly calls to confirm which weapons in their fake stock are loaded for demonstration purposes. Gibbs scolds him, telling him to relax. The buyers frisk Gibbs and Stone, confiscating their cellphones and jewelry, including Gibbs's sophisticated tracking watch. However, Gibbs apparently activated the watch secretly.

The buyers drive off with Gibbs and Stone. Gibbs starts provoking them, and eventually, one of the buyers points a gun at him and delivers a speech about the government.

Meanwhile, Kate is working on her own and goes to Camp Geiger, where Sergeant Grimm's weaponry was supposed to be delivered. She interviews Sergeant Rafael, who describes the weapons processing procedure. Kate asks if he inspected the delivery, and he confirms it. But she doesn't end the conversation there.

Back at headquarters, Gibbs informs Agent Stone that she's collaborating with NCIS on the case and instructs her to call her office to check in later. This raises the question of why NCIS needs Director Morrow if Gibbs can now negotiate with other agencies. They speculate whether Agent Stone's buyer managed to obtain photos of Sergeant Grimm on the internet and contacted him directly. Gibbs asks Tony to locate some weapons and instructs Stone to tell the buyer that she's bringing the supplier to the negotiation as a security measure. Gibbs plans to create a fake identity for his involvement in the operation.

Kate informs Gibbs that McGee verified Corporal McClain's alibi. She also has Sergeant Rafael in the interrogation room. Gibbs, busy, finally allows Kate to conduct the interrogation without an arrest warrant. She presses Sergeant Rafael, who initially denies speaking to Sergeant Grimm. When she threatens to arrest him, he admits to picking up the weapons with Sergeant Grimm, but Sergeant Grimm left him at a hotel for a conjugal visit with his boyfriend, who was deploying to Iraq the next day. Sergeant Grimm completed the delivery alone.

Under pressure at the pawn shop, Tony acts naturally and uses his charm while the shop owner checks his background. His fake history holds up, and they plan to arrest her, but she pulls out a gun.

Six Abby´s