'NCIS' season 12: Donna Kauffman recaps episode 8

Will our stellar Season 12 continue with more murder, mayhem and a soupcon of romance this week? Let's find out!

We open with two young men and a young woman barreling down a dark road, radio blaring, doing the best friends bantering thing during which I'm thinking what you all are thinking, "Wait for it … wait for it … AND there it is!" This week "it" is … well, I don't know exactly. All we hear is a loud banging sound as something hits the car out of nowhere and sends it tumbling. What caused the collision remains to be seen. We get distorted images of what's happening, post crash, from the viewpoint of the car's occupants, one of whom is being dragged clear of the wreckage by someone else. We see a shadowy figure appearing to tie the ankles of one of the crash victims as he looks over and sees the driver still behind the wheel, apparently dead. We get a voice-over of "it's going to be okay," though we don't know who is saying it. We see the female crash victim struggling to breathe, and the guy who was dragged clear is reaching for her as both lay bloodied on the ground while someone in a black ball cap who is definitely not a passenger of the car kneels over her and preforms a tracheotomy to aid her breathing. All of this is shone in a hazy, middle-of-the-night, post-crash haze. And then our male passengers eyes start to roll up … and …

Cue awesome theme song and opening credits!

Well, that got my attention.

We open with Tony strolling into the Very Special Agent bullpen, where Bishop, McGee and Abby's Park Ranger Hottie confab about breakfast and about Hottie's ongoing relationship with Abby. Ah, so nice to get the soupcon as an appetizer, isn't it? Even as we know that Gibbs will be breaking up this little quorum any second … but no! They change it up. We find out that Abby and Hottie have hit the two-month mark in the relationship, and after Hottie departs, Tony and McGee make it clear that they know they've seen the last of that guy, much to Bishop's confusion. Ah, then in comes Gibbs and asks where Hottie's off to. Tony says, "Two months," and Gibbs shakes his head. "Copy that." Before Bishop can find out what two months has to do with anything, they're off to the scene of our car crash.

The driver, a Navy petty officer, did die, while the two passengers were taken to the hospital in critical condition. One witness account is of a black SUV speeding off after the crash, which happened on the road up the hill, where Tony verifies there was just one set of skid marks. McGee wonders why there are surgical gloves on the ground, and Jimmy also notes corn starch was used on a wound of the dead petty officer. They assume from the EMTs, which we learn took 20 minutes to arrive. A local police sergeant (shout-out to Fairfax County P.D.!) arrives on the scene in time to interrupt and say that his EMTs didn't do anything to the victims, that they were already bandaged when they arrived. When asked who did the bandaging, the sergeant points to a woman leaning against a patrol car 50 feet away. She claims she saw the SUV racing by, then came upon the crash and tried to help, but is now remaining silent until she gets an attorney. The sergeant goes on to make clear that the good Samaritan isn't a doctor, EMT or nurse and might have killed one of them by practicing medicine without a license, then surly's off to take her in to the station. Gibbs is not impressed. He notices the Navy canvas equipment bags on the ground by the bloody surgical gloves and barks, "Corpsman!" to the woman presently being put in the back of a squad car. She immediately turns to face the command, telling Gibbs all he needs to know. She's military, too.

Fade to black and white.

We come back to the Special Agent bullpen and the Screen of All Knowing. The petty officer was in the car with two high school friends. The corpsman who offered medical assistance is trained to operate in the field of battle, but when on home soil is not allowed, by law, to administer medical help, despite her military training. "Doesn't seem right," Bishop says, and we get the classic, "Yeah, you think?" response from Gibbs.

Down in Ducky's domain, I have to do the "avert eyes and type" so I don't have to look at the big ol' empty body cavity of our poor, departed petty officer. (Must we continue to pan back and forth over it? Really?) He died from a fence post to the carotid artery, and though the corpsman did her best to stop the external bleeding, there was nothing she could have done to stop the internal wound from bleeding him out.

Over at the hospital, Tony and Bishop are talking to the newly conscious male accident victim, who tells them they were hit in the back bumper by another vehicle and sent crashing through the fence and down the hill, but that he didn't see who hit the car since it was from behind. He then mentions his doctor told him he would have died had it not been for what the corpsman did to help him at the scene. He wants to thank her, and Tony tells him she's currently in jail.

We're back in the bullpen as Tony and McGee fill in Gibbs on the corpsman. She's a two-tour, decorated vet with multiple in-field procedures under her belt, currently working as a janitor for the D.C. school system. Tony reports that our Good Samaritan Corpsman did call 911 the moment she was at the scene of the crash, prompting Gibbs to say, "She knew she was going to get in trouble, but she did it anyway," with obvious pride in her heroic actions. He wants to question her and gets McGee to contact Fairfax P.D., only to find out she's being formally charged, prompting him to grab his badge and gun and head out, looking determined in that way only Gibbs can.

Oooh, this is going to be good. Look out, Fairfax P.D. Sarge, Gibbs is gonna get ya!

Next stop, the county jail as Gibbs is let into her cell. She's still waiting for her lawyer, but Gibbs sits and starts to talk to her anyway. Turns out, she's being harder on herself than the local P.D. She's upset that she wasn't able to do more for the petty officer, thinking she could have saved him. Gibbs asks her why she didn't run, why she stayed and took the hit on illegally practicing medicine. She admits she thought about it, but couldn't. She's trained to help, though she didn't see this as being her future. She tells him she's tried to get jobs in her field since leaving the military and is saving for medical school, only now she's sure no one would take her. She reveals that she has the same training as the Army and Air Force medics, only they leave the service with their EMT Basic certification, meaning they could legally have done what she did to save those kids, but she can't.

Gibbs is escorting the still-to-be-charged GSC out of the jail only to be stopped by the sergeant, who tells them that the female passenger — Mary — is out of surgery and may be paralyzed for life, possibly because she was moved by the corpsman, who rebuts by saying she couldn't just stand there and watch them die. This goes back and forth but ends with Gibbs saying they both want justice and they need GSC to get it, and that just because it wasn't legal for her to save two lives, doesn't mean they shouldn't fight for her rights anyway. Fade to black and white.

We return to Gibbs at his favorite hole-in-the-wall diner as he's met by a young woman who is there by his request. After another soupcon of romance in the form of flirtatious banter, we find out she's an attorney we've met before — former FBI special agent Carrie Clark — and Gibbs wants her to help GSC. She tells him they can't win, but he doesn't care. He knows she can get the charges reduced and it gives them a platform to try to right the legal wrong. We end with a little more flirty-flirty, then we're shoved directly to the battlefield, reliving some of GSC's tougher life moments as a medic.

GSC blinks out of the reverie, and back to Tony, who is helping take her statement down at HQ. She signs it as Gibbs enters and Tony tells him they should be getting her back to Fairfax before the traffic gets bad. Only Gibbs tells Tony she's staying at HQ. Tony starts to say, "But the U.S Attorney only granted us temporary…" then stops as he realizes Gibbs doesn't care, and shrugs, murmuring, "These aren't the droids you're looking for," before exiting the room. Heh.

Then Gibbs is taking GSC down to Ducky's Digs. I assume so he can prove to her, without doubt, that she did do everything she could for the petty officer, that he would have died anyway from the fencepost to the carotid. Ducky tells her she's not to blame, repeating advice he received in battle, which was essentially, "You didn't fire the shot, you're not to blame. You can't save everyone."

Next, we head down to the garage with Abby, who is trying to figure out whatever can be figured out about the collision that sent the car through the fence and down the hill. We have a little Who's on First-type back and forth with McGee, Bishop and Abby, then Tony pushes them to get on with it. Turns out, there was paint from the vehicle that collided with the wrecked vehicle, it was just the same color. Only, not exactly. Though the two colors look exactly the same, they have a different reflective color, so at least they have some trace evidence of the collision now. It's on old color and there are only five vehicles in the area with that color. Tony and Bishop head out with the list, leaving behind McGee, who is giving Abby the solemn face of understanding. He tells her he knows what she's thinking about doing (breaking up with Park Ranger Hottie) and that he thinks it's premature, to which Abby basically tells him to mind his own business. We also see Tony and Bishop peeking around the corner, listening in.

Moving on, we're at the first location of the owner of a car with the same old paint. Bishop goes from waxing rhapsodic over breakfast food in the beginning of the show to doing the same over axel grease and oil. "You're weird," McGee informs her, much to her complete lack of care. They enter the garage and the owner of the car — truck, in this case — has no issue with them looking at it. He keeps it locked up when he's not using it to haul his little race car. Truck owner guy asks Bishop if she knows anything about racing, and she tells him she grew up at the track with her three older brothers. "Where have you been all my life," he laughs. "Fighting crime and ridding the world of terror," McGee shoots back, scowling. Ha! They come around the corner to find the busted lock and the truck gone. He tells them to call the pub he was at the night before to back up his alibi.

We're back at the diner now with Gibbs. This time with GSC as his booth buddy. They are joined by lawyer Carrie who wants to help her. Back at the bullpen, Tony and Bishop come in and tell McGee that the truck owner's pub alibi panned out, much to McGee's dismay. Turns out, he's a hothead on the race course and fans have posted numerous clips of him fighting on the track. Oh, and his last name? Lancelotti. My editor would kill me if I used that in a book. Even jokingly. Here? It works. Turns out one of the videos shows him fighting with none other than the guy who survived the car accident.

Gibbs and Tony head to the hospital, but survivor guy, though agreeing Lancelotti is a hothead, also says he's basically a good guy, loyal. He talks about the accident the two had on the track, and when he describes the collision, it sounds a lot like how the car at the center of our little story here was also hit and sent flying.

On to another garage where the typecasting of misogynist garage dudes continues when the guy they ask about Lancelotti is already batting his sparkling baby blues Bishop's way. He eventually tells them he spoke to Lancelotti a few hours prior, who told Baby Blues he needed to go clear his head before heading out to parts unknown.

Then we hop back to HQ, where Tony and McGee are in the men's room, their simultaneous occupancy a setup by Bishop, who enters, telling them she needs to talk. "You know, the men in 'men's room' is more of a rule than a suggestion," Tony says. Bishop talks over him, wanting them to tell her about what they know about Abby and Hottie. There is a stare-down, then she reminds them she's former NSA and can track down all their dirty little secrets. Tony capitulates and tells her that while Gibbs has rules, Abby has … ideas, about relationships. McGee balks that it's a secret, which leads Bishop to ask how it is they know about it then. Tony opts to leave at that point, saying he'll guard the door. McGee then reveals he and Abby dated many moons previous, and during that time he found a list of items that her significant others had to accomplish by a certain timeframe in the relationship, or … vamoose. He shows her his phone with the list. Abby knows he has it but isn't happy about it. Bishop thinks they should talk to her about it, concerned that she's sabotaging her own relationships, prompting Tony to bust back into the room as he and McGee are all, "NO! No, no." Tony tells her to just let Abby be happy.

We head upstairs to where Carrie, Gibbs and GSC are having a chat, rehashing a little of what we already know regarding her lack of automatic EMT certification upon discharge from the Army. Carrie thinks if they can get the Navy and the families of the kids in the accident behind them, they have a better chance of being heard. The sergeant comes in then, and GSC heads out with McGee. Sarge is still all about arresting GSC, while Gibbs reminds him they have the actual killer to find. Sarge tells him he's got the wrong guy with Lancelotti, giving the guy his second personal voucher. Gibbs tells him that they also can't find the guy, which doesn't look good. He adds that they both want the same thing, he just wants to make sure they're punishing the right person.

They're interrupted by Bishop with news that the LoJack on Lancelotti's truck went off, and it's stationary, so Gibbs gets up to go follow that lead, and the sergeant goes with him. They find the truck, which has a big cab, hence the mistaken SUV identity by GSC. Gibbs and Bishop approach, guns drawn, only to find Lancelotti in the cab of his truck, gun in hand, bullet in head.

Back from commercial, we're in Ducky's Digs as he looks over Lancelotti. Turns out, the gunshot was administered to make it look like a suicide and also cover the blow to the head that actually killed him. Tony mentions seeing a wrench in the back of the truck and heads off to the Abby Lab. We head up to the conference room with Gibbs, Carrie, GSC and the petty officer's dad. He thanks GSC for stopping, for helping. She tells him his son was courageous to the end, telling her to help his friends instead of him. They're both teary- eyed and dang it, Show, you did it to me again! Sniffle! The father is told that she's been arrested, and he says it's not right, but Gibbs points out that, even so, it's the law. Carrie tells him GSC could use his help. "Anything she needs."

Back at Abby Lab, we find out the wrench is definitely the murder weapon, but she's still waiting on a match for the DNA of the killer. She wants to talk to Tony while they wait, but he is saved when the DNA match comes through. It's Sparkling Baby Blues, the other garage guy who worked with Lancelotti and hit on Bishop. Turns out, he was a former petty officer himself, dishonorably discharged when drugs were found in his bunk. Gibbs rounds up his posse and heads out for bear.

They block the road and Gibbs stands tall by the hood of his vehicle. When asked if it's a good idea to just stand there, Tony is all, "I like it. Very Clint Eastwood circa 1977." He asks how Gibbs knows Baby Blues will come this way. Gibbs lets that hint of a smile surface. "Small town. One road in. One road out." And sure enough, here he comes. Spikes on the road blow his tires and he ends up right next to them. Bishop gets the well-deserved line. "You're under arrest. Sweetheart."

Back at the bullpen, Bishop tells her other two cohorts that word from the hospital is that Mary's condition is improving and she'll likely walk again. She wants to know what happens to GSC now, and Tony says if there's anything that can be done to help her, Gibbs will find a way. He and Bishop head out as a dolled-up Abby comes around the corner. McGee tries to talk her into giving Hottie more time before her two-month break-up deadline, saying he can't be faulted for not doing things on a list he knows nothing about. She says that maybe when she meets the right guy, the two-month thing won't matter as much. McGee wants to know if the list applied when they were together. "I guess we'll never know," she says, eyes twinkling. Then Hottie comes in, looking more male cover model than ever, and hands her a dozen black roses. He asks her how everything is, and she beams as she takes the flowers. "Everything is great." And they head out arm in arm as McGee watches, smiling. So ... did he tip off Park Ranger Hottie about the list?

We shift to Gibbs' basement where GSC is pacing as they wait to hear from Carrie, presumably about something to do with her case, while we see Gibbs building what looks like a wooden hutch. Aw. Earlier in a Ducky's Digs segment, Jimmy mentioned his wife, Breena, wanting a hutch as another thing in her steady stream of late-pregnancy sudden passions. He puts the antsy GSC to work sanding. "You think this will help?" He glances back. "Helps me. Keep sanding." Heh. A knock on the basement door reveals lawyer Carrie who tells her she worked a deal with the county, which agreed to reduce the charges so she only has to perform community service. Stunned, she asks how, and apparently the parents of all three crash victims spoke with him and pleaded on her behalf. Gibbs tells her to go to school, get certified. "What can I do to thank you?" Gibbs goes to stand by Carrie and says, "We should be thanking you, doc." Smiles all around. Fade to black and white.

I like it when we get the Gibbs PSA episodes. And I like how the personal stories are moving forward this year and being spread around the cast a bit. Next week is our annual Thanksgiving episode, and we get to meet Mr. Bishop! And it appears he'll be involved in our holiday mystery. I know I'll be there.

Speaking of giving … last week I put the fabulous Sebastian York up for grabs. OK, OK, so all you get is his voice reading my books, but let me just say … the voice? SO worth it. He's narrated all three books in my Unholy Trinity series, and three of you will win an audio copy of your very own. Yes, that means you can listen to Sebastian aaaaaany time you want. Lucky dogs. Winner of The Black Sheep & The Princess: Susanne Cole; winner of The Black Sheep & The Hidden Beauty: WT MICH; winner of The Black Sheep & The English Rose: Kathleen O'Donnell! Drop me an e-mail to dmkauffman1@gmail.com and I'll send you the info for your audiobook download!

Now, of course it's hard to top that giveaway, but would I leave you hanging? Of course not! It's the holiday season, and if you're anything like me, you have your DVR set to snag at least a few of the Christmas movies, from the nostalgic to the latest on the Hallmark Movie Channel.

Just so happens I have a Christmas story of my own out on the shelves, and thought you might like a copy of your own to curl up with as the temperatures keep dropping. Also? There are cookie recipes included. I know! The perfect triumvirate: a cup of hot cocoa, freshly baked cookies and a Christmas romance. To win a copy of The Sugar Cookie Sweetheart Swap, drop me an e-mail to dmkauffman1@gmail.com with "Cookies, Cocoa, and Romance? I'm in!" in the subject line. And if you want to include a little dish about tonight's episode, please do! I'll announce the winner here in next week's recap!

Want to know more about any or all of my books, check out my Web page at www.donnakauffman.com.