Donna Kauffman on 'NCIS': Bad-boy McGee is so hot right now

We're facing one last mini-break next week before the last three episodes of the season air back-to-back. So, the question is, do we start to set up the Big Season Finale tonight? Or do we get a little more fun and frivolity before the proverbial, uh, stuff hits the fan? I hear tonight's ep involves a trip to Afghanistan, so I'm guessing playtime is over.

But first, we're going to open the show on a nice, bucolic neighborhood scene, including the white picket fence, as our young male jogger heads up the garden path to his front door, huffing and puffing. From the haircut, he's military, but turns out he doesn't live there. He rings the bell, no answer, and is pretty snarky to his jogging buddy inside. He hears a crash, sees through the window blinds that his buddy, tied to a chair, has fallen to the floor in a bloody and apparently dead mess. He barges in, gets a bat to the back of the head for his heroic efforts. He grapples with the ski-masked assailant and earns a knife to the side for that. Talk about no good deed. Assailant gets away as our would-be hero stumbles to the floor next to the sightless eyes of his buddy.

Welcome to NCIS, gang! Cue amazing theme song and opening credits!

We shift to the Bullpen of Orangey Goodness with McGee and Bishop as she congratulates him for being chosen as the new "Face of NCIS." This came, apparently, from his short stint pretending he was Senior's modeling son. Tony comes in on this convo, modeling his own new suit, tailored by a clothier to the infamous Rat Pack, and is none too thrilled with McGee's achievement. I recall, lo those many seasons ago, when Mr. DiNozzo was up for the same honor, only to get replaced by Gibbs. So, yeah, this stings. Helped none at all by Bishop pointing out he wasn't even up for the gig this time. McGee adds that the agency is looking for a younger, more techno-savvy vibe. The scene is cut short as it always is by Gibbs announcing the dead Marine.

At the crime scene, Ducky says the Dead Captain's stab wounds were excessive even by Jack the Ripper standards. He was tied in such a way that any attempt to free himself tightened the ropes around his neck. Recent time of death, no rigor. Where is our stabbed jogging buddy? McGee answers that, revealing our stabbed Gunny is with the EMTs. We shift to Tony chatting up a neighbor who our assailant bodily ran into on his speedy exit. Neighbor complains that kids have no respect for folks his age, nodding to Tony as if he would understand. Ah. So that's how this is going to go. Heh. He says the guy had no ski mask on, but was holding a knit cap. Young 20s, fit, dark hair and Middle Eastern.

We shift to Gibbs with our Gunny, who is wrapped and taped, and clearly feeling the effects of a knife to the side. He tells Gibbs he and Dead Captain ran every morning in prep for the Marine marathon as he (sadly for us) puts his shirt back on. He tells Gibbs he did two tours in Afghanistan with DC and feels responsible for letting the killer get away. Gibbs tells him they'll get the guy.

We next see Gibbs striding into Abby Lab, that, this week, is all calming music and dim lighting, hot tea being made. Gibbs wants to know if she's OK. Ultra serene, she hands him tea she made specially for him from Ducky's private stash, explaining it's calming properties. Emphasis on the calming. Ruh roh. He declines, she sighs, and we learn one of the prints from the scene belonged to a 21-year-old Afghani man with ties to the Taliban. He was put on the watch list in 2011, but went off grid after that. So she wants to know how he got into the U.S. Gibbs is all, he's already here, we need to find him. Fade to black and white.

Back from commercial, we find McGee standing next to a life-size cutout of himself, shades on, badge thrust forward, in every way not remotely McGee-like. Bishop and Palmer gush over his bad-boy perfect proportions while Tony pretends to pay attention not at all. He barks at them to get back to work, prompting Palmer to compare him to Gibbs, saying all he needs is a dated wardrobe and symmetrically challenged haircut, and … yeah, we all know where Gibbs is right now, don't we? Gibbs stares down McGee's cutout for an inordinately long time, but says nothing, then turns to the Screen of All Knowing for the update. McGee shares that our Dead Captain was well decorated, highly thought of, as Gibbs keeps getting sidetracked by the cutout. Much to Tony's delight. Heh. DC has been back eight months, assigned as a new candidate trainer to Quantico, no access to high-level security information.

We switch to an update on Taliban Murderer Guy, who was initially put on the watch list when he and his brother were caught up in a DNA sweep of a Taliban gathering place in Kandahar. His brother is 27 and has taken credit for over a hundred deaths. Gibbs sends Bishop to get their CIA files and sends Tony and McGee to talk to Gunny, who has been released from the hospital after his Gibbs-ordered follow-up, find out if there is any connection with our Taliban Bros. Gibbs takes a call from Ducky, turns to leave, then turns back to McGee and says, "Bad-boy look works for you." HA! And the look on Tony's face? Double HA!

Down in Ducky's Digs, we learn DC was stabbed seven times, all deliberately placed to inflict the most pain while not actually killing him. He suspects the final death blow came because of Gunny's unfortunate arrival and that he otherwise wasn't done torturing him. We switch to McGee and Tony rapping on the unanswered door of our Taliban Bro's digs, with Tony giving McGee grief for the bad-boy posturing he's doing. And, yeah, I get tired of the One Degree of McGee, as I call it. I am more enthusiastic about the grief the rest of them give him for it, however, so I forgive. For now. Also? Zoolander references are always welcome. Haven't you heard? They're so hot right now.

As the two bicker, TB shows up, sees them and flees, sending Tony in a hot pursuit that ends up landing him in a dumpster. A very full one. In his pricey Rat Pack tailored suit. McGee makes the far more manly take-down at gun-point. He finds a knife on our TB, and off to interrogation we go.

We have TB across the table from Tony and McGee, and finding the stench from Tony's suit almost more than he can bear. Which says a lot considering his torturing skill set. A point Tony makes to him. Great minds. TB claims he has no idea what they mean, and they counter with finding his prints at the scene and the murder weapon on his person. They flash some photos of his brother's crimes, which TB admits are heinous, but are also not his. He claims innocence to this, too. When asked how he got into the U.S., he is all done talking. Gibbs is behind the glass and exits to meet up with Bishop, who has gone over their CIA files and doesn't think TB is actually a killer, or even a T(aliban.) Just a brother. She learned that the Taliban killed their parents years earlier and thinks they took them in as orphans and trained/brainwashed them. She tells him Older Brother embraced the cause, rose in the ranks. Not Younger Bro, who she thinks escaped to the U.S. to get away from them and is in hiding from them to save his own life.

Enter Abby, stage right, all five-Gibbs, with the news that the knife found on Younger Bro was not the murder weapon. However, there were other prints on the handle that belonged to Gunny — who scoops Abby's thunder as he enters the bullpen and supplies that bit of news. He also reveals he knows Younger Bro, and that it was him and DC who sneaked YB into the U.S. Gibbs is all, "You snuck a suspected terrorist onto American soil?" Gunny responds that YB is no terrorist, that he's on their side. Fade to black and white.

Back from commercial, we're watching tape of Gunny and DC as they hit a landmine, then see Younger Bro come and rescue them and keep watch until their backup came. Gunny's unit used YB as a translator the rest of their tour. Gunny tells them YB put his life on the line daily for them. They sneaked him to the U.S. because when locals are known to work with the U.S. military there, they become targets, so they kept him under wraps. He admits to all he's done and the laws he broke in doing what he did, but that doesn't answer the question of who killed DC. Gunny wants to see YB before they haul him off to face whatever is in store for him, as he has something DC wanted him to pass on to him.

We shift to the park where Tony and Bishop await a meeting with an NSA agent who helped them in a previous case. Tony recalls her as being "sassy." I recall her immediately, and she and Tony fall seamlessly into their James Bond/movie banter. She comes bearing a handout gotten from one of her Afghani informants showing a photo of YB with DC, and a call from Older Bro to hunt down Younger Bro as a traitor. Perhaps that was what they were trying to torture out of DC, find out where YB was. And he didn't give him up. A life for a life. Bishop goes off to call Gibbs to let him know of the threat to YB, while Tony asks NSA Gal her thoughts on the McGee "Face of NCIS" brochure . She's all, "Mama mia," much to Tony's dismay. I'm with Tony. I don't get it, either.

Back at HQ, we have the meeting between YB and Gunny, with Gibbs along. They tell YB what's up, and Gunny tells him he's told Gibbs their story. YB tells them that it wasn't the Taliban who killed their parents, that Older Bro did it, that he was already on their side. Yikes. He tried to get his brother away from them, but no luck. YB helped the Marines as a way to fight back against what his brother and the Taliban were doing to his country. Gunny gives DC's dog tags to YB, and YB says that DC was more a brother to him than his real brother ever was. A call from Director Vance brings Gibbs up to his office, where he learns that an envoy was ambushed in Afghanistan and a Marine taken hostage. He shows a video of their demands, which, of course, includes the return of Younger Bro to Older Bro in 48 hours or the hostage dies. I think the hostage dies either way, but maybe that's just me. Vance says they're trying to locate Older Bro, but at the same time needs Gibbs to coordinate Younger Bro's transfer. An angry Gibbs wants to know when the U.S. started to give in to terrorist demands. Vance doesn't like it, but a Marine's life is on the line. So is YB's, Gibbs replies. Fade to black and white.

Off we go to Afghanistan! We come back from commercial to Gibbs, Bishop and YB on a military transport. While Gibbs gets some shut-eye, YB and Bishop chat. He says no more bloodshed on his behalf, that if giving himself to his brother for certain death frees the Marine, then that's how it should be done. Bishop counters that all the lives taken, on all sides of the war, matter equally, that they'll find a way to protect him. He asks where she was assigned overseas (as an NSA analyst), and she tells him Afghanistan and Pakistan, for 18 months. He says she's seen it up close then and, from her solemn expression, wants to know who she lost. She tells him it was a co-worker and that she deals with it by being good at what she does. He tells her it's what they don't say that weighs the most, and hopes she finds the answers she's looking for. We see Gibbs open his eyes and watch her bowed head from across the transport.

Back in Abby Lab, a Kaf-Pow-laden Abs tells McGee that she figured out the kind of knife that killed DC. A special model made only for military and defense use. In Afghanistan, Gibbs, Bishop and YB arrive at the American base and YB is met with hugs of reunion joy from other Marines. A far cry from the reunion that awaits him with his brother. The unit commander hasn't found the location of Older Bro as yet, but is sure he'll make contact as the clock ticks down. He says they are turning over YB to get their man back, no other recourse. Gibbs says they're not waiting for OB to make the next move.

It's late at night back at HQ while McGee and Tony narrow down who could have that knife. They've winnowed it down to 800. They're tired and bickery. McGee says he's narrowing the list further by focusing on those with torture training. Tony smiles as the light bulb goes off. He says it's about DC's wounds, where he was stabbed. He enthusiastically demonstrates with the model knife Abby had … on McGee's life-size cutout. HA! He then surmises that given YB's prints were at DC's house, it's a good bet that the real killer knew that, hence the torture. So perhaps the eye witness who said the killer crashed into him as he ran away is actually the killer himself, and sent NCIS down the wrong path by deliberately giving them YB's stats, so he could wait for them to track YB down for him. McGee looks up the neighbor's info in the system and turns out he's a former Army guy, who left to go work for a private security company that had such a bad rep it was forced to shut down a year prior. One of the places he worked? Afghanistan.

We shift to interrogation where Friendly Neighborhood Killer Guy tries to smarm his way out of their little chat, but they let him know they found the murder weapon at his home. Tony also lets him know he put in a word with a friend at ATF who can't wait to talk to him. "She's pretty tough. Have a good time with that." Go, Agent Zoe! Smug Neighbor responds that he's a patriot, taking out a terrorist. Tony counters that he wasn't killing a terrorist, but rather working for one. SN claims to have never heard of OB. Show of hands on who else wishes Gibbs was there to wipe the smug off that guy's face. ME! Tony and McGee do a pretty decent job of it, revealing they uncovered the e-mail exchange between SN and OB, and the hefty sum he was paid for his intel on YB. When the smug still doesn't disappear, Tony takes it in his own hands, literally, getting all up in Smug's face. Now that? Is the bad boy who should be on the cover of the brochure. And so dapper in that suit, too. Smug counters that the hostage is dead, and so is anyone who tries to stop him, and, yeah, I'd still like a good Gibbs scene with the guy.

In Afghanistan, a rather ruggedly attired Gibbs (the epitome of actual bad boy) thinks OB is close to the unit YB befriended, that he'd want to make it personal. Bishop says that he'd need the OK from the head of his group to be operating outside their usual base of operations. Bishop thinks he'd pick a village big enough to avoid a U.S. airstrike, but small enough to control. They are interrupted by a soldier alerting them to a situation. A military vehicle left the base unauthorized and they determined it was YB. He left DC's dog tags behind. Gibbs knows he's going to turn himself over to OB. Fade to black and white.

We return to Gibbs, Bishop, the commander and crew looking over a burned-out military vehicle. The same one YB took. The vehicle was bombed with a grenade, no body inside, so they took YB. Bishop finds YB's vest with a bullet hole in it. Back in MTAC, Tony and McGee are showing Vance a video of a Taliban safe house in Kabul that had no heat signatures in the last scan, but the most recent one, taken minutes earlier, shows five. With more posted along the road leading out of the village. They think it's where OB has the Marine hostage. Vance has them send the coordinates to Gibbs. Back at the base, the unit commander wants to strike, but Gibbs knows they will kill the Marine hostage the moment the military advances, so he counters with sending in one vehicle. Not with him, as they'd know he was a Marine, but with Bishop. Oh, really? She's just as surprised. Horrified, really. Not at risking her own life, but that she's not trained properly and will likely cost them all their lives. Gibbs tells her he's got her back, to stop hiding behind the familiar, that she's better than that. She thinks him teaching her some lesson is going to have a deadly cost, but he's not giving her the chance to back down. She realizes he's read her NSA file, knows about her interpreter getting killed, and brought her there to give her the chance to put things right in her own mind. She tells him she pulled out back then, and worked from D.C. instead. "But you're here now," he counters.

Back in MTAC, McGee, Tony and Vance watch Bishop's mission, wishing they were there to back them up. Bishop pulls in, driving a humanitarian aid vehicle. Tells the man who greets her at gunpoint that she's a doctor. He observes she's unarmed and radios in, presumably to OB, what the situation is. He's told to "deal with it." As he brings a bead on a glassy-eyed Bishop, gun to her face, we switch to inside where OB greets his shot and looking-worse-for-wear YB. Tough family reunion. OB tells YB that the bullet went straight through his shoulder, that he lost a lot of blood, but that he kept him from dying. YB asks why, since OB wants him dead. OB presses a finger in the bullet wound — nice guy — and tells YB he's not going to die from a bullet wound, but from OB's own hands. And you think you have a tough family! YB sees the Marine hostage at the other end of the room and wants to know if he is dead. OB mocks him for being soft, caring about others. YB asks him to honor his word, take his life for the Marine's, but is mocked again by OB, who wants to know what kind of honor he could know about, given his betrayal and defection. He chokes YB, telling him he'll never be like his brother Marines, but he'll die like one.

A knock on the door interrupts OB as the "doctor" is shoved inside. OB is surprised, thought she was "dealt with" and wants to know what the problem is as the guy with the gun enters the room behind her. Only I suspect under all those wraps that guy-with-gun is now Gibbs-with-gun.

A close-up of those baby blues proves that. A round of gunfire outside has OB bringing his gun up. Gibbs takes him down, then Bishop takes down the gunman who enters. Marines fill the place, and it's over almost before it begins. The Marine hostage and YB are both safe. YB exits with the help of two soldiers, looking at his brother, dead on the floor, as he leaves. Bishop is looking around in horror as Gibbs comes over to her. Her gaze lands on the man she shot. Gibbs gently escorts her out.

We shift back to the bullpen as Tony is paying Palmer a stack of twenties, for …? Something about Palmer's stitching expertise (whereupon we are treated to another Palmer story, complete with the visual of Palmer sewing clothes for his dolls by the age of 5. He says he was born to stitch. Indeed, Palmer. Indeed.) We see a badly taped and bandaged-up McGee cutout behind Tony as McGee comes in. Tony apologizes for the destruction and for not taking the news of McGee's claim to fame better than he did, given their friendship, and tells McGee he's proud of him. McGee thanks him for the sincere apology, but wants to know why he's paying Palmer for stitching something. Tony explains that after his attempt to put Agent McFrankenstein back together — heh — Palmer is going to do a better job ($200 worth!) to put him back together with a technique called invisible stitching. "So hot right now," adds Palmer, and I forgive him even the vaguest attempt at a Zoolander reference. McGee is sincerely touched by the effort and grabs his gear to head home for the night as a contrite Tony says, "Friendship. It's important." Which is when McGee turns and says, essentially, "April fool's!" That the whole thing was a hoax, and Palmer was in on it, too. A confused Tony notes that April 1st was weeks ago, and they say that's when they dreamed it up, just took time to execute. They exit stage elevator. Along with Tony's $200. Once the doors close, Tony puts his arm around Agent McFrankenstein and smiles. "I've taught them well."

Back in Afghanistan, a bandaged YB and Bishop load her gear on a truck, as she tells YB that what he did was brave. Stupid, but brave. He counters he could say the same thing for what she and Gibbs did. She expresses her sorrow for his brother's death and he says he hopes, when they meet on the other side, he sees the boy his brother once was. Bishop gives him back DC's dog tags. YB says DC was a good man, and she tells him she's sure DC saw the same in him. He thanks her, she tells him to call her Ellie, that her friends call her Ellie. They hug, as Gibbs comes up and hustles them into the truck. YB asks Gibbs to extend his thanks to those back in the States, and he's all, "I'm not your messenger boy, tell them yourself," and continues hustling them to the truck. Clearly, YB thought he would have to stay in Afghanistan. Bishop explains she sent files regarding YB to SecNav, and after reading over the 50-plus Marine statements given on his behalf, she endorsed his visa application. He's overwhelmed that he can go back and live in the States. Gibbs, who, seriously, just keeps looking more badass every time we see him, tells YB not to get too happy too quickly. He's been assigned to be a translator in D.C. while his visa application is processed, right at NCIS. Non-negotiable. All smiles, YB tells them he thinks he can handle that. "Good," says Gibbs, as he slaps a military bullet-proof vest in YB's arms. "Let's go home." Fade to black and white.

Nice episode! Turned out to be a feel-good one after all. What awaits us after the break? What will the last three episodes bring? Well, I don't know about you, but I can't wait to find out!

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For the rest of you, hey, turn that frown upside down! You still have a chance! I have another copy of Sea Glass Sunrise up for grabs, and since we have two long weeks to wait, I'll sweeten the pot and add in a Sea Glass Sunrise canvas book tote! I know! You want in? Drop me an e-mail to dmkauffman1@gmail.com with "Second chance for Sea Glass Sunrise? AND a book tote? I'm SO in!" in the subject line. I'll announce the winner in my next recap.

And if you'd like a big ol' Sea Glass Sunrise postcard sent your way, add your address to the body of the e-mail and I'll shoot one out to you. It's a beautiful cover. I can't wait until you all can get a gander at the rest of it! In the meantime, come keep me company as we wile away the days until the next episode, over at my Facebook Fan Page. More chances to win stuff there, too! Until next time …