Donna Kauffman recaps 'NCIS': Season finale leaves us hanging

We've arrived at the end. Twentym-three episodes of special agent goodness have brought us to this, the finale of season 12. The past two episodes have been an edge-of-your-seater roller-coaster ride, and I wouldn't recommend taking lifting up the safety bar quite yet.

When last we met, Special (and Adorable) Agent Ned Dorneget was dispatched by the child-training terrorist cell The Calling, and Dornie's CIA Super Mama (as played by the always excellent Mimi Rogers) arrived on the scene looking for some payback.

Let's see how she goes about getting some, shall we?

Well, Mama Mimi doesn't waste any time. We open with her in what looks like a trailer park house, putting the kettle on, popping some music in the CD player … and getting information out of our chatroom recruiter and S Mine bomber Sadiq Samar, regarding the whereabouts of the kid, Luke. The one who lost his parents last week. I thought he was in NCIS custody? Sadiq tells her that The Calling has taken Luke back to Iraq. Sadiq might have been under a little duress at the time. And I'm pretty sure that's going to leave a mark.

Cue awesome opening theme song and credits!

We shift to HQ, 36 hours earlier …

Mama Mimi is in Vance's office, asking to be read in on the case. I'm momentarily distracted by the very fine suit Gibbs has on, which means they've only just returned from the funeral as this scene begins. She calmly reminds Vance that her son was her only remaining family, and Gibbs tells her that he doesn't think it's a good idea for her to be directly involved in the case. She slightly less calmly reminds Gibbs that she specializes in Middle Eastern cyberops, that the case is in her area of expertise.

Vance tells her that Ned didn't talk about his family and hadn't discussed his mother or her vaunted career. She says that doesn't surprise her, that Ned would have wanted to make his own way. His father was killed in the line of duty when he was a kid and she was always away, so he was raised by a grandmother. She tells Gibbs that Ned spoke often of him, his leadership, his rules. Gibbs asked if he mentioned Rule No. 10: Never get personally involved in a case. Looking more emotional, she tells him that he was a parent, he lost a child, he should understand. She needs it, and Ned deserves the help she can give. "Please," she says.

We shift to the Special Agent Bullpen of Orangey Goodness and see that this episode continues the Peter Pan references from last week, with the title Neverland. After very brief Tony banter, appropriate given the gravity of the storyline, we shift to McGee and the Screen of All Knowing, as he tries to understand the hierarchy of The Calling. Sadiq's driver's license is on screen as they remind us that he killed our Navy ensign from two episodes back, that set this whole thing into motion. Bishop adds that Rousseau — one of the procurers of the S Mines used in the explosion that took Dornie's life in Cairo — has been brought to NCIS and has confessed to The Calling's connection to that bombing. She also reveals that Sadiq has been tied to the bomb fragments in Cairo. They review facts we already know, ending with Tony saying he's glad that McGee is back in the bullpen. The very finely suited Gibbs enters with Mama Mimi, who garners respects from Bishop, before turning to McGee. He expresses regret for going off to interrogate Rousseau and leaving Ned to handle things in Cairo, but Mama Mimi (MM) tells him that he did his job, they all did, and to never question that. She turns to Tony, and they share Ned sentiments, then Gibbs takes a call. (Seriously, can we find more reasons to put that man in a suit, Show? Just sayin'.) The call is from Ducky, calling MM and Gibbs down to see Dornie's body.

Down in Ducky's Digs, he warns MM that the bomb didn't exactly leave her son in great shape, but she remains stoic and says she needs to see her son. She gets teary, tells Dornie she's proud of him, while Gibbs has another round with the shimmering people from last week's ep, as we hear the afterlife voice of Mike Franks. (Aside: Last week on the tarmac, when I referred to the folks shimmering on the tarmac along with the departed Dornie, I initially thought they were the agents we lost, like Mike Franks, Kate and Jenny Shepard, but when doing a quick glance rewind, I really didn't think they looked totally familiar, so I didn't name names. I wanted to dig deeper, figure it out for sure, but the recap turnaround time is a tight one, and I forgot to go back and look. I'm glad it looks like we'll get more clarification on that tonight.) Franks is irascible as always, telling Gibbs they can't keep losing agents on his watch. We're pulled back to the scene when MM asks Ducky to see the shrapnel. He demures, but Gibbs directs him to do so, as Palmer does his typically awkward-Jimmy best to assure MM that they're all doing whatever it takes to catch the bombers. Ducky starts to remove shrapnel from Dornie (sorry, but ew!), and they realize it's a titanium-cased bearing, which isn't typical. Ducky comments that the world's biggest titanium supplier is Russia, prompting MM to say they can track down the ordinance and she still has a few Russian contacts. She looks to Gibbs. "You?" He nods. "I know a guy." Fade to black and white.

Back from commercial, we're back in the bullpen. They have tracked down the blond guy who triggered the bomb in Cairo. And they have footage of Sadiq in Cairo earlier, apparently doing preliminary recon for the bombing. He used an alias to get on a cruise ship that docked back in Virginia, just before the ensign was killed. Gibbs dispatches Bishop to track down Sadiq, then tells Tony and McGee that he heard from Pavlenko. He thinks the titanium was imported from a U.S. aerospace company called Bianca, purchased by a shell company, signed for by Roger Dietz. Tony and McGee go off to find out more about that guy, as Gibbs meets up with Luke in the park.

He asks how the kid is doing, but the kid is just silent, earphones plugged in. Gibbs unplugs one of them, tells him he won't pretend to know how he's feeling, and there's what, to me, appears to be an incongruous smile on his face. The kid just lost both of his parents, who he not only saw lying in his home shot dead, but knows he's directly responsible for them being that way. He was already a messed-up kid, but I'm not sure any therapy can get him past this. Luke just asks Gibbs what happens to him now. He says they're reaching out to his family, and Luke responds that he's sure they're just lining up to take on an adopted Middle Eastern kid. Gibbs says it doesn't matter where he's from, that family is family. Luke tells him that people are dead because of him. Gibbs tells him he didn't kill anybody, and is trying to help now, which counts. He says an agent is dead, and The Calling is responsible. Gibbs nods. He looks at Gibbs and says, "What if I could show you exactly who killed my parents?"

Then we shift to Abby Lab, with Abby and her stuffed giraffe, Safari Sandy, as another plushie joins the Bert the Hippo ranks. Turns out, Sandy is a NannyCam that Luke's parents had due to a suspected sticky-fingered maid. It's on a motion sensor and sends whatever video it captures to an SD card, which she plays. She tells Gibbs it captured the killer and the murders, then goes and hugs Sandy while Gibbs watches and we listen. But we don't get to see who killed them, even though Abby says the cam tape clearly shows them.

Up in the conference room, MM is looking at a photo of her and Dornie that was on his desk, as Luke comes in to get his homework. He apologizes for intruding, but MM stops him from leaving, and they have a little chat. He asks about her son, knows he's the dead agent, and shares that he feels responsible for Dornie's death as well as his parents' deaths. MM echoes Gibbs on that score, that Luke didn't kill anyone, and Luke replies that he didn't do anything to help stop them. MM then asks him to tell her about his friends. He bristles, says they're not his friends, and a little grit enters her expression as she invites Luke to help her find them.

We move to an airplane hangar as a Roger Dietz explains to Tony and Bishop about the titanium-covered bearings. He explains all the reasons titanium is sought after as a casing for the bearings used in airplane landing gear, then Tony tells him how a bushel of his bearings ended up in S Mines used to bomb the hotel in Cairo. Roger is all, "I don't know nothing about no S Mines," or words to that effect, but it's clear as he gets all bobble-handed with the ball bearings that he's all over it. He tells Tony he can search his records, but he won't find anything, and Tony says, "Are you calling my bluff, Roger? Because that would take big brass ones." Heh.

We move to Gibbs in interrogation with Rousseau, showing him the ball bearings, where they came from and who they were sold to. "This clown," Gibbs says, tossing a photo of Sadiq on the table. We learn it was Sadiq who killed Luke's parents as Gibbs adds their names to the people Sadiq has killed. Rousseau calls Luke a "misguided young man." Then adds, "Pity. He'll find his way." Gibbs shows him a photo of the blond bomber. Rousseau claims he's never seen him before. Gibbs asks where he can find him and Rousseau replies, "Second star to the right and straight on till morning." Gibbs asks him why they use kids. Rousseau says, "Why do fish swim?" Then says that it's the same reason disenfranchised children will always rise up to find their purpose. "They must. It's simply inevitable." Shimmering Franks returns to goad Gibbs into breaking the smug son of a—bomber, and Gibbs comes out of his seat, leans across the desk and quietly demands one name. Rousseau merely reflects on the confusion of time zones and wonders what the time is in Arizona. He smiles and says he thinks they've missed the afternoon tour. So creepy. Gibbs' phone rings. It's McGee, telling him that two more S Mines blew up at the Grand Canyon. Rousseau's smile simply grows as Gibbs' expression grows more flinty. Show of hands on who would love to see Gibbs just as calmly blow his head off? ME! Fade to black and white.

We come back to Vance, MM and Gibbs watching the news as the reporter is saying they're still trying to track down who is responsible. MM wonders why a national park? Why in the middle of nowhere? We learn that one park ranger is dead, a few injured hikers, but five minutes later two tour buses would have unloaded right where the mines blew. Bishop finds a number for Sadiq on Roger's cellphone. They track it to a burner phone dumped near a college. MM says it makes sense for the bright young engineer Sadiq is to hide in plain sight on a college campus. Battery was still functioning, so it was likely dumped recently. Gibbs sends Bishop off to keep tracking. McGee reports that Dornie had learned that all the kids Sadiq recruited were sent the same techno industrial music tracks, but he hadn't had time to follow the lead. Vance tells him to keep working on it, but with headphones on. Heh. MM comments that Luke listens to music, so maybe they should see what he has on his playlist and if that can help them.

We shift to the college campus where a sweet young coed is wondering about Tony's "search and seizure" techniques. Bishop laughs, thinking he's kidding. Yeah. No. They're having no luck finding anyone who knows or has seen Sadiq, and Tony is just about to throw in the towel when a young man who looks like a prime Sadiq candidate comes jogging up the steps. Too young to be a college student, he doesn't do too well under questioning, and when they show him a picture of Sadiq, he cuts and runs, gets away on a moped.

We shift to the diner with MM, Gibbs and Luke. Luke isn't eating, MM talks about ice cream, Gibbs asks Luke his favorite flavor. Shimmering Franks is back, essentially telling Gibbs not to be fooled by Luke's recent recanting of his terrorist desires just because he's a kid. Luke plugs the headphones in, prompting MM to say they used to read books and now you can listen to them. He retorts that it's just music. She keeps on, saying she has music, too. "Dylan, Stones. Jay-Z." With a little disgust, Luke plays right into her trap, says his isn't that kind of music. She asks to listen, but Luke is all done being at the diner. Franks prompts Gibbs to stop coddling the kid, to press him, but when Luke asks to go back to Gibbs' house, they get up to go. As Luke heads out, MM pauses Gibbs and tells him Luke is playing him, and he's letting him get away with it. Gibbs says nothing, but pauses by shimmering Franks, who says, "At least you didn't forget Rule 36." (If you feel like you're being played, you probably are.")

We cut to the kid who ran from Bishop and Tony, pounding on the door to an RV, calling Sadiq's name. Sadiq opens the door, gun pointed out, reminds the kid he's only supposed to come at night. When the kid tells him, "They're looking for you," he pulls the kid into the RV. Sadiq is concerned that Luke has become problematic. The kid mentions how they're all going to leave for Iraq soon, so they can get Luke and all go together. Sadiq tells the kid to find Luke and convince him that "his family needs him."

In Abby Lab, she's listening to the techno music and has figured out that the bass line is actually a sort of code, like Morse code. The Calling is using the music to tell the kids what they want them to do. Fade to black and white.

Back in the bullpen, McGee is starting to decipher the code. The first one being from the computer belonging to Bradley, the kid who blew himself up on the bus. "Navy woman is dead. Now prove what you can do." McGee hasn't been able to trace the music files back to the originator. Vance comes out to the railing above and wants to know where Luke is located. Gibbs replies that he's at his home with an agent and child services. Vance commands Gibbs, MM and McGee up to MTAC, ASAP. He has the Paris agent on the screen. Turns out, she and MM have worked together in the past, and she tells MM that Dornie saved her life the day the bomb went off, by getting her and others evacuated. She tells them that they intercepted a transmission from The Calling. It's a video game that you have to win to get the coded message. She says she was going to get Dornie to do it, but he spoke highly of McGee. "Elf Lord, we need your help." Heh.

We shift to the campus kid knocking on the door to Gibbs' house. He's all smiling, "I'm here to pick up Luke," as the family services woman tells him they can't go anywhere, and I wonder why on earth she'd be answering the door and not the agent. Luke spies the kid at the door as he comes down the steps inside the house. We shift to HQ and MM and Gibbs in the elevator. She goes philosophical, wondering as the world's landscape keeps changing, who they are really fighting anymore. Franks shows up again, wondering where she's been all his life. Heh. Then she asks Gibbs who he's trying to catch. He responds, "Bad guys. Still looking for the bad guy." The elevator doors open to Bishop, telling Gibbs that something has happened at his house.

We shift to his house where the family services woman is holding ice to her head. Bishop lets us know that the security detail took a hit to the head requiring 10 stitches. So at least that explains where he was. Bishop ties it to the campus kid as Gibbs heads out of the house. He passes MM, muttering, "Go ahead. Say it." She shakes her head. "No need." He leaves, she gets something incoming on her phone, but we shift to Vance's office before learning what that is. He's pouring Scotch and pours MM one as she comes in. He's been reading her background work with the CIA and mentions he didn't know how close she and her team had come to infiltrating the world of terrorist cells recruiting teens. She assures him her team isn't as close as they'd like to be. He says the CIA is afraid that working with NCIS will blow her cover for all the work she's done to infiltrate the cells, but she counters with the fact that finding Sadiq and keeping him from killing others is a worthy goal. She tells him the CIA thinks they know Sadiq's location and tells him she gets that he's handing down the CIA's party line to her, to not let NCIS get in the way of their op. She puts her drink down and heads to the door, reminding Vance if he blows the whistle on her helping them with their case, they lose any chance to get Sadiq and her son's killer. She says she's made her decision. As she leaves, we see Vance pick up his phone.

We shift to the morgue and Gibbs talking to Dornie, wondering about the world today, with terrorists talking to kids in their own bedrooms, with the parents right in the other room. Shimmering Franks comes in, bullies Gibbs some more, reminding him that kids have fought in wars since the dawn of time. Gibbs wants to know why Franks is there. He wants to know why he saw Franks, Pacci and Jenny out by the plane. (That answers that question.) He wants to know what they want. Franks counters with, "What do you want? People count on you. Always have." He wonders with as many as Gibbs has lost, how many has he saved? He looks at Dornie, says, "I haven't saved enough." Franks says, "What about yourself? Who's going to save you?" Gibbs sighs, but we cut to the trailer, where we started the night, before he can respond.

The kettle is whistling, and MM is calling Gibbs, saying she knows where they took Luke. There is a knock at the trailer door. She gets her gun, opens the door to find Gibbs on the other side. She smiles as he looks past her and sees Sadiq. "Want to come in?" Fade to black and white.

Back from commercial, Gibbs enters and jumps down MM's throat for using CIA intel for her own purposes. She says they have a joint case, and he tells her it's their case. Angry, she reminds him he watched Sadiq kill Luke's parents in cold blood, that he builds bombs, recruits children. Gibbs tells her he doesn't care about the CIA. He cares about the agent he lost. If she wants to be in on it, she does it the NCIS way. He turns to Sadiq, asks him why they took a kid in federal custody, and he says exactly because Luke was in custody. He knows all the players, can tell them a lot about the case they are building, and they will get it out of him. "And there's nothing you can do about it," Sadiq tells him. Gibbs steps closer to Sadiq, who leans back in fear.

We shift to HQ as McGee runs for the ringing phone. It's Gibbs telling McGee to look up Daniel Budd. Tony and Bishop come in as he hangs up. He tells them that MM and Gibbs just brought in Sadiq, prompting them to ask how they found him, and who is Daniel Budd? "The leader of The Calling," McGee tells them. We take a micro time leap as Daniel's face flashes on the Screen of All Knowing, with Bishop doing the honors, Tony next to her, McGee at his desk, and Gibbs and MM entering from the elevator. Daniel is the blond bomber. Wouldn't he have died in his own bomb blast? That looked to be a suicide mission, no? Or is this blond guy not the blond kid on the steps, the last person Dornie saw before the bombs went off? What we do know is Daniel is a British political activist and underground terrorist leader. Started as a London DJ, which explains the music. He surrounded himself with misguided youths, robbed from their parents, had some kidnapping charges against him. Bishop's NSA connections have discovered that Luke is already in Iraq, the private charter took off before they could shut travel down. Gibbs tells Tony to get his go-bag, that MM will arrange transport, plane leaves in an hour.

We shift to Zakho, Iraq, with MM, Gibbs and Tony on the ground. MM says her contacts saw a van unloading Westernized teens who were then taken to various locations. Tony sees a young girl in shoes that are clearly U.S. manufactured. Gibbs sends him to follow her. Back in HQ, Vance comes in to talk to Sadiq. He's happy to finally have someone important to talk to. Smug to the hilt, I'm still feeling a little bloodthirsty. They trade a little whose-is-bigger banter, with Sadiq smiling, Vance keeping his cool. Vance shows him the photos of the dead, prompting a response of "Do they come in wallet size?" from Sadiq, who tells him he's wasting his time. Vance switches to photos of Rousseau, who, he explains, is on his way to a supermax prison, and Daniel Budd. He wants Budd, but Sadiq says he'll never find him. Vance wants to know his next target. Sadiq leans forward and says, "Old stubborn men, sitting on benches their entire lives, get set in their ways. Age, Director. Age is the enemy of enlightened youth."

We switch back to Iraq, and Tony following the girl in American footwear. Gibbs sends Tony back, and he and MM take over as the girl heads into a busy marketplace. We shift back to HQ, with Abby, Bishop and Elf Lord arguing over how to win the video game so they can get the message. McGee wins, then the screen morphs into a layering of photos showing military bases, targets for The Calling, prompting Bishop to wonder if they have recruited the kids of military personnel, and if Luke is sending them to Gibbs' house. Vance comes in, shuts down any conversation McGee starts, asking him where the Supreme Court justices are on retreat. Old, stubborn men, sitting on benches. McGee tells him they're in the Appalachian Mountains. Vance orders him to lock it down, right now.

We move back to Iraq, as Gibbs makes contact with the young girl. She's not having any of his "it's not safe here," the brainwashing making her smug. Her earphones are in. Then Tony, who is across the crowded square, takes a call. He asks who it is, but we see the man on the other end, in a room overlooking the square. It's Daniel Budd. He wants to get acquainted, he says. Tony says he wants Luke, what does Daniel want. "To be heard. To be respected. Not to be handed your broken promises." Gibbs is trying to tell the young girl she has to go with him, but she's having none of that, as Daniel looks down on them from his window. Tony tells Daniel, "Welcome to the generation gap. Old habits die hard, Daniel." To which he says, "Or they just die."

Down in the marketplace, the young girl walks away. Gibbs' gaze shifts up, over her head. He sees the campus kid, who smiles and nods at him, as Daniel tells Tony, "The boy, Luke. I'm sorry for being the bearer of bad news, but these things are more complicated than they appear. Agent Gibbs will be so disappointed." Tony is scanning the buildings, trying to figure out where Daniel is. Gibbs is scanning the area, too. Then someone from behind him says, "Agent Gibbs?" And we know it's Luke. Gibbs turns, sees Luke standing there, as Daniel tells Tony, "But we must remember. They're only children." Luke has a gun. Gibbs reaches for his, but Luke shoots Gibbs in the leg before he can get his gun. Gibbs staggers, stares at him in shock. Luke shoots him again, left breast pocket. Gibbs falls. Tony looks over, starts to run toward them. Luke walks past Gibbs, lying in the dirt, as Gibbs looks up at him. Fade to black and white.

Then the most dreaded three words in a season finale flash on the screen:

To be continued …

Well … (insert unprintable words for a family publication here). Well played, Show. I don't have to like it, but well played. It's a relevant storyline given the world news, well drawn, and worthy of a season ender/beginner wraparound, but rrrrr.

So, as we all take a deep breath, and wonder how we're supposed to wait almost four months to find out what happens next, let's get to the one last bit of business we have to take care of here.

The NCIS gang might be done for the season, but we still have one last giveaway goodie to award. My new release, Sea Glass Sunrise, hits the stands in two weeks, but since we've grown so close and all, I thought I'd hand out a few advance copies, because that's what besties with connections do for each other, right? (Like, if you happen to have a connection to a small, South Pacific island getaway, I don't think it would be so wrong if you offered up a trade, right?) I have sincerely appreciated your enthusiasm for my "other" job, as well as all of your comments, criticisms, requests and generally gossip-sharing natures. You've made covering NCIS this season that much more gratifying. Consider yourselves hugged, fist-bumped and/or the recipient of a knowing smile. A specific one of you can also send me your snail mail address so I can send this signed copy your way. So, come on down, James Dodson!! Drop me a line at dmkauffman1@gmail.com and I'll get your book in the mail to you.

Don't be strangers this summer! Drop by my Facebook Fan Page for all the day-to-day jocularity, along with additional giveaways and such. Enjoy the sun, the summer reruns, and don't do anything I wouldn't do. (Which, you know, wide range, people. Wide. Range. But then, I'm a writer. I only take fictional risks. I can leap off tall buildings, conquer brave new worlds, always get my man, and never take off my bunny slippers. Seriously, it's a good gig if you can get it.) Whatever you end up doing for the next 16 or so weeks, just make sure you're back here with me come September for the season 13 premiere! Who knows what's in store next …