Original Airdate: October 18, 2021
Following Gibbs’ departure, the team’s investigation of a Navy commander takes a turn when the body explodes.
Episode Recap
A trio of juvenile delinquents are brought out to the woods to camp for the weekend when their leader finds a man hidden in the ground.
At NCIS Headquarters, McGee returns from Alaska, when Torres accuses him of leaving Gibbs behind. While they argue, now ex-FBI Agent Parker appears and announces he has declined Vance’s offer to join the team – the first they have heard of it. Palmer announces a body has been found. At Vance’s suggestion, Parker decides to accompany the team. At the scene, Palmer determines the man has died of dehydration. While the team discusses Gibbs’ departure, the van explodes.
While identifying the body as James Bolton, the team discovers the rest of his file is redacted. Although pressed, Parker agrees to use his connections to clear the redacted material. In autopsy, Ducky and Palmer conclude Bolton died from blood poisoning from a bomb located in his G.I. tract. Reporting to Vance, Torres accuses him of doing little to keep Gibbs and voices his opposition to hiring Parker; Vance in turn reveals Gibbs recommended him.
Kasie manages to track Bolton’s history and believes he was radicalized to become a suicide bomber. Parker’s contacts reveal Bolton’s access to SATCOM, a major satellite network. Based on the nature of Bolton’s social media posts, the team conclude he had a partner and were recruiting more bombers.
After reporting their findings, the DOD orders Parker to lead a task force to take down Bolton’s network due to his familiarity with the system, despite his own reluctance. Hacking Bolton’s laptop, they find a lead in Royman Beesbo. Meeting with McGee privately in a restroom, Parker questions why he declined to pursue Gibbs’ position; McGee remains evasive.
Torres and Knight visit Royman. Royman admits he encountered a woman named Helen at a bus stop and recognizes Bolton as a “cable guy.” Revealing he works as a Federal stenographer with access to classified material, he refuses to elaborate without a subpoena. In Autopsy, Palmer and Ducky discuss Vance’s offer to Parker, reflecting on Ducky’s absence. Based on Kasie’s research, they speculate Bolton’s partner had to be wealthy to obtain the parts for the explosives. Kasie concludes Bolton hacked the lottery to rig the wins for himself and his partner.
Identifying the woman who cashed the winning tickets as Lillian Beck, Kasie determines she is the likely partner. She also voices her displeasure over Parker’s handling of LeMere threatening her several days earlier. While waiting for Beck to cash her ticket, McGee and Torres argue over McGee’s refusal to take Gibbs’ place; McGee admits his concerns of following Gibbs’ example and choices, citing the loss of his family and being shot by him to save his life (as shown in Season 18). They then arrest Beck.
In Autopsy, Ducky and Palmer discuss the losses of so many staff. Ducky rationalizes the nature of change and admits he feels better for Gibbs finding peace. Interrogating Beck, Parker gets her to confess to working with Bolton, although only to hack the lottery. Based on Kasie’s latest findings, they realize the bomb that destroyed Bolton’s body was surgically implanted, casting doubt on his complicity as a suicide bomber.
With new information, the team interrogates Royman again. Royman claims he asked Bolton to use facial recognition to identify Helen. Discussing Bolton’s dossier on Royman, Parker realizes that his pacemaker has been rigged as a bomb, which Ducky and Palmer confirm via X-Ray. Realizing the bomb is leaking as Bolton’s had, Palmer and Ducky rapidly operate and remove it. The team later determines that the bomb was an attempt by an Albanian kingpin to assassinate a witness against him, and that Bolton’s death was a failed test of the method.
In the Squad Room, a chance meeting with Royman reveals the office’s bomb disposal officer is in fact Helen. Meanwhile, Vance privately talks with Parker, who admits he stayed to watch a typical day with them and is interested. After talking with Knight, Parker watches the Squad Room while David Bowie’s “Changes” plays.
Cut To The Chase
Vance offers ex-FBI Agent Parker a position at NCIS. Torres lashes out at Vance and McGee before accepting their decisions regarding Gibbs’ departure. The team investigates the case of an apparent suicide bombing gone wrong, but finds the case connected to an assassination attempt. Parker ultimately agrees to stay.
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