Original Airdate: January 24, 2022
NCIS investigates when a lieutenant is found with his eye missing, leading to the uncovering of a cage fighting ring. Meanwhile, the team struggles to find what is bothering Torres.
Episode Recap
A fighter is being dominated at a cage fighting match. As he is prompted to tap out, the fighter is revealed to be Torres.
Thirty-six hours earlier, Torres enters NCIS noticeably exhausted, initially to McGee and Knight’s amusement before eliciting their concern. Parker introduces them to agent Dale Sawyer before the team is called to investigate a body at waste management station. At the site, Torres becomes paranoid that Parker plans to drop him in favor of Sawyer. McGee identifies the body as Lieutenant Junior Grade and I.T. Specialist Kane Lantz; while Parker notes his right eye is missing, Palmer suggests Lantz was asphyxiated. Tension ensues after Palmer suggests the eye may still be in the area, leading McGee to pull rank and leave Knight there to search for it. As the team prepares to split, a team led Defense Intelligence Agency Agent Collins appears on the scene and takes over the investigation.
Vance and Parker convince DIA Director Joseph Clark to reveal that Lantz kept a laptop with highly classified information. Based on Parker and Clark’s interactions, Vance is surprised to know they have met in the past. McGee and Torres find Lantz transferred money to Alex Russo, his foster brother. Having already brought him in, Parker and Torres interrogate him. Russo admits he stole Lantz’s laptop after being threatened for failing to repay a loan.
Meanwhile, McGee, Knight and Palmer discuss Torres’ behavior, noting he had been so since McGee’s trip to Alaska. Palmer suggests Lantz’s injuries indicate he was tortured to death. With a variety of DNA on Lantz’s body, Kasie attempts to construct a visual of his killer while at the same time finding forensic evidence Lantz was killed at an abandoned apparel factory. McGee and Knight investigate the location, finding a wrestling cage surrounded by cameras.
Kasie completes the visual of Lantz’s killer. Parker is surprised at Torres’ curt response to his direction to distribute it. Russo confirms the image matches the man who threatened him, leading the team to identify him as Maxim Dovhal. Noting his name is fake, they plan to arrest him at a tire market before Parker asks about Torres’ behavior, leading them to assign Knight to talk to him at a stakeout. There, she tries to talk with Torres, but he refuses to say anything. The two eventually spot Dovhal, leading to a chase around the site and a fight; in the ensuing altercation, he quietly instructs Knight and Torres how to hit him before being tased by Knight.
At NCIS, Dovhal admits he was forced to fight Lantz after he and his Belarusian wife Elena were threatened. Based on Dovhal’s testimony, they realize the underground fighting ring has ties to a human trafficking ring. Parker suggests sending Torres and another agent undercover as fighters. Torres proposes Agent Sawyer, leading to a test fight between them; the test sours when Torres and Sawyer brawl for real and argue. Despite the tension, Torres and Sawyer are sent in with McGee as their banker.
Backstage, the group meets Sammy, who rejects the staged fight between Torres and Sawyer and orders Torres to fight the much larger Vern. With Torres struggling, McGee and Sawyer investigate around the ring. Sawyer sneaks into an office and searches it, finding a fridge with Lantz’s eye in it. Downed briefly, Torres argues with McGee over feeling abandoned before going for a second bout, managing to defeat Vern. In the aftermath, McGee and Torres remain, causing a scene when Sammy refuses to let them meet the boss. NCIS storms before the scene can escalate, revealing Sammy himself is the boss.
McGee and Parker brief Vance, confirming Sammy is actually Peter Samkhardradze and has given up the laptop and other names involved with the operation in exchange for a reduced sentence. As a result, Dovhal is reunited with his wife. In Autopsy, Palmer treats Torres’ wounds before trying to talk about his issues. There, Palmer admits he feels lingering anger over Breena’s death but has accepted it, and advises him to open himself to the remaining members to heal.
Cut To The Chase
NCIS is called to investigate the murder of Lieutenant J.G. Kane Lantz. The investigation leads them to discover the leader of an underground fighting ring doubling in human trafficking. In the process, the team struggles to find what is bothering Torres, leading to a discussion about loss with Palmer.
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