NCIS - 5x12 - Stakeout
The episode opens with a nice view of the Capital Building before pulling away to focus on McGee walking down the sidewalk. He talks to Tony, who's obviously on a stakeout, on his radio to tell him that "the pusher's back." Apparently they've noticed this guy several times in the past, but - since he's not their focus - they've let him fly. And that's bothering McGee.
McGee: I'm a sworn federal agent, Tony. I'm not gonna stand by and watch a felony go down.
Tony: That's a good idea. Blow our stakeout over a $50 crack sale. If Gibbs doesn't slap you silly, I will.
As McGee talks with Tony, a lady of the night walks up to him. Between her and Tony (who's making sly comments into the radio), McGee almost gets himself run over when he steps out into the street.
Meanwhile, Tony's having a bit of trouble with the computers they have set up. He takes the Gibbs approach and beats it with his fist until it works. As soon as McGee steps through the door, it's obvious that they've been at this stakeout for awhile. They're both this close to killing each other.
"Feels like we've been sitting here for months doing nothing."
Methinks that might be a reference to something. ;-)
Tony complains about the eggs McGee got him. He wanted them scrambled, and instead they're sunny side up. McGee's reaction?
McGee: You want your eggs scrambled?
[Picks up plate and starts shaking it.]
McGee: They're scrambled.
[Tony throws McGee's burrito at his head.]
The two of them then jump at each other and start throwing punches.
Cut to sometime later. Gibbs and Ziva have taken their place, and Ziva's watching the prostitute from earlier. She's bored to death, though it's doubtful she and Gibbs will start beating each other up. At least, I hope not.
Gibbs brings up the video feed of Abby, but she doesn't notice him. She's too busy making a tower out of specimen jars. He finally gets her attention, and she starts rambling about the few things that they've found so far.
Then Ziva motions for Gibbs to come over to the window. A van's showed up at the building they're watching. He tells her to watch the hallway while he talks with Abby.
"So many men, so little time."
Ziva watches, hoping that the man will go into Locker #23. When he doesn't, she lets out a frustrated sigh and hits the table with her fist.
Then she realizes that Tony and McGee are late.
"They may have killed each other."
Tony shows up just as she calls him, and he grabs the binoculars to take a look out the window. He takes them away from his face just as Gibbs walks back in the room - with black circles around his eyes.
Gibbs starts to smile, but he doesn't say anything.
McGee shows up a few seconds later. When he sees Tony's face, he gets an adorable look on his face... but he doesn't say anything about it either.
[Tony turns on the computer and sees his face.]
Tony: You're a dead man, McGee.
McGee: Don't look at me, Raccoon Boy. It was Ziva.
Gibbs gives McGee permission to video the drug dealer so that they can take him down once their investigation's over. As he does, he notices the dealer and the buyer get into an argument.
Down on the street, someone comes running out yelling for help. Gibbs and Ziva share a look before following him - only to find the buyer laying dead on the ground.
Later, the cops are on the scene. Gibbs isn't actually telling them what they're doing there, but he does say that he'll e-mail McGee's video to them.
Tony shows up and starts talking to the cop in charge. He mentions that he worked narcotics with Baltimore P.D. for two years, and she tells him that she worked them for three before transferring to homicide.
As he walks off, Tony admires her ass. Closely.
Cut to the morgue, where Ducky's trying to figure out why Abby's random spinning around in his chair. She stands up and almost falls flat on her face, and he has to grab her to keep her from hitting the floor.
Abby notices that the John Doe's information he hands her doesn't have a case number on it. He tells her that it's yet to be determined and he'll give it to her later.
Gibbs is talking to someone from the company who created the stolen radar system. The guy's getting antsy that they're using it as bait, and he wants them to give it back.
They pretty much tell Gibbs to hurry it up. If the ship that it was designed for is delayed, it's his ass.
Down in the morgue, Tony plops down on Ducky's desk. He's startled, since he didn't notice he was coming.
Ducky: Is the stakeout over?
Tony: I wish. It's worse than watching a five day cricket match.
Ducky: Careful, young man. [laughs] Now it's late, you've been working twelve hour shifts... I would think you would rather be anywhere but here on your time off. You must want something.
Tony wants to see if Ducky can possibly arrange for him to see the autopsy results for the murder from earlier.
"Does Gibbs know you're doing this?"
Cut to the stakeout, where Ziva's crawling around on the floor. Gibbs gets a puzzled look on his face as he tries to figure out what she's doing.
She thinks that Tony's going to try getting even with her, so she's checking for booby traps.
McGee shows up because the camera in the locker is showing that the battery's dying. He goes to see what's going on, and - when he gets inside - the radar system's missing.
"The camera's working fine, boss. I don't know why... I would start a sentence with that."
Gibbs is pissed. Very pissed.
Ziva: I would not want to be Gibbs right now.
Tony: I would not want to be McGee anytime.
She tells Tony that they should work together and lose the practical jokes, and they shake on it. Reluctantly.
Tony goes to lean on the manager, trying to get them into the other lockers.
Captain: Sorry, Gibbs. SETNAV wouldn't let me go. He wanted to know whose bright idea it was to use top secret radar as bait.
Gibbs: That would be Gibbs. Two B's.
Jenny's out of the country again, and they can't contact her.
Down in the bullpen, Ducky walks up and hits Tony in the head with a folder. He's gotten him the information on the murder that he wanted. To get it, he had to agree to be the M.E.'s bridge partner in a tournament.
"A weekend in hell."
The murdered man had no drugs in system, not even aspirin.
Tony: Thanks, Ducky. I owe you.
Ducky: And one day, dear boy, I shall collect.
Tony runs out, telling the others to cover for him. When Ducky sees Gibbs coming, he quickly slips away.
"Time for me to exit stage left."
Gibbs: Where's DiNozzo.
Ziva: Well, uh. He's, uh, running an errand?
Gibbs: Never cover for me, David.
Tony shows up to talk with the detective, just as she finishes talking to the prostitute from earlier. She's not happy to see him. Apparently she thinks he's a chauvinistic pig. I wonder where she got that idea?
She's even less happy when she hears that he saw the autopsy results before she did.
Tony: I have a gut feeling about this case.
Sparr: Why?
Tony: Why do I have a gut feeling?
Sparr: Why do you want to help?
Tony: Because I feel responsible. I could have stopped it. I saw it was going down, and I thought it was just a drug deal just like you. And it wasn't. Trust me, my instincts are usually right.
She agrees to let him work with her.
Tony picks up his phone, and as he turns away Sparr starts admiring his ass.
Cut to the interrogation room. McGee has found their anonymous tipster, and she's a teenage girl. She let some random guy use her phone for $10.
The guy who was murdered was the anonymous tipster.
Poor Ziva's still convinced that Tony's going to try getting back at her, so she's looking under her desk with a flashlight. McGee gets down there with her, asking her what's going on.
Damn, but she's gorgeous. It's been awhile since I saw this show, and I'd almost forgotten.
McGee: I thought you two shook on it. No more practical jokes.
Ziva: Do you trust DiNozzo?
McGee: Point well taken.
Sparr pretty much ignores Ziva when she tries to introduce herself.
Huh, it's Jardin again. And she's wearing a mask over her face.
Gibbs: Jardin.
Jardin: Four people in my department have come down with the flu.
Gibbs: [pulls off her mask] You're in my department now.
The guy from the development company recognizes the dead guy. He says that he's a nobody, though, before quickly switching the subject.
And then he storms out.
In the basement, McGee's setting up a model to show Gibbs his theory.
McGee: Demonstration for Gibbs. You know how hard it is to explain technical stuff to him.
Abby: Yeah, good thinking. It's like every time I try to explain something science-y and his eyes glaze over and he gives me that "shut up and get to the point" look. [pause] He's behind me, isn't he?
McGee: No.
[Abby spins around.]
McGee: Want to see a dress rehearsal?
Abby: Can I be Gibbs?
He pretends that she's Gibbs and starts explaining what happened. She does a pretty good job of pretending to be in.
His theory is that they set up a video loop. Methinks someone should have watched National Treasure. They might not have had this problem if they had.
And then they both find out that Gibbs been standing there, watching and listening, the entire time.
Abby: Even Gibbs could understand this.
Gibbs: Oh, he does. You're not off the hook until the radar's found, McGee.
Down in the morgue, Ducky's looking at some x-rays. Jimmy comes in, and he quickly puts them away. He tells Jimmy that's just an old case, and as Jimmy looks for his missing cell phone he locks the files in his desk.
Jimmy gets a surprised look on his face when he notices, but he doesn't say anything.
Jardin tells Gibbs that there's been no sign of the missing radar system, which implies that it's a domestic job. Gibbs gets a phone call, and he quickly leaves.
Hee! Jardin tells Ziva that she saw Tony put something under her car that morning. As she rushes out, McGee asks Jardin if she really saw something. She tells him that Tony just told her to tell Ziva that when he saw her.
The dead guy's the one who rented the locker in the first place.
Sparr gets a call telling her that their murder suspect's been spotted, and they all rush off. The prostitute's the one who called them, and she asks if there's a reward.
Tony: [points to McGee] Yes, you get him.
Prostitute: I remember you. The biter.
Sparr and Gibbs go inside, while the others go around the perimeter. They manage to get him surrounded, and he's freaking out. He's on probation and doesn't want to go back to prison. He brings up his gun, trying to get them to shoot him. Then Gibbs comes up behind him and grabs him, forcing him to drop the gun.
He swears that he didn't kill the guy. He only ran because he knew no one would believe him.
Sparr: Gibbs always throw softballs?
Tony: I've seen him make a 300 pound drill instructor cry.
The suspect tells him that he was loaded, and he doesn't remember exactly what happened. Some guy was waiting for the victim in the alley, but he doesn't have a clue who it was that attacked him.
McGee's got lunch for everyone, and he tells Jardin that he's got an extra one for her if she'd like it. Except she doesn't eat food prepared by other people.
Ziva asks him who she owes for the food, and he tells her that it was Tony who got it. She immediately drops it in the trash.
Jardin: Would Tony really do something to your food?
Gibbs: [walking up] Oh yeah.
It looks like the victim had insider information. That has something to do with it.
Down in the morgue, Jimmy and Ducky are preparing to go through the requisition paperwork for everything that they need. Neither of them seems to be very happy about it.
Randomly, wow. Jimmy really towers over Ducky, doesn't he?
Abby comes down with the information she had on Ducky's John Doe, and she tells him what it was. Ducky tells them that they can do the paperwork the next day, and he rushes out.
Jimmy and Abby are both more than a little suspicious at this point.
Abby: What's going on?
Jimmy: I don't know.
Abby: He asked me to run blood tests on a John Doe.
Jimmy: Abby, we don't have any John Does.
While Tony's been doing legwork, McGee's been doing work on the computer. The dead guy and the guy from the tech company apparently knew each other.
They get the suspect to go undercover. He calls the tech guy and tells him that he saw the murder, and he asks him for money. He makes it look like he wants a bribe to keep quiet, and in return he'll keep his mouth shut.
Obviously, it's a set-up.
The guy arranged for the system to be stolen because it didn't work. There was a glitch in it, and it would take months to get it working.
In the bullpen, Ziva sits down in her chair without thinking and it collapses out from under her. Tony quickly grabs the phone and pretends to be innocent. She slowly peers over her desk.
In the morgue, Gibbs comes in. He tells Jimmy that Abby's looking for him, and it takes him a second to realize that he needs to leave.
"I thought we didn't keep secrets from each other."
Ducky: I shouldn't be surprised. She goes to you with everything.
Gibbs: She cares about you, and she's worried.
Ducky: About me?
Gibbs: You were running the tests on yourself.
Ducky quickly tells him that he wasn't running them on himself. He refuses to tell him whose samples they were, but Gibbs figures out that he was doing a favor for Jenny. She's the only person who Ducky would go to so much trouble in order to do a favor.
ETA: Just to note, I'm a month behind on this show. I'm pretty much done studying for my last exam, so I'm trying to get caught up tonight.