NCIS “Jet Lag” High Flying Fun

Photos from CBS

The NCIS team had a case that actually centered in the air, not on the water, in “Jet Lag.” This was an excellent episode, maybe the best of the season so far. It featured an interesting crime and was also the first episode where I felt that there was some real chemistry between Tony (Michael Weatherly) and Ziva (Cote de Pablo) that didn’t seemed forced or overdone. The pair had been in Paris (well, it looked like more of a phony backdrop than real Paris but that’s to be expected) to bring a witness, Nora Williams (Lily Rains), back to the US to testify against her employer, Ray Bolinger (Ryan Cutrona), the latter accused of extorting millions from the Navy. It seems, however, that there is a hit out on Nora, and one of the hit men, a naval petty officer, was found dead in his home, and Agent Gibbs (Mark Harmon),working at NCIS with his team, comes to realize that there is more than one person out to make the hit on the airborne Nora. It seems that whoever makes the hit gets the big payoff.

My immediate guess for the hit man was the air marshal, but then I realized that was far too obvious, and when the team also zeroed in on the air marshal too quickly I knew I was wrong. It also helped that he was found dead in the bathroom, killed with a knitting needle. (I am left to wonder exactly how did someone get a knitting needle on a plane, especially these days with heightened security?)

Meanwhile, on the ground at home base, Gibbs and the team talk with Nora’s fiancé Daniel (David de Lautour) who is concerned about her safety and who also works for Bolinger. Gibbs also pushes the buttons of Bolinger, who continues to deny everything. Its when Nora goes into an allergic shock that the team realizes that a female flight attendant, who was also connected to the time that the petty officer was killed, is out for Nora. Ziva manages to disable the flight attendant in typical Ziva kick-ass fashion. One error that the agents made was when, at one point, they both left the side of the witness they were supposed to be protecting. Mind you, this wasn’t when Nora was actually first exposed to the allergen that disabled her, the contact began much earlier, but Tony and Ziva still should not have left her side at the same time.

It seems that with Nora alive to testify against Bolinger, her fiancé's underhanded dealings at the same company would also have been exposed, which is why he wanted her dead. Not only will Nora put away an embezzler, she also seems to have lost a fiancé at the same time. But the real mystery of the episode remains – did something happen between Tony and Ziva while in Paris? Before they left town, while at a small outside café, Tony made a comment to Ziva that she seemed to have slept well enough as she looked comfy enough. There seems to be a question of who slept on the couch – if anybody. When, at the end of the show, Tony tells McGee (Sean Murray) that he slept on the couch, Ziva asks why Tony just lied to McGee, and Tony counters by asking her why she lied to Nora about the same issue (Ziva telling Nora that Tony slept in the bed). With all the smiles and knowing glances between the two, we are left to wonder just what were the sleeping arrangements? It’s one of those issues that left viewers intentionally guessing. Tony also said he found his favorite picture, and pulls out a photograph of Ziva, saying it looks very French new wave. When Ziva says she thinks it would look better in black and white, the screen slips into its normal black and white mode as it always does when the segment opens or closes. It was an interesting touch.

All in all, this was a very enjoyable episode, with everyone playing a part in the case. The real mystery remains unsolved – what were Tony and Ziva’s sleeping arrangements in Paris and was a couch involved? I suspect that is likely one question that will continue to tease viewers in episodes to come.


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