NCIS Recap: McGee Declares War on LaRoche After Explosive Dinner Showdown
Warning: Spoilers ahead for the April 14 episode of NCIS.
The dinner from hell has finally arrived — and it delivered everything but dessert.
In a tense and twist-filled episode of NCIS, Special Agent Timothy McGee (Sean Murray) found himself sitting down for a supposedly friendly meal with none other than NCIS Deputy Director Gabriel LaRoche (played by Castle alum Seamus Dever) and his wife, Tammy (Reasonable Doubt’s Brooke Lyons). McGee was joined by his wife Delilah (Margo Harshman), but the night was anything but a double date.
Viewers may recall NCIS showrunner Steven D. Binder teasing this “dinner from hell” months ago, and it lived up to the hype. While Delilah remained charmed by LaRoche — a fellow Carnegie Mellon University alum — McGee was clearly uncomfortable from the start. After all, LaRoche had not only swooped in to take the promotion McGee had been eyeing earlier in the season, but Tim also believed the Deputy Director played a role in compromising Torres’ undercover operation with the dangerous Nexus cartel.
The tension simmered over wine and Coq au Vin, with McGee growing increasingly suspicious, and LaRoche acting both gracious and vaguely smug. Then, the evening took a dark turn: intel from the ongoing case suggested LaRoche was the next target of a professional assassin. Naturally, McGee was thrust into protector mode — whether LaRoche liked it or not.
And things only got messier from there.
While trying to gather more information, McGee couldn’t resist poking around LaRoche’s home office — and was caught in the act. The confrontation was brief but telling. McGee found a file on himself, prompting him to confront LaRoche, who shot back, “Because you are keeping tabs on me.” The real bombshell came next: LaRoche revealed that McGee lost out on his promotion thanks to a critical report sent to SECNAV — one written by LaRoche himself. The report painted the NCIS team’s strong “family” bond as a liability.
But before McGee could fully process the betrayal, things escalated. The assassin — a hit woman — was closing in. With the security team outside taken down, McGee and LaRoche had to think fast. In a risky ploy, McGee pretended to be “The Poet,” the hit man who had previously targeted a Navy officer involved in nuclear materials transport. He staged a convincing ruse, shooting LaRoche (who was wearing a bulletproof vest courtesy of Director Vance) and facing off against the assassin, buying enough time for Knight and Torres to intervene and neutralize the threat.
It was a high-stakes bluff — and it worked. For a brief moment, it looked like McGee and LaRoche might actually find common ground.
But any peace was short-lived.
Later, Delilah shared that the intel on “The Poet” had been traced back to a VPN connected to a classified government server codenamed NOCTURNE — a name McGee recognized from a notepad in LaRoche’s desk. The implication? LaRoche wasn’t just a target. He may have orchestrated the entire hit for reasons still unclear.
In the final moments of the episode, LaRoche approached McGee at the office, extending a handshake and what appeared to be an olive branch. McGee took the hand, leaned in with steely resolve, and whispered one chilling word:
“Nocturne.”
Then came the promise: “I’m coming for you.”
With its blend of psychological warfare, undercover tactics, and emotional stakes, this episode sets the stage for a fierce rivalry between McGee and LaRoche — one that could shake the very foundations of NCIS. And with secrets still buried beneath the surface, viewers are left wondering: what exactly is LaRoche hiding, and how far will McGee go to bring him down?
Stay tuned. This war is just beginning.
