NCIS recap: The CBS hit celebrates its 450th episode in a retirement community
NCIS hit a major milestone tonight with its 450th episode. It’s a ripe old age that most shows never reach, which makes it almost fitting that the bulk of the action is set in a retirement community.
The case of the week involves the death of Petty Officer First Class Sam Vega, who drives for a rideshare company. His last fare of the night hops in without contacting him through the app, then ominously uncaps a syringe. The next morning, Sam’s found dead with his car crumpled against a tree in Rock Creek Park.
Thanks to the injection site on Sam’s neck, a cement block that held down the accelerator, and part of a medicine vial, the team’s off to investigate a murder.
When they find Sam’s apartment trashed and “LIAR” written on the wall in blood, they haul in Sam’s girlfriend, who says she took out her rage on his apartment after discovering secret flirty emails he exchanged with someone named Marilyn.
The mystery woman turns out to be an 85-year-old living in the Sunshine Pines retirement village. “This love triangle just got really weird,” Parker (Gary Cole) announces.
While Palmer (Brian Dietzen) and Kasie (Diona Reasonover) try to figure out the origin of the propofol that knocked Sam out and why he had traces of walnut oil, linen, and calcium fluoride on his hands, Parker’s called away with a 9-1-1 text from his dad (Francis McCarthy).
Roman’s been kicked out of his retirement home for being too popular with the female residents and is living with Parker while they figure out the next step. Neither man is happy about this living situation, although I’m thrilled to get a sun-soaked view of the lush plant haven where Parker lives. Seriously, I covet.
Parker’s beef is that his dad keeps fiddling with the thermostat, making it inhospitable for his many orchids, which he brings into the office for palliative care. Roman’s beef is that his son’s a streaming guy, not a cable guy, and he can’t keep a wife. (This would be a great time to mention that Parker recently reconnected with the one who got away, but alas, there are no updates on the silver fox dating front.)
Anyway, Parker’s familiar with Marilyn’s nursing home, having toured it with his dad and rejected it for being a total rat trap years ago. That’s why Knight (Katrina Law) and Torres (Wilmer Valderrama) are surprised to find such a clean, bright, well-run facility.
Marilyn sounds heartbroken over Sam’s death and explains that they matched on Grand Bubby, an app that pairs older folks with younger ones to run errands and keep them company for $20 an hour. Since her husband’s dead and her two sons are too busy to see her, she’s grateful for the help.
Torres jumps in and helps hang a painting for her, and she says that Sam may have had a gambling problem thanks to the only fantasy game he played for hours a day.
The team learns that Sam lost $50,000 playing The Legend of Azaldir AND that he’d matched with several Sunshine Pines residents who’d recently been diagnosed with terminal illnesses and left him in their will. So was he scamming them at the end of their lives?
Naturally, the only thing to do is send Roman undercover with McGee (Sean Murray), the only agent not to visit Sunshine Pines yet, to see what they can learn.
Facility manager Nigel Yang takes McGee on a tour while Roman cozies up to a trio of gin-playing residents. They explain that the facility’s been updated recently thanks to an anonymous rich guy named Mr. Greystone.
Roman isn’t terribly smooth with the comm device in his ear, and Parker listens in as two women fight over the chance to play shuffleboard with him. (Knight has to explain that shuffled board is a euphemism. *eyebrows eyebrows*) Marilyn then approaches and asks him to take a turn around the grounds, but nobody’s terribly friendly to her.
Back at NCIS HQ, Kasie’s learned that the linen Sam came in contact with was 400 years old, the propofol came from Sunshine Pines, and Yang’s ID was used to access it.
McGee pulls him into interrogation, and Yang claims to have lost his badge. He does admit that he and Sam worked together on a plan to pair him with residents who’d leave him money, which he then donated for facility upgrades under the name Mr. Graystone. Sam wasn’t scamming; he was helping in honor of the grandmother who raised him. (He also made his money back and more in The Legend of Azaldir and donated that as well. Good guy, Sam.)
At this point, they decide to see if Marilyn will help their investigation from the inside, but when a Sunshine Pines employee mentions that she doesn’t have any children, Torres and Knight do a little more digging.
The painting Torres hung for her is missing, and the substance under Sam’s fingers turns out to be oil-based paint from the 17th century. And everything falls into place.
Long story short, the formerly dowdy Marilyn’s all dolled up and auctioning off art stolen by her late husband, which she tricked Sam into helping her move from Europe to the U.S. during his deployment.
When Sam realized that he may have accidentally smuggled a Renaissance masterpiece, Marilyn had her partner (in all senses of the word, based on how much they seemed to enjoy, um, shuffleboard together) kill him to keep him quiet. Case closed.
The downside of apprehending a murderer is that Grand Bubby gets shut down pending an investigation. Torres is concerned about what’s going to happen to all those lonely abuelitas, so he, McGee, and Knight show up at Sunshine Pines for a round of gin with the residents.
Meanwhile, Parker and Roman tour a room, and although Roman likes it, he’s worried about leaving Parker alone. Roman gruffly thanks him for being a good son and a good man — even though he didn’t join the Navy all those years ago. But hey, at least they’ll keep up their weekly Risk games.
Stray shots
- Happy 450th to NCIS! I’m a little surprised that they chose such a quiet episode for this landmark achievement, but then again, it’s a well-balanced story that highlights the chemistry between these actors who work together week in and week out.
- Excellent in-joking with Knight trying to hand Parker a red Swingline stapler when the team thought they’d forgotten his birthday. Ummm yeah, I’m gonna need you to go ahead and enjoy this Easter egg, kay? That’d be great.
- “Salt. Ever heard of it?” Geez, Roman’s a tough food critic.
- I find it baffling that McGee’s never heard of The Great British Bake Off. Torres, sure. But McGee??
- For more on what it’s like on set, check out our interview with Sean Murray!