NCIS Season 22, Episode 19, “Irreconcilable Differences” resolves most of the CBS show’s season-long storyline — only to pull a “gotcha” on viewers at the end. While some audiences will be satisfied that Timothy McGee finally has his showdown with Deputy Director Gabriel Laroche, others are likely to groan at the fact that neither McGee nor the fans get an actual ending. This is an episode that could have been better if it wasn’t trying to stretch an already thin plot just a bit further.
“Irreconcilable Differences” is where McGee and Laroche’s rivalry was always heading. McGee gets in trouble for investigating the Deputy Director just as he thinks he has the smoking gun — perhaps literally — to put Laroche behind bars. Meanwhile, the title also refers to Jessica Knight and Nick Torres still dealing with their fake marriage. In essence, this is an episode comprised of plots that could’ve been wrapped up by now.
The crux of the episode is that McGee is under pressure to prove his allegations against Laroche. The consequences of getting it wrong are personified by Inspector General Regina Ward, who shows up after Laroche files an official complaint accusing McGee of abuse of power and misconduct. Unfortunately, the Ward character is so one-dimensional that she never evolves beyond being a physical representation of the stakes. The character never loses a tone that’s bordering on smarmy and her dialogue is awkward; she tells Director Leon Vance that “facts are all I deal in.” It’s fine that NCIS has somebody to act as a counterpoint to McGee, but that someone has to feel like a real threat, and beyond that, a real person.
The episode would have been more effective if Ward had seemed like she might listen to anything McGee had to say, even if she didn’t believe him. Especially with her comments about sticking to facts, making her a more human character would have thrown in some suspense about if he could convince her that he was telling the truth. Or the script could have gone a different direction, where McGee himself wasn’t sure what he saw thanks to all those sleepless nights, and he has to figure out for himself (with the help of his team) if he really does have Laroche on the hook. Season 21’s “Strange Invaders” played a little bit with that idea for comedy — but it works for drama, too.
Instead, everyone knows that McGee saw Laroche murder someone, and everyone knows Ward is the antagonist who will get in the way only to come around in the end when presented with the right evidence. What creates tension in the episode is actor Sean Murray playing McGee as a guy near his breaking point. He’s angry, he’s confused and he’s a little scared. Making numerous parallels between McGee and Gibbs is fun, but Murray really drives the episode with his performance. He just can’t get it over the top when he doesn’t always have a lot to work with.
The comedic subplot in NCIS Season 22, Episode 19 is one that’s kind of already been done. This is the second time that the writers have gone backt to Episode 11, “For Better or Worse,” in which Jessica Knight and Nick Torres staged a fake wedding to catch a criminal. In Episode 18, the reveal that Knight was still in possession of her wedding ring was good for a few chuckles. But the show doubles down on that the very next time out by announcing that she and Torres are legally married; somehow they have a marriage license on file with the District of Columbia. The jokes, then, are about how they get the marriage annulled or not.
As before, this is worthy of a few laughs, but Torres and Knight discovering all the perks they might get for staying married is only funny for a short while. As is pointed out by the characters in the episode, that all feels irrelevant when their colleague has his career on the line and their boss might be a killer. The audience never loses sight of that so comments about car insurance discounts and pay raises don’t always land.
What’s more interesting is the way that “Irreconcilable Differences” manages to gradually make the Laroche story the center of attention. The writers know that’s what the audience wants to hear about — so starting out with a seemingly random attack on a van is one of those moments where viewers have to wonder if NCIS is taking another story detour. Instead, the van is quickly revealed to be hiding a large amoun of money, and Laroche hired people to steal it so that he can escape. That’s not a typical bad guy plan, and it gives this episode a case of the week that is continuously fun to watch, since the big picture changes more than once. Knight and Torres’ personal life, fake or otherwise, quickly takes a back seat in viewers’ heads — despite the steady number of jokes.
One thing that “Irreconcilable Differences” makes clear is that NCIS has stretched the Laroche story beyond its expiration date. Keep in mind this was a subplot introduced in the beginning of Season 22, and it will now extend to the Season 22 finale, after this episode ends with Laroche telling the team they need to know “the truth.” Yet even though Laroche wasn’t in every episode, this plotline continues to struggle with its pacing. The stakes are indeed very obvious — but it’s hard to care when Laroche comes and goes, and McGee is just stuck on repeating how he’s sure the Deputy Director is a villain. With the exception of Episode 18, there hasn’t even been a lot of characterization for Laroche.
A different tactic would have been to announce him as Deputy Director in the season premiere, and then circle back around to this story later in the season, when NCIS could condense the story into a handful of season-ending episodes. Perhaps Laroche does something to put himself on McGee’s radar after seeming helpful to the team earlier in the season, and McGee has to rush to put a case together. But building on the drama instead of drip-feeding it would be more effective. “Irreconcilable Differences” proves that with how it has a lot of entertaining moments, from the actual murder to Jimmy Palmer’s sketch skills coming in handy again.
Instead, where is this going to go that will satisfy fans? Is Laroche going to reveal he’s actually a good guy who’s been on some secret undercover mission this whole time? That would make all of McGee’s suspicions and work the whole season almost feel moot. If McGee takes him down somehow, then does that put McGee back in line for Deputy Director? But then that would just end Season 22 in the same place that Season 21 concluded. “Irreconcilable Differences” gets high marks for entertainment value, and for finally getting the Laroche of it all out into the open. But it also loses points for not just finishing the storyline and giving NCIS viewers that satisfaction it seemed like they’d finally get.
