"NCIS" Season 9 had finished on a cliffhanger with the fate of every character unknown. Harper Dearing (Richard Schiff) has bombed NCIS headquarters, killing many inside the building (they never specify exactly how many). The Season 10 premiere episode, "Extreme Prejudice," gave the team some amount of closure, although it did not heal their wounds. The episode had a few changes from what we are used to, but still managed to stick to the formula of jam-packed action and intrigue.
Ducky lives!
Thankfully, our dear old Ducky (David McCallum) is just fine. The first few scenes with him are heartbreaking, however. It was actually difficult to see him lying in a hospital bed, barely able to speak.
Ducky was back on his feet, looking almost like his normal sharp-witted self by the end of the episode. This was nice to see, although it was also an appreciated change of pace to see Palmer (Brian Dietzen) having to take over Ducky's tasks for awhile. You just can't beat the master autopsy skills of Ducky; however, Ducky had to step in and solve a key mystery in their case.
McGee appears to be a casualty!
McGee (Sean Murray) didn't seem to be quite himself when Gibbs (Mark Harmon) came to check on him. That's because he had a big chunk of glass sticking out of his side! Cue heart sink. Was this the end of McGee? They've killed off main characters before. It was all a trick, thankfully. McGee turned out to be just fine. Don't do that to us, you'll give us heart attacks like poor Ducky!
"Tiva"
Tony (Michael Weatherly) and Ziva (Cote de Pablo) got to spend some quality time stuck together in an elevator. The most poignant moment came when the pair tired of their usual snide remarks and began dishing on some of their coworkers -- until Ziva realized that any of them could be dead. The moment was cut short by the sound of the elevator door being opened, and Abby (Pauley Perrette) mumbling about saving them.
More death and destruction
The president gives the OK on taking out Dearing "with extreme prejudice." Unfortunately, that leads to another round of death and destruction when the FBI tries to trick Dearing in a much-too-obvious manner. He blows them up instead. FBI Agent Fornell (Joe Spano) mentions they were some of the FBI's best. Really? Despite that obvious plot hole, it still was enough to keep viewers on the edge of their seats.
Closure
Gibbs deduces that Dearing wants to have a final meeting with him in the house where his son was born. When Gibbs shows up, Dearing starts blabbering about how he's preparing coffee and was expecting Gibbs. He keeps talking, then moves in position to grab a hidden gun. While continuing to move his lips, he grabs the gun, turns, and... Gibbs is prepared with a knife. Goodbye, psycho! Gibbs kills the crazy man who was so impossible to kill, finally closing out the case.
What a relief! "NCIS" doesn't usually dwell on one storyline for too long, and that's o ne of its most appealing aspects . Each story arch gets wrapped up fairly quickly before turning stale. Here's looking forward to the next story arc!
More from this contributor:
'NCIS' Finale Recap and Review: 'Till Death Do Us Part' After (Hopefully) More Seasons
'NCIS' Season 10: Where the cliffhanger left off, how the characters will cope
'CSI' Finale Episode 'Homecoming' Recap and Review: Past and Present Collide
