A DB is found in the woods. Tony (Michael Weatherly) rifles through McGee's (Sean Murray) things and his self-help CDs. Ziva (Cote de Pablo) calls that wrong and he thinks perhaps McGee's already satisfied. Tony listens to the man on the self-help CD and he loves his voice, Tony: "...like a poor man's Shatner." Tony knows exactly who he is and doesn't need any help. Tony: "I may not be pretty, but I am Di Nozzo, hear me roar!" Well, you're pretty to many, Tony/Michael. Ziva comments, hear him roar, "like an elephant." Gibbs (Mark Harmon) tells Tony to get out of McGee's desk. Tony calls him 'Little Timmy' who's out buying coffee.
McGee meets a woman, or rather, she meets him, that meeting appeared contrived. How long's he been going there and no, not a remote chance of meeting a woman, any woman, let alone one who works there sometimes. Her name's Amanda (Lindy Booth) we preferred you in Relic Hunter as ditzy Claudia and in Cry Wolf (2005.) McGee asks her to remove his phone from his pocket, awkward, said phone being in his front pant pocket. Tony was calling McGee ages ago, but that call took a while coming on screen. Tony's worried about his pastry and she puts her number on speed dial.
The DB is identified as Dr Cirreaux. Tony's Danish is in the car, but he got him a blueberry scone instead. Tony calls him, "Probelicious." Ziva doesn't find any prints and his instruments were wiped clean, there were some strands on the instruments. Vance (Rocky Carroll) is at the CS and surprises everyone by being there, including Ducky (David McCallum). The killer intentionally shot him, so he bled out slowly, as a means of torture. The DB was turned over and a second bullet entered the base of his skull. This is familiar to Vance, it's her signature, Lee Wuan Kai (Kelly Hu). She was in LA. Yes she was.
For those who don't get to see NCIS:Los Angeles, or don't watch it (in the UK it's only available on subscription TV.) This story was started in the season 1 episode, Kill Shot and concluded here. That said, it was easy enough to follow even if you didn't watch the first part of it, which is a good thing. Kai was hurt and so must have needed medical attention. Vance chased her for 20 years and she thinks like them. Vance: "In some ways, I know Kai better than I know myself." Vance has the feeling he's being watched. He warns she'll use deadly force and so should they.
McGee identifies Kai as a North Korean assassin. Tony goes into Tony mode when he sees her photo, with his talk of liking quiet walks on the beach. Tony: "Look at those come hither eyes, those perfect kiss-me lips, no wonder Vance is obsessed, Kai's killing me just looking at her." Tony likens her to Ziva, both pretty ladies, both trained assassins. Ziva says Tony annoys her sometimes. Tony: "Sometimes?" Ziva replies most of the time. Ziva being an assassin and he likened her to the other assassin they were looking for in Leap of Faith which Tony has done before. Tony believes something happened to Vance and it's not Kosher, just a figure of speech. He calls McGee, 'McDigit' now and asks if the woman he's interested in is a redhead. "Look at you pulling a page from Gibbs' playbook." Liking redheads. Thought Tony would have stopped saying that, along with not mentioning Gibbs' marriages anymore.
Tony wonders why Ziva's nice to McGee and not to him. Well does that need answering, ha. McGee says he mocks him publicly, but Tony always does that. Dr Cirreaux had a lawsuit filed against him and as Tony says, what doctors lack in social skills they make up for in selling pharmaceuticals. Was he referring to Jeanne (Scottie Thompson) then, ha, well she was a doctor too and yes her social skills must be lacking in the way she treated Tony in season 5 episode, Internal Affairs but I digress.
Vance is putting more agents on the case and Gibbs tells him he hasn't given him much time to investigate. Vance wants this to be over. Always seemed to me that Gibbs and Vance have a rapport going, some sort of a friendship, that's not always highlighted much in the episodes. Like in the season 5.14 episode, Internal Affairs, when he said he owed Gibbs money, $2,42 for the cheese danish from 9 years ago.
Seventeen years ago, Vance was part of the UN peacekeeping force in Yugoslavia. Kai shot a local politician and then she shot his partner. He shot her in the chest and she shot him in the shoulder, before placing the gun on his neck. He was waiting for her to pull the trigger, but it never happened. Gibbs needs something solid. Tony and McGee check out Linda DeMarco, (Alla Korot) the woman who brought the lawsuit against the doctor. Tony refers to the 'coffee vixen' and asks about 'text sex'. He wants to know what a question mark wedged between 2 dollar signs means, he finds it kind of kinky. In that case, he should ask Abby (Pauley Perrette) just a thought as she's into kinky. Tony advises McGee to listen to Madonna, women love that and also about candle wax. Short of him coming out and not mentioning the Madonna movie, Body of Evidence (1993). DeMarco shoots at them and Tony asks her if she's Sarah Palin.
Her alibi checks out and Gibbs tells them to let her go. Tony calls McGee, "Self-helpless." He says McGee's afraid of her, actually they both are. McGee should uncuff Florence Nightingale, it's his destiny. Ducky found a single hair on the DB's ring finger, tied in a bow. It's DNA the killer wanted them to find. Abby matches it to Kai. Vance asks his wife, Jackie ( Paula Newsome) why they don't do movie night. He's never home. Kai calls Vance at home, of course she'd be outside his house, it's apparent. Why didn't Vance text McGee directly to trace the call, instead of texting Gibbs. We know he's not tech savvy. Kai can't turn herself in, he almost caught her in LA (there's that LA reference). Jackie notices the car outside and begins to walk towards it, now why do that, it's not the first car that would've parked out there.
Ziva will stay with Vance but he refuses protection, until Gibbs convinces him. Jackie refuses to leave him, she felt safe until now, but now she's Vance's partner. The car Kai was driving was stolen and McGee recalls reading about Bingham, the pilot of a private plane who is missing. Tony: "He was Kai-jacked." Oh Tony that was bad even for you! McGee is late meeting Amanda and he can't stay. Amanda's more interested in his office when he suggests they go for a walk instead. See she was never interested in him, romantically. He was just more easy to approach as a target, than anyone else. Tony thinks McGee went home and got it on with "Little Miss Sexy text message." Like Charlton Heston in Planet of the Apes (1968). "He pulled a total Heston." Tony's proud of Tim and asks him if he took photos. Ziva wants to know when she can meet her to ensure she's good enough for McGee.
Agent Chad Dunham (Todd Lowe) meets them in person and tells them of the North Korean minister who was training orphans to kill for their cause. Which is nothing new. Tony believes Kai was brainwashed and Ziva should know, she's good. General Pax Su Gi checked into a hotel and she's here. Tony's turn to go into the women's loo to question Ziva this time round about Dunham. He's from Texas and she likes Texans, since when? He also cleans up nice. She got that phrase right, though it should have been scrubs up nice. Ziva's had enough of Nomad field agents and that's what he is. She's here to make a home. Tony comes up close to Ziva again like he's going to kiss her.
Abby refers to the LA casefile and finds the bullet is different. She notices McGee looks happy and asks if there's anything he wants to tell her. McGee comments news travels fast, yeah that's what you'd expect from Tony! She mentions Eric from the LA office being helpful with the case, was that a desperate measure from Abby, trying to hide her feelings or that McGee won't tell her anything about Amanda. The North Koreans contacted them to tell them Kai is here to kill one of their own and her killings aren't sanctioned by them. Gibbs lets Vance know he's the constant in Kai's life, he knows her. Pax Su Gi is shot by a sniper. Ziva wonders who she's killing for. Well again if she's not here for them, then it's personal for her. This is something Ziva should have known.
Tony comments she's dangling it in their face. "Look at me, Ma, top of the world." Quoting James Cagney in White Heat (1949). McGee thinks he's referring to White Knights (1985) the one with the ballet dancers. Ziva says there's nothing impressive about killing people. Tony says McGee's 'McSqueeze' is here. He didn't tell her where he worked but it took him a while to figure this out. If as he later says to Amanda he doesn't give out his work details to anyone, why did it take him all night to figure this out. She practically gave herself away! Tony tells McGee the copy room door locks from the inside, was that speaking from personal experience, Tony. Tony doesn't believe in fate. Vance finds an envelope in the car containing a photo, with 'WHY' written on it.
Abby looks at the toxicology report on Cirreaux and Pax, they both died from poison in their bloodstream. Gibbs: "Never trust a beautiful woman." That's definitely personal experience on Gibbs' part since he fell for one in season 2's Doppelganger. Ducky also fell for one in the season 2.8 episode, Heart Break and they all turned out to be killers. Thus the same with McGee here. You see, true love never runs smoothly in this show. Same can be said about Ziva and Rivkin. McGee confronts Amanda and she changes her accent to South African. She's after Kai, who shoots her. Amanda, real name Juliet Tippin, who was a freelancer working for the North Koreans, afraid Kai may tell them everything she knows. Kai saved McGee who contemplates joining a monastery.
Cirreaux and Pax both had a children's disease but they didn't have any children. From the photo Cirreaux was part of the training programme which recruited Kai. Vance realizes she's killing the men who turned her into a killer. Vance chased her, courted her in her eyes but never had a relationship with him, so she's turning to Vance for help. In her mind he's been her partner.
Kai holds Jackie hostage. It's too late for her to change and she wants Vance to end it for her. But Jackie is the one who shoots her. McGee reads from one of his self-help tapes: "who we are might be predetermined. The path we follow is always of our own choosing. We should never allow our fears or the expectations of others to set the frontiers of our destiny. Your destiny can't be changed but it can be challenged. Every man is born as many men and dies as a single one." Hey he could break this down and market it in fortune cookies!
An episode where McGee thought he found love but fell for an assassin, and one where Kai, an assassin, mistook her feelings for Vance as that of a partner, as she's never known love herself, only betrayal and conditioned to be a killer. Ziva could have turned out like this and wonder if she would have, had she not been a part of the team; with all the betrayals she suffered and the conditioning of a distant father of her own. He made her an assassin too and she killed Ari.
Vance's toothpick was missing this episode. North Korean women are portrayed as assassins in this show, as in the season 3 episode Light Sleeper; with the three wives who married US marines and were assassins themselves.
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