Ever Since season 2's shocking finale, the aptly named "Twilight" (not to be confused with the dire film "saga" of the same name), set the bar high for any following season finales, NCIS has had some trouble to match that standard. Like in seasons 3 ("Hiatus") and 5 ("Judgment Day"), this is a two-parter, although, unlike those two finales, it's not announced loudly by giving the episode titles those ever-creative add-ons "Part 1" and "Part 2". Upon first viewing, it became obvious that one would *need* to see both parts before reviewing the first part.
From the start, it was pretty clear this was going to be better than "Hiatus" and season 4's "Angel of Death" - both, by the way, still solidly good, just not excellent like "Judgment Day". The plot is excellently written twisty-turny Who-can-you-trust? mystery/spy stuff that also builds upon the *actually* good, not just blatantly cheap "Legend: Part 1 & 2" that served as an introduction to NCIS: Los Angeles (not only is NCIS a spin-off of JAG, now it's spawning like CSI!), which means we actually have a sort of 4-parter, which *also* turns out to be building upon 4 seasons of NCIS history. Now that's actually more continuity that *makes sense* than The X Files managed in all of its ten years!
There is a lot to enjoy here besides the plot that becomes increasingly tense as it progresses towards the final scene: Familiar guest stars who *deliver*, not just appear, (24-veteran Jude Ciccolella, Hustle and Dexter ice princess Jaime Murray, the always delightful Joe Spano), Tony's ambiguous motives over protecting Ziva, Ziva's ambiguous allegiance, Tony/Ziva tension, one of Abby's famous scene-stealers when facing off against Jules, McGee's lucky day (heh), Tony mixing up Gibbs' Rules 11 and 12, well, pretty much everything except that poor Ducky gets shoved aside because there is so much going on. And one isn't even sure about what the frak is truly going on until "Aliyah" explains it all. 9/10, but can "Aliyah" match it?
From the start, it was pretty clear this was going to be better than "Hiatus" and season 4's "Angel of Death" - both, by the way, still solidly good, just not excellent like "Judgment Day". The plot is excellently written twisty-turny Who-can-you-trust? mystery/spy stuff that also builds upon the *actually* good, not just blatantly cheap "Legend: Part 1 & 2" that served as an introduction to NCIS: Los Angeles (not only is NCIS a spin-off of JAG, now it's spawning like CSI!), which means we actually have a sort of 4-parter, which *also* turns out to be building upon 4 seasons of NCIS history. Now that's actually more continuity that *makes sense* than The X Files managed in all of its ten years!
There is a lot to enjoy here besides the plot that becomes increasingly tense as it progresses towards the final scene: Familiar guest stars who *deliver*, not just appear, (24-veteran Jude Ciccolella, Hustle and Dexter ice princess Jaime Murray, the always delightful Joe Spano), Tony's ambiguous motives over protecting Ziva, Ziva's ambiguous allegiance, Tony/Ziva tension, one of Abby's famous scene-stealers when facing off against Jules, McGee's lucky day (heh), Tony mixing up Gibbs' Rules 11 and 12, well, pretty much everything except that poor Ducky gets shoved aside because there is so much going on. And one isn't even sure about what the frak is truly going on until "Aliyah" explains it all. 9/10, but can "Aliyah" match it?
