NCIS Review: Winter Chill (Season 18 Episode 9)
As the team deals with Jack’s departure, they’re blindsided by another tragedy on NCIS Season 18 Episode 9, “Winter Chill.”
We know recovery is a lifelong process but on TV it often happens quickly and almost always has a happy ending. Sadly, that isn’t true for Emily Fornell, as she dies from an overdose.
With the case of the week being lackluster and Emily’s death coming at the end of the hour, the episode plays with the uneven feel of mismatched plots thrown together.
Two storylines are very strong, while the third slows things down, making for a bumpy road to the end. For a long-running show like this, we have come to expect smoother storytelling.
Emily’s opioid addiction has mostly happened off-camera. More focus was put on Gibbs and Tobias hunting down the dealer behind the epidemic.
When we witnessed her get a six-month chip a few episodes ago, we believed that was the show’s way of wrapping up her story.
Earlier in the hour, Fornell is talking about moving to Costa Rica for his retirement. He mentions how great Emily is doing, and that she thought his move was a good idea.
Of course, now we can see how the show was setting us up for the emotional gut-punch that was coming. The beautifully paced story builds to a devastating reveal and heartbreaking performances from the cast as they find out.
What makes NCIS continue to work 18 seasons in, is the family this show has created and made us a part of. Having done the work of drawing us in, it’s earned episodes like this.
As Gibbs and Fornell wait, we hope for the best but begin to suspect the worst. So when the sad news becomes clear we feel Tobias’s breakdown.
We may not have the same emotional connection to Emily as we do other characters, but her connection to everyone gives her loss a weight that the team will have to once again deal with together.
After getting a letter from Jack leaving them mementos from her office, the team is already on an emotional roller coaster. With such a big story waiting in the wings, it’s nice to see the show didn’t just blow past Jack’s departure.
As she struggles with family drama, Kasie really feels Jack’s absence.
Since she’s joined the show, Kasie has only been given a few chances to shine, but every single time Diona Reasonover knocks it out of the park.
Kasie is usually the comic relief to break up the heaviness of a case. Here she gets to be the audience’s perspective for everything we’ve been feeling for the past year.
When she felt overwhelmed by all the bad stuff happening to her and the team, we felt validated at seeing one of our favorite characters give voice to all the emotional upheaval.
You’ll notice I haven’t talked about the case of the week. And for good reason.
Long story short, a Petty Officer is killed by the parking enforcement bully we met in the first act. Compared to everything else happening, it is boring and inconsequential.
We don’t expect every case to be an edge-of-the-seat thriller, but if it’s not the focus then we don’t need to pretend it is for an hour.
For a show usually based around action, NCIS pivots to an emotional family drama, and it mostly works. However, the murder case feels out of place. Maybe next time, the show can just skip that part.
What did you think of this episode of NCIS? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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NCIS airs Tuesday at 8/7c on CBS.
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Stephanie Holland
Stephanie Holland is a nerdy lover of Star Wars, Disney, Doctor Who, Arrowverse, Star Trek and WWE. Is living the dream of turning a lifelong obsession with TV into an actual job. Still waiting for a reboot of the '80s classic Small Wonder.
3 comments
Last night’s episode was really good. But the ending was so devastatingly sad. I will miss Emily. Even though she was not on a lot, I loved her little spit fire personality. I kind of had a feeling that Diane’s appearance to Fornell was a bad omen…although Gibb’s has seen her before.
Kasie really showed herself well last night. She is always happy go lucky but we see that she has drama in her life also.
But….Jimmy…his part is just getting better and better. Love his attitude. Like Kasie said “No wonder you could talk that guy off the ledge”.
I just feel so bad for Gibbs. It’s like he thinks he can not show any grief. He has to be strong for everyone else. We all knew he loved Emily. But, he was strong for Tobias. I would not think any less of my hero if he did show a little grief.
I hope NCIS runs for many, many, many more years to come.
What is the title of the poem that is read?
Epitaph” by author Merrit Malloy
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