NCIS Review: Misconduct (Season 18 Episode 13)

A hit-and-run complicates the case against a financial con artist on NCIS Season 18 Episode 13, “Misconduct.”

The case of the week finds the team back in action, and thankfully, with no time to wallow about their boss’ current circumstances.

McGee and Bishop flip the script during an interrogation, Kasie is knee-deep in evidence and vowing to never quit, and everyone is working together like a championship dance crew.

We certainly enjoy the parts of this episode where we get flashes of the old NCIS.

We even get an interesting moment where Bishop talks about someone in her life for who she would do anything. Unfortunately, the good stuff is interrupted by everyone but Gibbs caring about his career.

For weeks now, we’ve been waiting for Gibbs’ assault of a suspect to lead somewhere. As awful as that guy was, the way Gibbs attacked him and showed no remorse for his actions has not sat well with us.

Yes, the guy was killing and torturing dogs, but the fact there has been no serious punishment is just wrong.

Exacerbating all this is Gibbs’ reaction. We understand why he’s not sorry, but the fact that he doesn’t seem to care about how his actions reflect on the agency, his team, or Vance is jarringly uncharacteristic.

The Gibbs we’ve been watching for 18 seasons cares about his team more than himself. He’s never been one for bureaucracy or politics, but he wouldn’t publicly tear down NCIS or the Navy like this.

Something else we’ve noticed is that Gibbs has not mentioned Tobias or Emily since her death. With all the free time he has now, he isn’t spending any of it comforting his best friend.

Honestly, nothing about this storyline makes sense, and we’ve lost all patience with trying to figure it out.

When a familiar character suddenly changes like this, it doesn’t just bring down the current episodes, it colors the fan favorites that air every day. It has a ripple effect we’re sure the show didn’t anticipate.

This episode sees Gibbs finally discover the unintended consequences of his actions when the prosecutor decides his credibility is too damaged to testify against Parker James, the man who used a Ponzi scheme to steal millions from sailors.

In typical NCIS fashion, it turns out the hit-and-run the team is investigating is connected to the Ponzi scheme trial. The accountant set to testify against James is killed before he can take the stand, so Gibbs is forced to testify, during which the defense attorney rips him to shreds.

When James is found not guilty, we think maybe Gibbs will finally feel some remorse for how this has all played out but the team once again cleans up his mess, proving that James and his wife murdered the accountant.

Every week that this story continues it becomes increasingly infuriating because we can’t see where this is going, and how it benefits Gibbs or NCIS.

This show has spent 18 seasons building Leroy Jethro Gibbs into a near-mythical character, then decides to burn it all down in the home stretch.

We’ve seen shows make some crazy choices toward the end of their runs, but the complete character assassination of Gibbs is something we did not have had on our bingo cards.

What did you think of this episode of NCIS? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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NCIS airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on CBS.

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