NCIS (TV Series) UnSEALeD (2004) User Reviews

Tommy

[bevo-13678 · 10/10 · 14 June 2020]

I like the bit where tony did the bit from the fugitive

Lover wife but different killer?

[olsontd-1 · 2 February 2009]

So the escaped prisoner Curtain has figured out who his wife was sleeping with, and is seeking revenge. The wife of Curtain's Commander (Foley) turns out to be Curtain's wife's lover. But the cause of death in the two murders Curtain was convicted of (but claims he is innocent of) turns out to be from broken necks and not from the more obvious throat slits assumed at trial. This means a SEAL is the likely culprit. Some discussing this episode thought the plot had a goof in it by pointing to Commander Foley's wife as the killer. My take is the plot is typical NCIS--showing you evidence, giving you leads, letting you put the pieces together correctly. In this case, that means we ended up with Commander Foley being the revenge-taker on Curtain's wife for the affair with his wife, and the cable guy was an innocent bystander who was murdered as well to make it appear that the obvious jealous husband (Curtain) did the revengeful deed. This was a convoluted soap opera (wait, maybe to call a soap opera plot convoluted is already redundant), but a soap opera plot nonetheless.

Has its moments

[harrykivi · 6/10 · 20 August 2023]

Thomas Moran only wrote one script for "NCIS". That script was "Unsealed", which is definitely not a superb episode, but a decent one at best.

Let's start with the good aspects.

. The production values of the episode are great. The direction's solid, the music fits the scenery and I did like the acting.

. The story is for the most part entertaining. There are some really good twists in the mystery, especially liked the one towards the end.

But....

. The dialogue is not always on point and can feel a little out of place at times. The solution got too confusing agreed and needed more detailed explainations. There are elements in the story that have been done before in other movies ("The Fugitive" for instance) and those movies handled these elements in a better way.

Overall, a decent episode.

6/10 HK.

Not as decent as it could've been.

[LegendaryFang56 · 6/10 · 19 January 2022]

It could be because of the small break from watching this show: or because this episode was genuinely weak, but I thought this episode was barely decent.

I thought the plot could've been better, given that it involved a Navy SEAL, yet it had to do with an affair. But I'll admit that the twist regarding the other person was pretty decent. I didn't even consider it, although probably because I wasn't invested much into the episode.

The editing of the episode was also iffy. The constant back-and-forth was annoying. And the way the script was written, or at least presented to us, made it tough to follow along. It was like scenes were missing; the pacing felt super off. That seems to be usual with shows like this. But it was more of a problem than a minor inconvenience in this episode.

• I thought it was cool/interesting that Tim Abell, who played Jack Curtin, is a former Army Ranger. He did seem to have a specific type of presence. I guess that had to do with him being a (former) Army Ranger.

• This was the third appearance by Timothy McGee, I think. And I'm surprised. I know he becomes a Season Regular starting with the second season, yet he already seems more "relevant" than a mere guest star. Perhaps the writers were planning to make his character one of the main ones from the start, rather than people liking him so much in his first appearance that the writers decided to make him permanent in the second season.

• cont.) I guess I figured his first appearance would've been enough for people to want him back, and that's why he was brought back in the second season; that he would've only shown up once in this season. Then again, he'd have to have more appearances besides one for people to have a solid opinion on him; enough for there to be a sufficient number of people liking him for the writers to oblige by adding him to the cast of main characters.

• Yet another Gibbs Slap has landed on Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo. Great stuff. Very entertaining.

• I wonder if there's any significance to Pacci's cold case. My initial thought was that it had to do with the terrorist. If so, maybe it'll be what gives Gibbs and the team a lead on the terrorist. Considering what Pacci's last line of dialogue was: "What's one more day?"; the next episode may focus on his cold case.

• One thing that I'm having trouble with is the conclusion. Ducky said the cause of death for both victims was a snapped neck, and the killer slit their throats to cover it up: the fact that he knew how to kill with his hands. But it seemed like Marie Foley was the one who did it. Plus, snapping necks seems a bit of a stretch to have been done by a woman.

• cont.) I'm guessing her husband did it because he found out about the affair, except Jack Curtin went after the wife. I don't get it. I'm going to assume that William Foley did it and that Jack thought Marie did it because she was the one having an affair with his wife; in his head: because she saw her and the cable repairman and got angry enough to kill both of them.

• The red-head woman has appeared again. I'm very interested to know who she is. It has to be Gibbs' third wife, but why the ambiguity? There must be a curveball incoming regarding that. I don't understand why there would be all this ambiguity if the obvious assumption were correct. Maybe she is Gibbs' third wife, and the mystery/ambiguity revolving around her is for suspense; for people to theorize, wanting to know the answer: continuing to watch the season to find out.

After watching this episode three times, it no longer seems as weak as I thought. But I'd still say it wasn't one of the better ones. I'm expecting most of this first season's remaining episodes will be better than this one. The last two or three must be better. This episode had enough entertainment value, though.

Something doesn't add up here

[sncrane-76112 · 4/10 · 17 September 2020]

I'm confused as to why Curtin would escape from prison to murder the woman his wife was sleeping with and not murder Foley, the man who murdered his wife. Makes Curtin the same kind of monster as Foley. So yes he's innocent of the original two murders but escapes to commit murder. What the heck is going on here.

homophobic

[sn-42520 · 1/10 · 28 August 2021]

Aside from this episode being very mediocre in general, the end scene is... awful. Tony, who is insanely misogynist in previous episodes and future episodes, is blatantly homophobic. Specifically, lesbiaphobic. He literally implies that most lesbians "secretly want a man." I know this was written in like 2003, but seriously? How did this make it through multiple layers of editors and producers? It's not okay.