What an really fine episode! Truly enjoyed this one and personally I have to include it in one of the top episodes I remember over all these many seasons. Christopher Lloyd did such a fine job and the story was so touching and struck home with me, an older Vet that remembers so well. The interaction between Mark Harmon and Lloyd was really strong and so perfect. Many thanks to the producers, directors, writers, and editors for this great episode.
47 Reviews
Quite possibly one of the best
neverenoughgold15 April 2020
Warning: Spoilers
My wife and I are true fans of this series, and have followed since it's creation from the original Jag series. Of course, it doesn't hurt that we're also huge fans of Christopher Lloyd, having followed him since his 4 year stint on Taxi years ago. Lloyd has always played interesting characters, whether it be Reverend Jim on Taxi, Judge Doom in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and of course, Dr. Emmett Brown in the Back to the Future series.
On this episode, he plays and "old" codger who is a Arizona survivor and he wants to have his ashes interred with his Navy "family" who rest on the Arizona Memorial in Hawaii. If you have never visited this truly awesome place, you owe it to yourself to take a trip you likely will never forget.
He steals a Purple Heart to get attention to his case, and insists Gibbs and team do a DNA analysis to prove he was actually on the ship when it was destroyed by the Japanese on 7 Dec, 1941before he will return the award to the family who owns it. Well, no DNA from back in the day, so Gibbs has to play a con on the con and the Purple Heart is recovered. Unfortunately, Joe dies from a major heart attack before things can get settled.
Tears were starting to flow from wife and I before the Gibbs team discovers shrapnel evidence in Joe's arm, proving he was actually on board that fateful day. More tears when Gibbs returns to the Arizona Memorial with Joes ashes and we see Joe gets placed on the ship below the sea.
Absolutely one of the best episodes ever!
Cried for my Dad!
adelaidetaylor16 April 2020
My dad was a Marine vet stationed in the Pacific in Okinawa. He died several years ago, and never told me or my brother what he went through, except right before dementia and Alzheimer's took over his mind. He confided to my husband, whose Dad was in the navy in WWII, the horrific events he had witnessed, and how he felt guilty about surviving, while his friends perished in front of his eyes. This episode of NCIS was so powerful, thanks to the writers--who had created an extraordinary script--and, of course, Christopher Lloyd's incredibly powerful performance, enhanced by Mark Harmon's impressive and emotional support. I, like some other viewers, had gotten tired of the silly plots and weak scripts of late, but decided to record this episode after I saw that Mr. Lloyd was guesting. I was overcome at the end, and, even a half hour after the episode was over, I still cannot stop tearing up! My dad's generation came back from the war, and immediately took advantage of the GI bill, went to college, and chose a professional path to follow. My dad and so many like him were expected to transition to normalcy without the any assistance from mental health services: consequently, many men and women who had been traumatized by war like my Dad just sucked it up all their adult lives...my Dad explained to us how he was haunted by what he had experienced, but nevertheless, dutifully provided me and my brother and mom with everything we could possibly need, including a hefty bequest upon his and my mom's recent deaths.His business career was extremely demanding, long hours, tyrannical bosses, and very little appreciation shown for all his hard work. I feel most sad because I had no idea until he was 90+ what he went through, and how hard he worked to provide for his family until and after the end of his life. I sit here, a retired teacher, with a good pension, and a solid inheritance that is earning dividends for me as I write this review. Thank you Dad! And thank u,Mark Harmon and Christopher Lloyd, for such a poignant story depicting how much we war babies owe our parents...and how much the world owes the troops of all the wars that have helped us maintain a free world, while not perfect, still exists, and has been very very good to so many of us.
So happy to see a new NCIS episode worthy of the name
esusansmith15 April 2020
Touching, powerful, dramatic, with none of the silliness so prevalent in the past few seasons. Chris Lloyd deserves an Emmy. And Gibbs' scenes with McGee, and on the Arizona were stunning. Bravo, and thanks to the NCIS team for a perfect episode.
Give Christopher Lloyd Another Emmy
parkshady15 April 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Christopher Lloyd starts of as a likeable veteran but it's later revealed he's troubled and for good reason he dies at the end but at least he gets the darkest parts of Pearl Harbor off his chest to Gibbs. The best part wasn't even Christopher Lloyd who should win an Emmy by the way it was Gibbs opening up to McGee about his time in the war something we never really hear about. My grandfather and my 2 great grandfathers were WW2 Veterans they never once talked about the war this episode shows why many veterans didn't
I still have tears!
dewato15 April 2020
A MUST WATCH EPISODE.
khansaeed-2153915 April 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Christopher Lloyd is a master of acting. His acting was amazing. The five minutes when he was talking about Pearl harbor gave me chille, his acting was that good. i really thought this was going to be just another episode...but was i wrong...this has emmy written all over it
Christopher Lloyd Still Has It
movies-10921 October 2022
Mr. Taber from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Jim from Taxi, the Klingon Kruge, and Doc Emmett Brown, the role he was born to play. Ok, he's not 95 years old. My brother's father in law lived to be 95, and served in the Pacific. I heard a few of his stories. I realized I probably will never get to visit Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial while any Pearl survivors are still living to guide me. It is something I'd like to do. Three of my uncles served in WW2, and I never heard any of their real stories. The Greatest Generation did the job. I can think of no higher praise than - they got the job done. They were asked, they stepped up. Many of my classmates had fathers who served, some even mothers. But any stories I heard then were the public ones - the kind you tell to a class of 4th graders. The personal stories, I've only heard a few.
For a time I was driving my father in law to the VA for his doctor appointments. Sitting in the waiting room with veterans of Iraq, Afghanistan, the Gulf War, Vietnam, Korea (as my father in law is), and occasionally WW2. I feel like a voyeur listening to them talk, but I just keep my mouth shut. What can I say, except thank you.
This is a great episode - the plot isn't really important, but the story it tells is.
For a time I was driving my father in law to the VA for his doctor appointments. Sitting in the waiting room with veterans of Iraq, Afghanistan, the Gulf War, Vietnam, Korea (as my father in law is), and occasionally WW2. I feel like a voyeur listening to them talk, but I just keep my mouth shut. What can I say, except thank you.
This is a great episode - the plot isn't really important, but the story it tells is.
WOW
bmiller5916 April 2020
I wasn't able to make the title for this episode any more descriptive, I tried, but that was all I could come up with. I am still filled with emotions about this episode. In my estimation, Christopher Lloyd is royalty in the acting profession, his role and interpretation of what his character was all about spoke volumes. As a vet this episode moved me beyond words.
WOW
What does it take to make it that simple?
lightheartedbeing19 April 2020
What a great performance by Christopher Lloyd, wow. I haven't cried like that in a tv show in I don't know how long, and the final reveal by Gibbs, so moving and so damn accurate. There can't be too many WWII vets around anymore. So glad I had a chance to support some back when I worked at the VA in the early days of PTSD recovery, guys still talking about shell shock. They had a great crescendo, and Mark Harmon showed up for it, too. The two of them played off one another really well. One of the best episodes of this long standing show that's had so many. Congratulations to them all.
Beautiful and touching episode.
Saving2113 September 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Over 10 years of JAG they had special episodes that focused on small stories in the navy and the marines war stories. NCIS does the same . This story was about a war time vet played by the amazing Christopher lloyd that just want to be buried alongside his friends in pearl harbour but he has no prof and he needs the help of the team. What was the best in the episode was the change in Gibbs letting his guards down and talking with McGee. I was happy it was McGee and not one of the others bc MacGee was there from early on with the Tony Ziva and Abby, so he is the one who should be the closest to Gibbs.
Excellent Episode
dj-413672 January 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Just saw this episode for the first time, even though it's a re-run. Wow. Christopher Lloyd deserves an award for this, as well as Marc Harmon. You can feel the heartbreak in Joe's interrogation room speech. Even some of the actors appeared to be breaking up. The terror, the pain that those people on the Arizona must have felt was definitely conveyed here. I am choking up even as I write this. A great tribute to the brave heroes who defended our country in 1941 and today.
Gibbs' last talk with McGee in this ep is poignant and says it all in his finishing line "... it shouldn't take a war to make the world that simple."
A well written and gut wrenching episode; we need more like this. To all of our men in uniform past, present and future, I salute them all.
DJ.
Gibbs' last talk with McGee in this ep is poignant and says it all in his finishing line "... it shouldn't take a war to make the world that simple."
A well written and gut wrenching episode; we need more like this. To all of our men in uniform past, present and future, I salute them all.
DJ.
Good but it's no Call to Silence
jezlang13 March 2022
I've watched every episode since the first in 2003, many of them twice. If you're new or newer to the series, this is definitely one of the better ones. BUT it is basically a recycled Call to Silence, the episode with the incomparable Charles Durning. Other reviewers have mentioned it and I agree: Call to Silence is far more layered and richly textured; it will make you cry AND laugh, because that's the magic of Charles Durning and the writers of the early episodes. It's riveting. The Arizona is superior but not by comparison to that, and for my money, Broken Bird and Heartland. Those are the three best episodes in the 18+ years that don't involve prolonged story arcs. I also agree with other reviewers that Christopher Lloyd, as good as he is, tends to be the same guy in every role: slightly wild/unhinged, same vocal inflection and intonations. Other reviewers have also wondered why the admiral's wife is not credited; she is on this site: Jessica Tuck. Bottom line: Best episode in years, but eclipsed by two or three others -- including the one it ripped off.
Good Story
Johnny_West15 April 2020
Why does a man who enlisted in the Navy in 1940, using his brother's birth certificate, wait eighty years (80) to seek his Honorable Discharge papers? Christopher Lloyd plays a 95 year old man who is seeking to be recognized as a Navy veteran of the U.S.S. Arizona, so that he can be interred in the U.S.S. Arizona, at Pearl Harbor, when he dies.
In the days before computerized record-keeping, it was possible for anyone to enlist in the U.S. Military using fake documents. In this case, after Lloyd was discharged from the military, his brother would have gotten all the notifications, paperwork, and any benefits. So why didn't Lloyd fix the discrepancy? According to the story, his brother died in a car accident in 1953.
The NCIS immediately finds his death certificate and his autopsy in their NCIS internet, which is beyond ridiculous, as the NCIS would not have any reason to have the records of a 1953 car accident scanned into their database. Just like when Garcia in Criminal Minds would find elementary school records, Prom pictures, and Boy Scout merit badges that have never been scanned into any Law Enforcement database in the world.
The story begins with Lloyd breaking into the home of an Admiral that he wrote some letters to, and stealing the Purple Heart of the Admiral's deceased daughter. Sorry, but right there my sympathy for Lloyd ended. Gibbs should have arrested him, and closed the file. NCIS tracks Lloyd down thanks to a note he left behind. Lloyd refuses to give back the Purple Heart unless he is granted recognition as a Navy veteran, and given the right to have his ashes interred at the U.S.S. Arizona, at Pearl Harbor. All this has to happen in a few hours, because psychotic Lloyd demands it to be so, in his over-the-top, ham-fisted acting style.
Christopher Lloyd is his usual annoying, rude, loud, and off-the-rails lunatic self. Christopher Lloyd and his yelling and screaming acting style are repulsive to watch. I was hoping Gibbs would just smash his head into the table to get his DNA. The excuse is that Lloyd's character has dementia. What about Lloyd? This is how he has acted his whole career! Maybe he had dementia since the 1970s Taxi TV series?
The end of this story is great, because Lloyd drops dead. Gibbs has him cremated and takes the ashes to the U.S.S. Arizona, where they are interred under the Memorial, inside the actual ship. Too bad that they used Christopher Lloyd in this episode. There are literally hundreds of other elderly actors who could have made this a great episode, and who could have been sympathetic characters using the same screenplay. Having a raving lunatic play a veteran who steals Purple Hearts is disrespectful to the U.S. Navy.
In the days before computerized record-keeping, it was possible for anyone to enlist in the U.S. Military using fake documents. In this case, after Lloyd was discharged from the military, his brother would have gotten all the notifications, paperwork, and any benefits. So why didn't Lloyd fix the discrepancy? According to the story, his brother died in a car accident in 1953.
The NCIS immediately finds his death certificate and his autopsy in their NCIS internet, which is beyond ridiculous, as the NCIS would not have any reason to have the records of a 1953 car accident scanned into their database. Just like when Garcia in Criminal Minds would find elementary school records, Prom pictures, and Boy Scout merit badges that have never been scanned into any Law Enforcement database in the world.
The story begins with Lloyd breaking into the home of an Admiral that he wrote some letters to, and stealing the Purple Heart of the Admiral's deceased daughter. Sorry, but right there my sympathy for Lloyd ended. Gibbs should have arrested him, and closed the file. NCIS tracks Lloyd down thanks to a note he left behind. Lloyd refuses to give back the Purple Heart unless he is granted recognition as a Navy veteran, and given the right to have his ashes interred at the U.S.S. Arizona, at Pearl Harbor. All this has to happen in a few hours, because psychotic Lloyd demands it to be so, in his over-the-top, ham-fisted acting style.
Christopher Lloyd is his usual annoying, rude, loud, and off-the-rails lunatic self. Christopher Lloyd and his yelling and screaming acting style are repulsive to watch. I was hoping Gibbs would just smash his head into the table to get his DNA. The excuse is that Lloyd's character has dementia. What about Lloyd? This is how he has acted his whole career! Maybe he had dementia since the 1970s Taxi TV series?
The end of this story is great, because Lloyd drops dead. Gibbs has him cremated and takes the ashes to the U.S.S. Arizona, where they are interred under the Memorial, inside the actual ship. Too bad that they used Christopher Lloyd in this episode. There are literally hundreds of other elderly actors who could have made this a great episode, and who could have been sympathetic characters using the same screenplay. Having a raving lunatic play a veteran who steals Purple Hearts is disrespectful to the U.S. Navy.
Best NCIS ever!
Mack_Dermott15 April 2020
This episode will win several awards. Rarely does a TV show hit me right in the feels. This one did. Kudos to guest star Christopher Lloyd for a stellar performance.
One note - whoever wrote the "goofs" paragraph is wrong. My father joined the Marines in 1939 at age 17. He lied about his age to get in. Many recruits did not show a birth certificate upon enlistment.
One note - whoever wrote the "goofs" paragraph is wrong. My father joined the Marines in 1939 at age 17. He lied about his age to get in. Many recruits did not show a birth certificate upon enlistment.
Second onlty to "Call to Silence"
LittleStorpingInTheSwuff16 April 2020
A wonderful story, easily the best of the previous 4 or 5 seasons. I would actually rate this one 9.5 if I could. It was so much like "Call to Silence", featuring Charles Durning, a real life WW2 Hero who was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and Purple Heart. He played Marine Corporal Ernie Yost, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for bravery at Iwo Jima. It was the only TV show (not just NCIS, but all TV shows) I have given 10 stars. This episode came very close.
My one complaint about NCIS is that the producers/writers made no mention of Cp. Yost when Charles Durning passed away in 2012.
Tremendous performances from the cast and incredible editing
kmelzinga-3703416 April 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Christopher Lloyd channeled something in this show that I have never seen from him before. Although there were elements of his light-hearted Doc Brown character in this NCIS performance, he did an amazing job capturing that seething, burning desire that a loyal serviceman would have to be buried with the people that he considers family. It was inspiring to watch him slowly shift away from the cantankerous, mischievous gentleman that we are introduced to at the beginning of the show, to a broken, deeply scarred veteran. As Lloyd's character is slowly backed into a corner, his mask drops away and we see the full extent of his pain. I choked up several times. The entire NCIS production team deserves credit especially the editing team. Lloyd was fantastic, but the editing team took his performance of raw and desperate pain to a whole new level. The camera cutaways from Lloyd during his finest moment were extremely well timed. These cutaways didn't just capture the transformation of Lloyd's character, they captured the transformations of the entire NCIS team. The camera crew started with Gibbs, the only other fire in the room who truly knew the pain of war. The camera crew then gradually panned outward to encircle the rest of the team. The camera crew and the editing crew brilliantly outlined those invisible bonds that hold a team of stalwart soldiers together... Hugs among colleagues that are buried deep inside the soul and that can only be understood with a brief glance or a nod. Mark Harmon's performance in this episode was also sensational...one of tears that refused to boil, but that were simmering nonetheless.
I agree with many of the other reviewers here. This is one of the best episodes to date...certainly in the top 5. Lloyd should be nominated for an Emmy but the cinematography team and the editing team should be standing right next to Lloyd when the awards are handed out.
This NCIS drama deserves a 10+
cpolster2 January 2023
Unless you have served in a wartime situation there is no way you could fully understand and know how Joe, Christoper Lloyd, felt. His performance was very believable. Dementia and Alzheimer's patients do become confused and forget and can get mad at the drop of a hat.
The part when Gibbs gives the divers Joe's ashes to be placed on the USS Arizona is a final salute for Joe.
Gibbs says that maybe the best of him was gone and part of you is still there. I often wonder today why am I a bit different, what did I leave behind. I served in Nam, USMC, 1968-1969 and still now and then have lifelike dreams and thoughts. Anyone that has not served and understand should not even rate. As you really do not have an idea what war does to a person years later.
The part when Gibbs gives the divers Joe's ashes to be placed on the USS Arizona is a final salute for Joe.
Gibbs says that maybe the best of him was gone and part of you is still there. I often wonder today why am I a bit different, what did I leave behind. I served in Nam, USMC, 1968-1969 and still now and then have lifelike dreams and thoughts. Anyone that has not served and understand should not even rate. As you really do not have an idea what war does to a person years later.
Truly heartfelt
bl-6397412 November 2020
Possibly one of their best ever! Great perspective on one of the darkest days of the country's history. Christopher Lloyd gave one of his best performances ever in my opinion. If there was ever must see TV this was it.
Perfect Ending
topperj115 April 2020
Emotional and heroic.
MrPete0117 April 2020
One of the series top episodes
tonyandpam16 April 2020
This is certainly the best episode of the year, and one of the top episodes of the series. The show has become somewhat cookbookish over the past couple of seasons but this episode was anything but. The story isn't really new - a WWII vet in his last days but Christopher Lloyd makes this show. It's not about the story. Lloyd's on-screen presence captivates you and he steals every scene. I hope he will be recognized come Emmy time.
Actress playing Admirals Wife
jdalbaugh17 April 2020
Episode was better than most but...
buddybradley-2266516 April 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Hard to explain why NCIS put so many resources into a burglary. Hard to explain why they handled it the way they did. The key point in the ending with the bolt was false. The company making the bolts would have made 10s of thousands. They wouldn't have all gone to the Arizona. The chemical makeup of bolts is controlled. Bolts made to standard have very similar makeups even made years apart in different factories. Bolt didn't prove anything. They could have done better if they had thought about it.
They ruined it!
lynne-2755628 April 2020
It felt realistic when Joe Smith began ranting at Bishop and Torres, questioning them on their knowledge of WWII. UNTIL he challenged them on the attack on Pearl Harbour - and they both stood there and stammered, then both admitted they had no idea. REALLY??! Two Americans - both NCIS agents - don't know that date? Give. Me. A. Break. Could've been a good story, although I couldn't see why NCIS got involved in the burglary. I thought their evidence at the end was pretty far-fetched and altogether the whole episode felt contrived. We've been watching this show since its beginning and it's always been my No.1 favourite of all our shows. I hope this was a one-off.
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