Deliverance (10 Feb. 2009)
"NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service" Deliverance (original title)

The team finds some numbers written in blood at crime scene. Gibbs instantly identifies the numbers as his, and knows it's a message for him. While the team tries to solve the murder, Gibbs calls his mentor Mike Franks in for help.

Director:

Dennis Smith

Writers:

Donald P. Bellisario (creator), Don McGill (creator),

Stars:

Mark Harmon, Michael Weatherly, Cote de Pablo

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Mark Harmon	...	Leroy Jethro Gibbs
Michael Weatherly	...	Anthony DiNozzo
Cote de Pablo	...	Ziva David
Pauley Perrette	...	Abby Sciuto
Sean Murray	...	Timothy McGee
Rocky Carroll	...	Leon Vance
David McCallum	...	Dr. Donald Mallard
Muse Watson	...	Mike Franks
Kurt Caceres	...	Marine Staff Sergeant Vincente Medina
Jesse Garcia	...	Marine Private First Class Tomas Tamayo
Kari Coleman	...	Maggie Scott
Joseph Julian Soria	...	Victor 'Popeye' Carmado
Chad Todhunter	...	Pete Lewis
Ana Mercedes	...	Glenda
Héctor A. García	...	Mickey Diaz

Storyline

Marines private first class Emilio Salazar (18), recruited 4 months ago, from age 12 member of the Pecados Capitales (PCs) street gang, is fatally shot in Liberty Heights- by pistol, 6 hours later by machine gun, and strung-up by cuffs. Jethro contacts his NIS mentor Mike Franks, believing it's because of their 18 years old Cali drug cartel mission, which involved the late Rose, whose son marine private first class (also ex PC) Tomas Tamayo's blood was used to write Gibbs's service no. The fatal bullet traces to PC Victor 'Popeye' Carmado, who makes a false confession. So does their USMC platoon commander, staff sergeant Vincente Medina, also ex-PC. It ties to gun theft and someone else.

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Plot Keywords:

jail | father figure | fight | fist fight | handcuffs

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 February 2009 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Belisarius Productions, CBS Paramount Network Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

The TEC-9 was never a fully automatic submachine gun. It was a semi-automatic pistol, and wasn't able to be converted to full auto. Its predecessor, the KG-9 was easily convertible to full auto, and is the actual gun shown here.

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Quotes

NCIS Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs: Rose had a son?
Mike Franks: Uh, yeah. Was about a year old when i brought her here.
NCIS Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs: You knew?
Mike Franks: I'm guessing you didn't.

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Connections

References Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)

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Soundtracks

"I Don't Want To Be On TV"
Performed by The The Airborne Toxic Event
(When Abby is dancing)

User Reviews

Just like the Opeth album

Deliverance. Now there's a word that can mean just about anything, though it's probable that most people's first thought would be "being freed of something", but it can also mean a concrete delivery of something. And this episode offers multiple solutions, not all of which are mutually exclusive. I add one star for just the clever-but-thankfully-not-"hey look how clever we are" way the writers play with the audience's expectations about what they are referring to with the word (BTW, words by themselves don't refer to anything, as George Yule points out in his book, Study of Language. Now there's food for thought.). Since it would be a spoiler and in this very case I want to avoid that spoiler, you'll just have to take my word that the "deliverance" they refer to is quite brilliant.

So, aside from wordplay, why is this episode any better than the usual 7/10 NCIS episodes? Well, first of all, it maintains a steady pace throughout, but instead of mucho action set pieces (though there are a couple), this one opts for *both* the intellectual and emotional paths. Therefore, it's more engaging. Although a typical 10-year old might complain about the lack of explosions... Also, the cast is in top form in this one. Pretty much every joke, every look, every expression is pitch perfect. Usually, someone is just coasting along in the acting department, but this time everyone shines. Of course, Abby steals the show as usual, although that's just my subjective opinion - I'm pretty convinced that she's the most likable character in TV of the '00s. And as you can see from the plot outline, Mike Franks pops up too, which is never a bad thing - although often a sign of trouble. His scenes with Vance are just fantastic.

But this episode really belongs to Gibbs, and Mark Harmon delivers (heh heh) a nicely restrained performance - but he also manages to convey to the viewer that there is an enormous inner turmoil in Gibbs. That's where the emotional path through this episode runs. The writers find new ways to play out the old "Will he be able to separate his feelings from his duty?" question, with a brilliant pay-off. That's about All That Can Be Safely Written. Oh, the Opeth reference in my review summary? This episode is like that album. It twists and turns, at times lulls you into serenity and then hits you squarely in the face with a massive hammer. And you enjoy every second of it. 9/10.