This episode begins with Gibbs receiving a mysterious wedding invitation, but he calls the team away to investigate the murder of Naval Lt. Commander Casey, working for the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). Somehow, arms deals and book publishing - something McGee is familiar with - are involved. The initially anonymous author, former Marine 1st Lieutenant Keeler, submitted a manuscript about "Operation Birdsong" which was confiscated by the DIA as a threat to national security. The Birdsong op involved stolen flint rifles in Cypress which turned up in Afghanistan. A second DIA employee (an FBI agent) turns up dead during NCIS's investigation.
This death brings in Joe Spano as FBI agent Fornell. I'm not a huge fan of his character, but I suppose he performs a necessary function. I gather Spano is Italian since he always emphasizes the correct pronunciation of DiNozzo's name: "Dee NOTE So" (2 Z's in Italian have a "TS" sound). Makes me think that in Fornell's back story when his family first came through Ellis Island, the authorities dropped the final vowel, probably an "i". But I digress, and will again: They clearly show McGee using Google for his search. So either he must like his every search tracked and logged, or Google paid for that product placement. Someone as tech-savy as McGee would never use something like Google, there are much safer search engines. So I hope the producers got a lot of money for that shot.
This death brings in Joe Spano as FBI agent Fornell. I'm not a huge fan of his character, but I suppose he performs a necessary function. I gather Spano is Italian since he always emphasizes the correct pronunciation of DiNozzo's name: "Dee NOTE So" (2 Z's in Italian have a "TS" sound). Makes me think that in Fornell's back story when his family first came through Ellis Island, the authorities dropped the final vowel, probably an "i". But I digress, and will again: They clearly show McGee using Google for his search. So either he must like his every search tracked and logged, or Google paid for that product placement. Someone as tech-savy as McGee would never use something like Google, there are much safer search engines. So I hope the producers got a lot of money for that shot.
