TVSquad

(S04E22) We started season four with a look at Tony taking over for the retired Gibbs. So it's fitting that as we move toward the end of the season we get to see the two of them in parallel stories. They both are facing big decisions where the women in their lives are concerned. And both of them are struggling with what to do, though for different reasons.

Over the last 90 episodes we have learned plenty about Gibbs' past. The issues he has with making a more official commitment to his relationship with Hollis (Susana Thompson) didn't come as a surprise. Gibbs has baggage, and a lot of it. It's a complicated situation and I really like the way they handled it.

For Hollis' part, her actions make perfect sense. She's at a point in her life where it is time to settle down. With her retirement from the military comes a whole new way of life. Add to that what we know about her, and her no-nonsense proposal to Gibbs rings true. As does his reluctance to just jump right in. Their little flirtation over plumbing and down payments was cute, and it set up the payoff at the end nicely. I really like the Hollis character, and I especially like her with Gibbs, so I was glad to see Gibbs commit, even if it was just a little.

Tony and Jeanne (Scottie Thompson) on the other hand, they have me completely confused. I understand all too well the situation with her having to move out of her apartment because they are being turned into condos. I just moved two weeks ago for that very same reason. But that is about all I understand about their relationship right now. Where did that "Let's get a place together." thing come from? That's not putting the cart ahead of the horse. That's putting the cart about three miles ahead of the horse.

Unless I'm missing something, Jeanne doesn't even know what Tony actually does for a living yet. What angle, or twist of logic, can possibly make that seem like a plausible idea to Tony. "Don't worry, I'll help you find a place." That would have been fine. "Look at it this way, you can move to a place that is closer to mine." Also workable. Moving in together. That's just confusing. Not that it was bad. At this point, I'm completely sold on the Tony/Jeanne story and have to know the answer. So, I'll take this latest bit as a giant ball of WTF that is going to add to the big payoff, for now.

That part of the episode also gets credit because it did provide a great scene between Tony and Ziva, after she overheard the phone conversation. The growth of their relationship has been one of my favorite parts of this season. They fight and joke, but there is a real love and respect underneath it, and it's been very interesting to watch.

Anyway, enough with the Days Of NCIS. There was a case this week as well. And it was a pretty good one, largely due to John Billingsley's character Jackson Scott. It's hard to see Billingsley and not think of him as Dr. Phlox, unless you didn't watch Enterprise. Then it's probably pretty easy. It's how I always think of him though. I settled on Cmdr. Jacobsen (Terry Bozeman) as the perp as soon as he said Lindh wasn't part of the investigation. That didn't come as much of a surprise. But the big reveal of the fruit smell being what ultimately brought him down was clever. And I loved Tony's line as they closed the net on him, "And we have come to believe that it was Colonel Mustard, in the conservatory, with a wrench."

Other bits of interest: Ducky finding the bra was funny, if for nothing other than the bewildered look on his face as he found it. The Palmer/Lee bit is getting a little tired at this point though. I'm ready to get that one in the rear view. What's the story with Abby giving up caffeine? I've seen speculation that she might be pregnant, but I think that's a bit of a stretch. And finally, the planetarium software that McGee was talking about, Celestia, is a real thing. If you are interested in space, or just curious to see more, you can download it from shatters.net.

With a solid case, a nice guest star performance, and some interesting relationship developments, the show has rebounded nicely from a down week. For all of that, I'm giving this one a 6, out of 7. Now all the messing about is done and we can charge into the last two episodes looking for some big answers. And yeah, probably a cliffhanger of some sort, but just keep focusing on the answers. They should be fun.