TVSquad

(S07E06) Any time Muse Watson returns to NCIS as Gibbs' mentor Mike Franks, there's usually something special in the works. Tonight's episode was no different.

With Franks involved in what looked like a heinous act of double murder, Jethro was thrust into the middle of what appeared to be an open-and-shut case.

Not so fast, Probie. The Kelly adrift with two dead bodies -- two ex-military men with ties to a private military operation -- was the first and biggest clue to the mystery.

Vance jumped to the conclusion that Mike had done it, which was just what Mike wanted. If he was going to be investigated, he wanted NCIS to do the investigating. He used Gibbs' boat -- a gift to Jethro's God-daughter, Ameera -- knowing that Jethro would be the one doing the investigating.

The reasons weren't clear at first. Mike said he thought the para-military goons were after him, but he was spinning a tale and didn't figure it out for a while. Everything related to Iraq, Mike's son, Layla's mother, and an abduction. Once the why became clear, the how became clearer. Mike wouldn't have done what he said he'd done, and Gibbs knew it. Mike's a lot of things, but not a stone-cold killer.

So that was figured out, but we still haven't been told how the boat got out of Gibbs' basement. Even Abby couldn't figure that one out. She dismantled the boat for evidence, expecting to discover some secret Gibbs device that would collapse the vehicle into something that would make it through a door, but in the end, nothing.

Well, there was something. The double bullets; a 22 slug inside a 45. Abby and Ducky were amazed that they figured it out, but Gibbs recognized the similarity to a case he'd solved with Mike. A wild geese -- not goose -- case. That was when Mike stopped the B.S. description of how he did it.

It was funny how Vance observed in the end that this was a family thing. In fact, an in-law thing. Mike and Layla's mother brokered some kind of peace and wound up on the porch in Mexico.

Other points of interest

-- Tony was in rare form about Ziva becoming an American citizen, especially comparing her to Little Orphan Annie. If only he had sung "Tomorrow."

-- Favorite line: "Actually, I think Colonel Hogan has a radio in the coffee pot, but the tunnel might have been filled in."

-- It was great to see Harmon smiling so much. That's what happens in these Mike Franks episodes.

-- Abby and Ducky need to work on their intervention skills.

-- The Kelly was one beautiful boat. Gibbs has hidden talents.

[Watch clips and episodes of NCIS at SlashControl.]