NCIS “Housekeeping” Review

I like to think that the title of this episode of NCIS, “Housekeeping”, refers to the way they neatly cleaned up the loose ends we had after this season’s premiere. The team is on what appears to be a regular humdrum murder case, but Tony keeps reacting strongly to clues along the way and lo and behold, they stumble across none other that EJ Barrett herself.

Turns out she’s not dead so much as living on the run for the past few months, trying to stay one step ahead of the man who tried to kill her and Tony. Speaking of the killer, we find out that Stratton is a former green beret whose real name is Cole. Once Gibbs is on his trail, there’s not much that can keep him from catching the man who (in Gibbs’ wonderful words) nearly killed his best agent.

Along the way there is of course a lot of tension between EJ and Tony, which is to be expected. Ending an affair with gunfire, death and bloodshed is never a good thing and I knew the moment we saw her that she would soon be on her way out. But she didn’t leave before dropping a few nuggets of advice on Tony about his romantic life.

Now I know after the last minutes of this episode, everyone is going to probably be expecting me to comment on the Tony and Ziva stuff, but I think I might just have keep my yap shut. First of all, I’m not really into the two of those getting together (heck, I wrote a whole article about that fact last year), and second of all, none of us really know what’s going to happen next. So I think for now I’m just going to see how everything between Ziva and CI Ray pans out (I am purposely not mentioning what I saw in the preview in case that’s a spoiler for some people).

All the possible romance stuff aside, this was a great episode. I thought everyone was on the money as far as characterization and I felt like Cole made a worthy foe of the team – which made his capture that much sweeter when it happened.

My favorite bits..

Oooh…good sign. Whenever they do a “Previously on NCIS” I know we’re in for a good ep.

“Surly you’re mistaken.”

Tony snarling at Ziva. Aw, it’s been a while since we’ve seen him snarl, hadn’t it? Love it when he does that, probably because I find myself doing it a lot, too.

Crazy Cat Lady not being able to remember the color of the car..or the hair of the girl who ran off into the woods.or much of anything really.

The look on Tony’s face when Gibbs’ phone rang near his ear.

Ziva and McGee not believing Tony’s claim that his reaction to Naples was “nothing.” Nope, me neither.

Gibbs giving Abby a sandwich. Aw.

The hotel clerk claiming that the lady (c’mon we all know it’s EJ at this point, right?) was like “one of those Star Wars Jedi people.”

Tony reading EJ the riot act for leaving him for dead in an alley.

Gibbs yelling at Tony to stop it. Whoa.

Tony telling EJ that he spent a LOT of time looking for her.

“That man was shooting at me. You have to take my word for it.”
“Why?” – I kinda wanted to hug Ziva right then.

Gibbs ordering EJ and Tony (aka the two targets) to stay behind.

Wanting Gibbs to turn around so bad so he would see Stratton standing behind him.

Absolutely loving the code that Tony and Gibbs were using. Only wish I could’ve heard Gibbs’ side of it.

“It’s called a safe house not a tidy house.”

Tony sitting back on the couch with his gun, obviously ready to stay up all night while EJ slept. Aw, gotta love a protective Tony.

“You said nothing when Stratton came to the hospital looking to gun down my best agent.” – Epic squeeage after that line. Epic.

Tony waking up (oops, so much for staying up all night) and immediately pointing his gun at the door.

Feeling strangely respectful of Stratton ..er Cole for taking the dog with him.

James Bond?? Seriously EJ? Wait. What? Xanadu?? Oh dear, she is so confused.

“Surround yourself with people you would give your own life for.”

Holy crap! Cole isn’t messing around. He didn’t bring a knife to a gun fight, he brought a freaking rocket launcher! (and again, we all know that EJ and Tony weren’t in *that* house, right?)

“A gun that size has limited accuracy.”
“Seems pretty damn accurate to me.”

Gibbs’ tiny little grin when he told Cole to go for it.

Side note: Really, really enjoying that shirt on Tony. Just sayin’.

Tony’s “Don’t disappear” when the elevator closed on EJ.

Cole making it very clear he knew about Gibbs’ trip to Mexico. Interesting but I’m sorry, that guy he shot was anything but innocent.

Ziva finally getting that phone call she was waiting for. Oh dear, I can hear the Tiva people screaming all the way from here. LOL.

What did you think of this episode of NCIS? Got any favorite bits or least favorite bits of your own? I’d love to hear from you!

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