In last Tuesday’s episode of "NCIS" Gibbs (Mark Harmon) got a blast from the past when an agent he used to work with, named Vera Strickland (Roma Maffia), was transferred to NCIS so she could finish out the short time she had left in her career.
According to the preview for this Tuesday’s episode, Gibbs is about to get another blast from the past—Mike Franks.
Now just in case anyone is getting excited, I’m pretty sure Mike Franks (Muse Watson) isn’t returning from the dead. However, Gibbs and his team are investigating a death that links to Gibbs' mentor and possibly some Afghan women.
The episode seems to have flashbacks to conversations Gibbs’ had with Franks (or maybe Gibbs is hallucinating again). Nevertheless Gibbs says something to Franks that that raises some questions :
“Rule 14: Bend the line don’t break it. Human smuggling breaks it.”
Human smuggling?!
Was Mike Franks into the smuggling of women? If so, what were his reasons? Was he trying to save them?
You can watch the preview here.
Last week began the post-Ziva era on “NCIS” and it got off to a good start. The show still had many of the things that make it fun to watch. Also, as showrunner Gary Glasberg pointed out, the show did not shy away from Ziva’s (Cote de Pablo) absence. According to Glasberg, the acknowledgement of Ziva’s departure isn’t going away after one episode but the show will continue to move on.
“Oh, it’s very present. It’s a big part of quite a few episodes,” he said in a recent interview with TVLine. “You’ll see glances and references to the empty desk, but at the same time we try to get back to the fun and the humor and the lightness and the banter of the squad room — all the things that people like about our show. But we’re not hiding from it, it’s acknowledged.”
There will be some fill-ins for Ziva's spot prior to the arrival of Emily Wickersham’s agent Ellie Bishop, who is supposed to be Ziva's permanent replacement. For more information on the fill-ins click here.
“NCIS” airs Tuesdays’ at 8/7c on CBS.
RELATED ARTICLE: NCIS Season 11: The Post-Ziva Era Begins; Will Emily Wickersham Fit In?
