NCIS - Blast from the Past - Review: "The computer nerd"

On this week's NCIS, Gibbs realized that a murder victim used an old undercover alias of his. In the case that follows, we saw what it was like for a low-tech guy like Gibbs to become a completely opposite high-tech guy.

The case starts with a man being shot to death in his car. Since he was a civilian, it is strange that NCIS is called in. However, it turns out the identity of the deceased was Leland Robert Spears, which was an old cover identity for Gibbs some 20 years ago. Back at NIS, Gibbs used that identity to work on various cases. The identity was supposed to be destroyed, so Gibbs turns to former NIS Director Tom Morrow. He reveals the alias was created by Michelle Stark aka "The Architect", who created various covert identities but is now retired. Meanwhile, McGee and Bishop investigate fake Spears' apartment while Abby runs the GPS on his car. She finds he has been quite often to a cabin in the woods, so McGee and Bishop go check it out. However, as they approach the cabin, it is blown to bits and pieces.

In the ashes, they find a computer that was hidden behind a couch. McGee later discovers that Spears did research on gallium nitride, which can be used to missile applications and anti-radar equipment. This is no coincidence, because when Gibbs was undercover as Spears, he investigated a company that was doing research on gallium nitride. It must be the reason his identity was stolen, and Gibbs reveals he went undercover as a computer specialist, or a computer nerd as the team calls it. Abby discovers fake Spears used the alias to pose as a technician for a company called Longview Technics. Since the company is unlikely to share their files with NCIS, Gibbs decides to go undercover again as Spears. After some trouble and four hours, Gibbs manages to download the files from the company's computer. It turns out fake Spears was stealing information from the company and sent it to someone else. However, the team finds that person dead as well. He was living under the alias of Edgar Bron, which was previously used by Mike Franks.

Later, Gibbs tells McGee to look into Miranda Flemming and looks again at pictures from Spears' apartment. He notices a tattoo magazine while Spears didn't have any of them. He goes to see the body and shines a black light, which reveals that Spears had a tattoo in Serbian. As Gibbs and Tom Morrow once again question Michelle Stark, McGee found Miranda Flemming booked a flight to Buenos Aires. Flemming was an alias used by Jenny Shepard, but the photo shows that Stark now uses it. After moving to the interrogation room, Stark confesses to giving the identities and receiving a lot of money for it. She was upset that she was pushed into mandatory retirement. Gibbs instructs her to email her handler and tell that Bron survived his shooting and is now in the hospital. A quick undercover stint follows and the handler is revealed to be Spears' next-door neighbor. He admits to killing Spears and Bron and claims he has diplomatic immunity. Serbia denies that.

During the case, we see Bishop take an interesting curiosity in undercover work. She is stunned to hear about Tony's undercover job as Tony DiNardo in season 4 and subsequently starts wondering whether Gibbs would ever send her undercover. At the end of the episode, she point blank asks him that question. Gibbs is unresponsive and says she should go to Jake.

For an episode entitled "Blast from the Past", we didn't get to see a whole lot of the past. Sure, Gibbs got a certain blast with his undercover identity from 20 years ago and we learned a lot about that. However, it would have been nice if we actually got to see the past instead of just hearing about it. This episode would have been a great opportunity for some flashbacks, and there would even be the possibility of Mike Franks and/or Jenny Shepard returning. The episode did provide some nice humor after the intense Sergei arc, but it's not up to the level of hilarity in a Diane episode (I will really miss those!). The case wasn't so strong either and the culprits were once again pretty predictable. Overall, this episode was nothing special.

However, I did really like the undercover stuff. Seeing Gibbs as a computer nerd was funny, and the undercover operation at the hospital was a nice touch. Both of them were short though, I wouldn't mind seeing more of these scenes. It would be great if we were to get an entire undercover episode a la "Chained" or "Under covers". I am not sure why Bishop was asking all these questions about undercover work, but if it was meant as a set-up for her going undercover later this season I'm all in.

A few side dishes:
-"You have reached your final destination." Lol, it appears so.
-There were various references to old episodes, like Tony falling in love with Jeanne Benoit. I feel that this season has been pretty heavy on past references, which I love!
-I assume Mike and Jenny never worked together in the undercover operation 20 years ago? If they did, there would be a continuity error because the two of them only met in the season 3 finale.
-Gibbs telling Morrow that his Smartphone wasn't smart enough. I love Gibbs being low-tech!
-Tony was unwilling to meet Zoe's parents yet. You take it any pace you want, boy!
-Gibbs really didn't like that cat, did he?
-Perhaps the biggest blast from the past was the writer. This episode was written by David J. North, whose latest NCIS episode was 7.08 "Power Down". Episodes written by him include the season 5 finale, co-written by Steven D. Binder and Christopher J. Waild, and the season 6 finale.

What did you think of this episode? Do you think the show should have used flashbacks for this one? How did you feel about the case of the week? Did you correctly predict that the "Cat Lady" was involved? And finally, will Bishop's questions about undercover work lead to something later this season? Please feel welcome to discuss the episode in the comment section below.

The next NCIS episode airs Tuesday, March 10.

About the Author - Daniel van der Veer

Daniel van der Veer is a Dutch university student studying Psychology. On SpoilerTV he is a reviewer of NCIS, The 100, Stalker, Madam Secretary and the upcoming shows Battle Creek and Odyssey. He also enjoys LOST, Arrow, NCIS: Los Angeles, NCIS: New Orleans, Nikita, The Blacklist, Scorpion and How To Get Away With Murder.

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