NCIS - Keep Going - Review: “Jimmy, You’re My Hero!”
14.13 - “Keep Going”
Directed by Terrence O’Hara
Written by Scott A. Williams
Reviewed by Kelly Anne Blount
This week’s episode opens with a father and his adult son fighting. The father blows through a stop sign while shouting at his son. He quickly calms down and eases up a bit. He even pulls over to get his son cash out of the ATM.
OH NO! As the father is crossing the street, someone speeds down the street and runs over his father! The son panics and runs to his father, whose head is bleeding profusely. Things do not look good.
Abby and Jimmy are catching up in the morgue. She made him skull cookies. Aw, Abby! Jimmy’s feeling a little pouty because his wife and daughter are out of town. Aw, Jimmy! He misses his family and admits to having something like the “winter blues.” He also has on itchy socks, which makes me cringe. I HATE ITCHY SOCKS!
Gibbs calls, they have a body. Navy Captain Paul Smith was found a long way from his car. Interesting, they report that the key was left in the ignition. Where is his son?
Gibbs starts to interview a suspect. While Jimmy spots someone on a ledge! He races toward the building. Why isn’t he telling anyone where he’s going?
The witness tells Gibbs that the man had a son and that he was crying over his father’s body. She gives a description of what the son was wearing and says that she lost him when the police arrived.
JIMMY! What are you doing? He stops the son from jumping by sneaking out on the ledge and grabbing his belt moments before the man was going to jump! EEK!
Palmer has a hold of the man by his belt and he’s holding a pole with his other hand. Gibbs starts to get out on the ledge, but the man freaks out. He doesn’t want anyone else on the ledge with them.
Jimmy gets the man to tell him his name, it’s Ryan. Jimmy has a flashback. He and Ducky are working together. Jimmy, who’s afraid that he just showed cowardly behavior, is comforted by Ducky. We flash back to the present, where Ryan is distraught. He tells Jimmy that his dad was a real hero, a war hero, and he didn’t deserve to die.
Gibbs calls Quinn and gives her the heads up. She stops the firefighters from entering the building. She tells them that one of their guys is up there and, “If he dies, you’ll be dealing with the whole U.S. Navy.” The firefighter gives that some serious consideration and holds his crew back, at least for the time being.
Bishop shows McGee a picture of the scene. Guess what’s missing? Skid marks.
Ryan is getting restless on the ledge. Jimmy tells him about his wife and kid. Ryan is blaming himself for his dad’s death. Poor, guy!
Bishop and McGee head up to see Gibbs. They tell him about the missing skid marks. Gibbs asks Ryan if he got a look at the car that hit his father. He didn’t and he says that everyone loved his dad.
Gibbs tells Jimmy not to let Ryan fall and then he tells Torres not to let Jimmy fall. Gibbs loves his team.
Gibbs and Quinn do some investigating. They found a possible enemy of the Captain.
Torres is trying to help. He’s making small talk about pigeons.
Jimmy has another flashback. It was his third day on the job and he “almost blew it.” Luckily, Ducky let it slide. Jimmy and Ducky sure have a special relationship. I love them.
Torres asks Ryan and Jimmy if they’re hungry. Burgers are on the way.
Abby has footage from the hit and run. Ducky brings Abby the Captain’s wallet. Ducky also has paint scrapings from the vehicle that hit the Captain.
Ryan tells Jimmy that he thought, “he’d be in Architectural Digest by now.” Instead he’s still in entry level jobs. Interesting, Ryan points out how everyone else he knows is posting about how great their lives are on social media. Jimmy says, “Yeah, there’s no B sides. Everyone only posts their greatest hits.” Jimmy tells Ryan that no one ever posts about the bad times. Aw, Jimmy! You’re so sweet!
Jimmy says that social media can’t lift you up like your real friends can. He has a flashback of Abby telling him that, “Things will work out for the best, if you just have faith!”
NO! Jimmy almost falls off the ledge! Thank goodness Ryan saves him! PHEW! Jimmy says, “You don’t want to die,” because, “you saved me!”
Torres tries to give Jimmy and Ryan the food, but Ryan doesn’t want anyone else on the ledge. Jimmy won’t let go and meet Torres half way to get the food. McGee is prepared and scoots the food over to Jimmy on the ledge.
McGee has an ear piece; he attaches it on the outside of the cardboard tray the burgers are in. He knows that it won’t get thrown away because, “Jimmy never litters.” Me either, Jimmy. Me either.
Now the whole team can hear Jimmy and Ryan. Aw, Jimmy says that Gibbs is, “There’s no one who’s had a tougher life than Agent Gibbs.” He admits that Gibbs is not a hugger and that he has never hugged him. He also says that many people rely on Gibbs. Aw, Jimmy says that Gibbs was there for him more than anyone else on his “darkest day,” the day the adoption fell through. “Gibbs was the one who comforted me most.” Jimmy has another flashback about his adoption falling through and how Gibbs comforted him. It’s so sad. Poor, Jimmy!
Ryan and Jimmy are talking on the ledge. He lets it slip that his father blew through an intersection. Gibbs wants to know which intersection, unfortunately the mic is only a one way and Jimmy can’t hear Gibbs. Jimmy doesn’t even know that anyone can hear him. Like magic, Jimmy asks Ryan, “Which intersection?”
Abby has the intersection footage. They see the Captain blow through the stop signs and an SUV almost gets hit. The SUV turns around and follows the Captain’s car. Gibbs wants to know who owns the SUV and an ID on the driver. Could the driver be the Captain’s enemy, Morgan?
Jimmy asks if Ryan if he is his own worst enemy? I think the answer may be yes.
Jimmy has another flashback where he remembers impressing Dr. Mallard. Ducky even tells him, “That’s very clever.” Jimmy tells Ryan that moment inspired him to finish med school and take the M.E. test. Ryan wants to know what happened. Jimmy tells Ryan that he failed the test twice, but that he passed the third time. He says, “I aced it!” Even though he passed the test, he didn’t tell anyone at work because, “I don’t want to go anywhere else.” Aw, Jimmy!
Gibbs and McGee get a hold of Morgan, who admits that he called the Captain’s kid a loser. That’s why the Captain threatened him with a Court Marshall. Ouch!
Abby and Bishop have something! First they tell Gibbs that Jimmy deserves a raise. They are adorable! Then, they tell Gibbs that they have the identity of the man who hit the Captain! It definitely wasn’t Morgan; it was a random guy with past DUI charges and a history of being aggressive in a vehicle. The man, Edgar, has no connection to Captain Smith.
Back on the ledge, Ryan says that the media is super depressing, everyone is pointing fingers at one another. Talk about nailing the current political climate! Jimmy tells him to kill the meanness with kindness. He tells him to, “smile more” and “to be a good friend!”
Jimmy has another flashback. He didn’t want to catalog his friend’s scars or weigh her liver. He tells Ryan he only sees the B sides at work. He tells Ryan to take something bad and turn it into something good. “Ryan, you are the something good that he left behind.”
Gibbs appears at the ledge with news! He tells Ryan that the man that hit his father did it purely because he had road rage. Gibbs also tells Ryan that it wasn’t his fault and that he needs him to testify in court, in order to get justice for his father.
Gibbs tosses Jimmy the Captain’s wallet. Inside, he has a picture of him and his son. His son was celebrating an architecture project in the photo. The picture is worn because the Captain showed it off a lot. Aw! He was proud of his son and Ryan finally realizes it!
Jimmy quotes Dr. Mallard and says, “When you’re going through hell, keep going!”
Jimmy lets go of Ryan’s belt and says, “Let’s go inside.”
People on the street clap as Ryan goes inside. Jimmy slips as he’s climbing inside the building, MY HEART! Phew! Torres catches him, looks at Gibbs, and says, “You told me not to let him fall.”
Jimmy finds out that everyone was listening. Dr. Mallard shows up, because he loves Jimmy and so do I. He calls him, “Dr. Palmer.” Cue the tears.
The episode ends with Jimmy going to visit Gibbs. Gibbs is building another boat in his basement. Jimmy apologizes for telling Ryan about Gibb’s personal life. Awwwww!!! Gibbs hugs Jimmy! A big, emotional hug!
*******
My Thoughts:
That ending! I totally cried! Gibbs is just the best!
This episode was fantastic! I loved that they featured Jimmy! He was so brave and really put it all out there when he was talking to Ryan. I thought the focus on some of the original cast members (i.e., Gibbs, Dr. Mallard, and Abby) was a nice change. It really shows how deep the bonds and friendship are between the people on this team.
What did you think about the episode? Leave a comment below!
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