NCIS: New Orleans - Slay the Dragon - Review: “Repercussions & Restitution”
3.18 - “Slay the Dragon”
Directed by Mary Lou Belli
Written by Kate Sargeant
Reviewed by Kelly Anne Blount
We pick up where the last episode left off, which was with Gregorio pointing her gun at her ex-husband, Ethan McKinley’s chest. Apparently, he thought breaking into her place in New Orleans was a good idea. Knowing what we do of Gregorio and her thoughts on her scheming ex, this isn’t going to work out too well for him!
Gregorio picks up her phone and tells him she’s calling the cops. Ethan asks her to give him two minutes and hear him out. He says that he’s in trouble and he needs her help.
He says that the Aufiero crime family wants him dead. Gregorio says that a lot of people want him dead after he stole 80 million dollars from Hurricane Katrina relief funds. Ethan admits that the crime family forced him to steal the money. He then became an informant for the FBI and due to his testimony, the lead Aufiero crime boss was placed in jail. As a direct result, Ethan was place in WITSEC. He’s been living in Ohio for the past ten years and flipping burgers.
Ethan tells Gregorio that she’s the only one he can trust. Before she can find anything else out, Percy knocks on her door and tells her that they have a case. Gregorio handcuffs Ethan to her bed until she can verify his story. This is NOT going to go over well with the team. Also, what if Ethan has to pee?
Uh oh, turns out that the victim is Alex Aufiero, the son of the Aufiero crime family. The same family that allegedly wants Ethan dead.
There’s footage of “a man fleeing” in Alex’s car. Is that man, Ethan?
Alex wanted out of the family. He joined the Navy and distanced himself from the crime family. Per Gregorio, her ex-husband took Alex under his wing once he left the family and states that Alex, “had nothing to do with organized crime.” Pride reminds her that he might not have been involved, but that doesn’t mean he couldn’t have still been a target.
Pride senses something is up and he’s on to Gregorio.
Ethan has escaped Gregorio’s handcuffs. He leaves her a note to meet him at a local bar/restaurant. She confronts him that he fled the scene of Alex’s murder in his car. Before Ethan can talk his way out of it, LaSalle and Percy show up with their guns drawn. Percy exclaims, “GREGORIO?!!?” She is totally busted.
LaSalle is on fire. He’s pissed at Gregorio and Ethan! Percy says that she has Gregorio’s back, but, “Pride is going to want a better explanation.”
Eek! Pride is beyond angry! He wants her to step back and he’s even thinking of kicking her off the case.
Pride and LaSalle interrogate Ethan. LaSalle calls him, “a thief and a parasite.”
He says the bullet that Alex took was meant for him. He also tells Pride and LaSalle that he can identify Alex’s killer.
Gregorio tells Percy about her backstory with Ethan. Percy is a good friend. She really does have Gregorio’s back.
LaSalle announces that they have something. Ethan identified Vincenzo Moretti from the Aufiero crime family, as Alex’s killer. Turns out Moretti is a very bad guy and he has been connected to, “a dozen or so contract kills.” The police have been looking for him for two years and remains on the run.
Sebastian found something. He found a special kind of rum at the scene. The rum leads the team to an abandoned rum factory. Patton and Sebastian are in Patton’s van and they are helping the team identify if anyone is inside. They narrow in on someone and plan on flushing him outside.
Uh oh! A shoot out ensues and Vincenzo ends up dead. Gregorio says, “So much for taking him alive.”
Back at NCIS HQ, Sebastian has matched the bullets from Vincenzo’s gun with the bullet that killed Alex Aufiero. Gregorio says that Ethan told her Alex took the bullet intended for Ethan, like a hero. Sebastian doesn’t agree. He thinks Alex was always the target. Vincenzo took an empty envelope off of Alex’s body. Sebastian has the envelope and he’s going to process it for possible leads.
Pride confronts Ethan. He says, “Alex was already his target and I want to know why?” He tells Ethan that Gregorio shot and killed Vincenzo. Pride wants answers! He wants to know why the Aufiero brothers killed their younger brother. Ethan is being a jerk and says that he doesn’t know anything.
Gregorio says, “He’s lying.” Pride asks, “How can you tell?” She responds, “His lips are moving.” This scene is my favorite scene of the episode!
Pride goes to have a chat with the Aufiero older brothers. He meets them at the morgue. Interesting, I’m not sure if I knew Pride’s dad was in prison? Did you? He says that he used to see the Aufiero brother’s father when he went to go visit his old man in prison.
The brothers are jerks and deny being involved in any kind of crime, let alone running the crime family and hiring Vincenzo to do their dirty work. They leave with the threat of getting their lawyer involved. They desperately want their little brother’s body back, now Pride just needs to find out why!
Sebastian has something! He found out that the letter Vincenzo took from Alex’s body had an HH logo, which is for a law firm that represents the Aufiero’s family in New Orleans. But that’s not all, he also found part of a number which was left via, “magnetized ink containing iron oxide.” That means that the envelope contained banking information. Sebastian traced it to a bank in the Cayman Islands (where I used to live) and claims it’s where, “all of the biggest thieves hide their money.”
LaSalle and Percy didn’t get much from the law firm, but they did find out that Alex went there the day he was murdered to request his portion of his father’s will.
Patton is on it. He pulls up security footage and finds Ethan waiting in Alex’s car. “Something Ethan conveniently left out,” says one of the team.
There’s more. Gregorio thinks that Ethan staged the crime scene in Ohio. There are bullet holes everywhere. It doesn’t fit Vincenzo’s MO.
The team think that Ethan is using them to find the Aufiero brothers, which will lead them to the stolen FEMA funds. Pride thinks that the 80 million dollars has been sitting in the bank in the Cayman Islands for the last ten years. Turns out Alex Aufiero was his father’s favorite son and he wanted Alex to take over the family business. Pride and Gregorio think that Alex’s brothers killed him because he planned on returning the stolen money to the city.
The brothers are missing an important piece of the puzzle, that’s why they need Alex’s body. The team needs to find out what that missing piece is before it’s too late! If they can figure it out before the brothers, there’s a chance that they can return the 80 million dollars back to the city! Wow! That would be incredible!
Gregorio says that she’s going to play Ethan like he played all of the people of New Orleans. Get him, Gregorio! Get him!
Gregorio picks up Ethan and takes him to a safe house. He tries to hit on her. She turns him down and tells him that she’s gay. He’s surprised, but then takes credit for her finding herself after they split up. This guy is an idiot!
Gregorio tells Ethan about the offshore account and the fact that the brother’s need Alex’s body to access the account. Ethan says, “I have no idea how to get that money.” Who thinks he’s lying?
Gregorio heads inside the safe house to “check it.” Ethan takes advantage of the situation and he hotwires Gregorio’s car. Too bad Gregorio can shut down her car from an app on her phone. Ethan only gets a few feet before Gregorio tells him that he’s going to help her team by tricking the brother’s into thinking they can steal the money, or she’ll throw his butt in jail.
Ethan heads into the Aufiero’s place (music club). He tempts the brothers by telling them he knows how to get the 80 million dollars out of the bank in the Cayman Islands. Ethan claims that he became Alex and that he was the one who set up the account ten years ago. He says that all he needs is the bank card from the Aufiero brothers. The brother’s agree to work with Ethan, because greed.
Ethan dresses up as Alex. Gregorio threatens him. He better not screw this up!
He heads to the bank and asks to transfer the entire balance. It’s a close call! The bank manager doesn’t believe Ethan, but Pride jumps in and saves the day. Here’s one strange thing… Why is the bank manager okay with the money being transferred to another account? Unless it’s in the same bank, wouldn’t he do everything he could to stop the transfer?
Uh oh! The Aufiero brothers try to crash the scene. Are they trying to kill Ethan? I’m confused. OH NO! Ethan bolted and somehow transferred the money back into the Cayman account. EEK! Ethan is the only one with access to the money now and he’s missing!
Percy and LaSalle interrogate Theo and Matt Aufiero. Neither one of them will confess and the tape Patton had didn’t catch them agreeing to stealing the money.
Theo sent Ethan a warning text, which allowed him to get away from Gregorio after he left the bank.
Gregorio says if Ethan wants to, “he’ll just disappears without a care in the world.”
Oooh! We cut to Ethan enjoying a tropical drink on a sandy beach. Gregorio finds him! He went to the island that he and Gregorio vacationed at together when they were married. Gregorio admits that, “back in the day,” she would have, “done anything for him.” Without another word, she arrests him and slaps on the handcuffs. Ethan responds with, “You are the only person in the world who can still surprise me.”
Gregorio heads back to HQ. Dwyane is cooking up something delicious in the kitchen. He pours Gregorio a drink. He says that they recovered the FEMA money and the Aufiero brothers are in jail, and it’s all because of Gregorio.
Percy shows up and she is looking good! She tells Gregorio that they are going out dancing and that’s that! Gregorio smiles and says, “I don’t know if you can keep up with me though.” Percy jokes that she’s been a shut in for the past six months, to which Gregorio ends the episode by saying, “I’m not the same girl I used to be!”
*******
My Thoughts:
What an episode! Seriously, this series is really on point! Once I got over Brody leaving us (insert tears) and Gregorio stopped being an overly aggressive jerk 24/7, things really started coming together! I am seriously LOVING the writing, producing, directing, and acting! It’s one of those shows that I can’t wait to watch each week, which is always a good sign!
How about you? Is NCIS: New Orleans one of your favorite shows?
Leave me a comment below with your thoughts!
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