NCIS Season 8 Overview

The team at NCIS this season had a very rocky beginning this season. They picked up where the season 7 finale finished, which had Gibbs’s father facing a huge threat. In September when the new season started, that situation was solved very quickly. Basically the leader of the Reyonsa drug cartel, who was after Gibbs for killing her father many years ago, was gunned down by her brother in an operation organized by Gibbs and his team. That was what got this season off to a great start. Now as to what happened during this season, let’s have a recap that shows some of the major high points.

First of all, we saw a return from DiNozzo’s father as he aided the team in a murder investigation. But the relationship between father and son here is still very much apart. However the talk that they had in the end of that episode shows clearly that that estrangement could soon be closed. So that is good news and could very well play into the next season. Ziva’s father Eli came to town and was quickly the target of an assassination. This episode was a two part piece that dove into the past and explained the relationship between Eli and Director Vance along with how they met. There is still estrangement between Ziva and Eli, most due to the fact that Eli pretty much left her for death in the Somalia desert at the end of season 6. The CGIS team that we met in season 7 came back for another appearance. We saw an appearance by TV legend Bob Newhart, who appeared as Dr. Walter Magnus. Dr. Magnus was Dr. Mallard’s predecessor at NCIS. One episode this season that is important to note is the one that showed the team undergoing mandatory psych evaluations. The person doing the evaluations was Dr. Rachel Cranston, who as we come to find out during the final moments is the sister of the late NCIS agent Kate Todd. Kate Todd was killed at the end of season 2. Although when Dr. Cranston was talking with the team and started bringing up Agent Todd, you could see that there was some kind of personal relationship but I for one did not see that she was her sister at all. But anyway Dr. Cranston has we find out was seeking closure that she had been searching for since her sister was killed.

But the anchor for the season came in March when an agent named EJ Barrett brought her team into the NCIS office. Agent Barrett and her team are investigating a series of murders that are taking place on ports of naval bases. The killer here is then dubbed the “port to port killer”. One of the victim’s of the port-to-port killer ends up being Tony’s ex partner from his days as a cop in Baltimore. Although he was not killed by the real killer it played a part into giving more insight of what makes Tony the person he is. In that episode we are taken back in time and shown the days when Tony was a cop in Baltimore. We see how he first met Gibbs and eventually joined NCIS after a fallout with his partner and the Baltimore Police Force. This of course leads into the season finale where everything comes together. The port-to-port killer is really a former Navy Lieutenant Jonas Cobb, who was we find out was given to the CIA for intensive experimental training for undercover mercenary ops. The training was dubbed “Operation Frankenstein”. In so doing Cobb quickly went from Navy lieutenant to deadly weapon. He then gets loose and starts killing people who are in the navy. His targets are the people who “made” him the way he is. These people include Director Vance and the Navy Secretary Davenport.

The finale was really a two part episode that began with the death of Mike Franks at the hands of Cobb. Ex CIA operative Trent Cort is brought in to debrief everybody on who Cobb is and why is he doing what he is doing. It ended with Barrett’s team falling into a trap set by Cobb to get her and her team trapped. Cobb kills one of her agents and injures the other but spares her life. In the final episode Cobb kidnaps Ziva but she is quickly found by Gibbs and her boyfriend Ray also. Ziva met Ray during a vacation in Miami and he is also on the trail of Cobb. What goes down is this, Cobb kidnaps Cort, Barrett and Palmer and takes them to the place where he took part in the program. Long story short Cobb allows himself to be killed by Vance and Gibbs. But it does not end there. First the Navy Secretary resigns from the position. Agent Barrett also resigns from NCIS and we also find out the she is the secretary’s niece. In the closing minutes we are introduced to the new Secretary of the Navy Clayton Jarvis. Jarvis is chatting with Vance and then brings DiNozzo in the continue the conversation. The cliffhanger is this, someone at NCIS is selling top secret information. In the end DiNozzo is shown a picture of the person believed to be the culprit and is told that he will be trailing that person. This is going to be one of the major highlights for next season.

Now a few thoughts on where the season took us. Overall the finale was excellent however we must note a few things for next season. First I hope that we see more of Gibbs’s father, DiNozzo’s father and the CGIS team in the next season. Second even though Mike Franks is now dead, mark my words that this will not be the last we see of him. He will be back in his spirit or voice form. And finally this person that is selling secrets, I don’t know who it is but I do have one suspect. I think that it is Ziva’s boyfriend Ray. But be that as it may, I can say that season 9 will be a rocky one as the entire team will have their reputations tested. With that being said, Tony is on a collision course with everybody at NCIS from here on out. There is no doubt that the next season will be filled with lots of surprises and lots of tension amongst the team. It will be a test of patriotism and trust. So until September we will be waiting.

Adam Miller

Movies Correspondent and Associate Producer, The RPM Show

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