User Reviews

Easily one of the best episodes of this season. I'd say it was on par with the sixteenth episode, which was the 'Bête Noire' episode. As a season finale, it was different than what I was expecting, but in a good way. I guess I was expecting something big to happen, and the season, ending on a cliffhanger, and the former was somewhat the case, depending on how you look at it. There wasn't a cliffhanger, though; again, depending on how you look at it.

My biggest takeaway had nothing to do with the episode itself, per se. I've mentioned it a couple of times previously. I saw the few beginning seconds of what I've been thinking was this episode. It had the NCIS signature black-and-white flashes with the camera clicking noise, and I'm pretty sure it was a recap of a previous episode. Here's the thing: it wasn't this episode. All this time, I thought that episode was this one. I must've assumed it was this season finale, not fully noticing that it wasn't, I guess. Awkward.

Anyway, the prediction I made in my review of the sixteenth episode was correct. Ari Haswari IS a Mossad agent, just not a former one. I guess it makes sense that he was/is undercover. At the same time, that throws a wrench into the works. If he's not a full-on antagonist, the conflict with him and our main characters being seemingly over, what will cause 'that' to happen in the second season, and then, him, subsequently hunted down for it?

I'm 90% sure the reason he gets hunted down is because of 'that' event, but I could be wrong. Given that he's, in actuality, an undercover Mossad agent, I'm just curious to know what prompts 'that' event. He could end up siding with those he's supposed to be taking down from the inside. Then again, I think 'that' event was a deception. So, my main prediction is that he was willing to help with it, even at the expense of himself. Who knows. It could be a combination of him "becoming" a "bad guy" and genuinely caring enough to assist. I'm pretty sure I don't know all the details on 'that' event other than the pivotal point.

• We saw a much different side of Gibbs. A side we saw for the first time. According to the characters and how Tony didn't seem taken aback, this must not have been the first time he's been that angrily fixated. It's new to us, though. Mark Harmon's performance as Gibbs in this episode was decent.

• I was surprised that Marta was working with Ari. I guess it makes sense, in hindsight. Ari had all the cards in this episode. If he wasn't undercover or if he didn't intend to abide by his job, this would've been the end of the show. He would've won.

• I liked the appearance by Agent Fornell. I'm interested to know more about his relationship with Gibbs. I'm assuming it's that they've crossed paths before, and the writers may not have intended there to be more to that. But it seems more than that, regardless of the initial intentions. And this is the type of show where anything personal concerning the characters is pretty much unknown, so they can have Fornell and Gibbs having known each other since they were young, or anything, at some point.

This season's finale was good. It didn't end on a cliffhanger, and it ended with a literal bang, almost. The ending was pretty straightforward, and the episode itself was pretty good. As far as being the season finale is concerned, and even though it somewhat seemed lackluster, I don't think that mattered too much. It was entertaining, and I'm pretty sure the storyline with Ari Haswari isn't "concluded" for good yet, so I'm interested to see what else will happen regarding him in the second season.

In the opening segment Gibbs is seen unzipping the body bag in autopsy and finding Kate laying there with a bullet hole in her forehead. Whether this was by design or coincidental (probably by design) this is where Kate will be at the end of season 2. Or rather, in the opening of season 3.

As for my unprofessional comment, the obsession Gibbs has about finding Ari and what his name is (his name is discovered in this episode) makes him to appear to have lost all touch with reality. His obsession and unprofessional conduct towards Kate, Tony and McGee just goes against the grain, reducing an otherwise good episode into a 'B' movie plot. And of course it goes without saying that Tony's sexism would have had him fired for sexual harassment around episode 5 in real life.

The 1.season of "NCIS" has been up and down for me with very few standout episodes. Fortunately "Reveille" ends this season in a very good way.

Let's start with the good aspects.

. The production values of the episode are great. The direction's very good, the music fits the scenery and the acting's great. It was intriguing to see Gibbs obsessed with someone. Mark Harmon has a very strong presence in this episode, he is quite intimidating at times.

. The mystery is a compelling one with suitably wry humor and some terrific surprises. Nice that we finally learned a lot more about the terrorist we met in "Bete Noire".

But...

. There have been better and more emotionally impactful finales in "NCIS".

Overall, a pretty good episode.

8/10 HK.

One more episode with NCIS's cardboard bogeyman "terrorists", laughably omnipotent. As with the whole series, competent actors and standard characters in the service of overwrought outsize conspiracy theories.

A few episodes back, they introduce a straw man of faux militia, discussing them a little but making them covert ops - as with the series, overlooking that the most serious threat to US safety since 9/11 is and continues to be right-wing homegrown white supremacist groups - like those militia types. But no, with vaguely "middle eastern" music playing, we focus on supposed threat of jihad.