NCIS Finale: Rule Fifty-One

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Photo credit: Jordin Althaus/CBS

Sometimes it's like the writers of NCIS make it seem like the characters are speaking in code where I have no idea what is being said but I know that it's significant. And I know one day it will all be clear but for today I've got nothing. I thought the Lost series finale was confusing enough, now my brain is pounding over NCIS right about now. I enjoyed it and there are some truly great moments. And the cliffhanger, while not up to par with Seasons 2, 3, 5 or even 6, is pretty good although admittedly it's not one that'll have me agonizing all summer long. Don't get me wrong, I hope nothing happens to Jackson because, seriously, I think Gibbs has had enough tragedy in his life. I don't want him to go through more anytime soon. Twenty years later and he's still dealing with losing Shannon and Kelly.

I'm glad the show didn't go the route of putting Gibbs in the Mexican jail like I originally thought the story was headed. However, I did like the idea of Gibbs making a tough decision to protect his loved ones. I guess that's what happened as Gibbs agreed to go along with the brother-sister Team of Doom known as Paloma and Alejandro. Of course Alejandro is revealed to be a double-crosser. Since we met him he's been playing the sweet, understanding government official. I didn't guess he was Paloma's brother but he did seem to be too nice.

Bell's former employee Lt. Dean didn't turn out to be that much of a factor. But in the end he did turn out to be utterly expendable as the Reynosa Cartel (led by Paloma) seemingly put the screws on Gibbs. Paloma quickly threatens the lives of everyone Gibbs has ever met. She makes sure to mention Franks and his former mother-in-law (MIL); his co-workers and his father.

FAVORITE SCENES

Gibbs & Vance in the Director's Office

Gibbs and Vance make a great team. You can tell Mark Harmon and Rocky Carroll have known each other for a long time. After all, they did star in CBS' Chicago Hope back in the day. The contentious chemistry the two shared when Vance first stepped foot on NCIS soil has given way to a nice little relationship. Dare I say, they seem to trust each other or at least have the beginnings of trust. It's revealed Gibbs and Vance are working together. I'm just not sure when this partnership started. Did Vance know Gibbs was running off to Mexico? How much has Vance been aware of and how long? After all, it did seem like the director looked the other way during the business with Gibbs' MIL. There are two scenes that are quite wonderful that showcases exactly the type of sparkling chemistry Harmon and Carroll have fostered over the last couple seasons. I feel like in Vance's office the two are already working together but they're pretending to be at odds. It definitely has the feeling of being staged with an underlying purpose only the two know about.

Gibbs & Vance in the park

Vance "accidentally" happens upon the bench where Gibbs and Alejandro are talking about the mysterious package they snuck into the US. The whole conversation has been recorded. In the first scene in the office and then again in the park, Vance refers to the classic film Casablancas. He compares Gibbs to Rick while he's sick of being Louis. I think this means he's tired of being in the dark and he's ready for a "beautiful friendship" with Gibbs complete with them being on the same page. And then in the park he tells this elaborate analogy about a behind-the-scenes tale of Humphrey Bogart during the filming of Casablancas. He lets Gibbs know: "If something has to happen with Alejandro, you don't have to say a word. " Essentially all he has to do is nod. Vance talks about a kid sent to get Bogie to the set for one more shot. Is he talking about Dinozzo there? Is he saying all Gibbs has to do is nod and they'll take care of Alejandro? Did Gibbs nod? I didn't quite get what was being said here. But I did love Vance humming "La Marseillaise" and in general I'm just enjoying the Director and the supervisory special agent being in cahoots.

Tony, Ziva & Gibbs on the plane back to DC

Much has been made of the out-of-control antics of one Very Special Agent Tony Dinozzo this season. And he has been over-the-top at times. But sometimes we realize just how serious Tony is about his job, about his team and how much he hates being in the dark. You can tell at the beginning of the episode Gibbs running off to Mexico without telling them anything bothers him. But it's the scene where Tony and Ziva fly off to Mexico only to have Gibbs basically waiting for them when they land that I really loved. We've already had Abby confront Gibbs recently, now we get Tony questioning Gibbs once the functional mute wakes up. Tony gets angry when he's kept in the dark. It happened in "Cloak" and he's definitely frustrated with Gibbs when his boss isn't being too forthcoming with answers. I love the fact that even though Tony has a major case of hero worship when it comes to Gibbs, he also doesn't completely roll over for him as well.

Tony, Ziva & Abby in the elevator

Some of my favorite parts of this series is when "the kids" (namely Tony, Ziva, Abby & McGee) are all bantering back-and-forth in either the squadroom or Abby's lab. So the scene with Tony, Ziva and Abby in the elevator where the Goth is telling the agents Gibbs invoked Rule 40 is awesome. We find out the 40s are for emergency rules only. Love that Abby and Tony know these rules inside and out. It makes sense since they've worked with Gibbs the longest (other than Ducky). It's also great when the kids start going into investigative team mode to help Gibbs.

Ducky & Jimmy in autopsy

Ducky is clearly agitated and worried about his friend Gibbs to the point his brain has completely blanked. Jimmy tries to help him out setting up the entire golf rant Ducky unloads. It's a simple scene, but the chemistry between David McCallum and Brian Dietzen is so cool.

The shootout

I'm all about action and I wish this show had more of it. So the shootout to me is great (although too brief) and McGee, Ziva and Tony get their share of offing the bad guys. Tony providing the kill shot to Lt. Dean is an awesome thing.

Ziva becomes citizen

I actually like the dynamic Tony and Ziva have going on all episode long. They're playful without being really mean. You can tell Tony's just kidding when he's saying he's disappointed in his country for letting Ziva become a citizen. He promises he'll be by her side at the ceremony but because he's sent on a mission he's not. Ziva looks over and laments the fact both Tony and Gibbs aren't there.

RULE 51

Well, we did find out some more of Gibbs rules: #44 is hide the women and children; Rule #45 is something about cleaning up your own mess. The title of this episode is "Rule Fifty-One" so I know it had everyone speculating. I was hoping it would be something like 'don't keep your team in the dark' but the new rule turns out to be: "Sometimes — you're wrong." What is Gibbs wrong about? Was he wrong to kill Hernandez? Nah, I don't think Gibbs regrets doing that at all. Was he wrong to keep his team in the dark? Yes. Was he wrong about Vance? Possibly. Vance is still a mystery but I feel he's on Gibbs' side. However, time will tell. I'm not sure what he's wrong about. Do you guys have any speculation? And what did you think of this new rule? So did he really just realize that sometimes he is wrong? Because that's kind of crazy.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

M. Allison Hart

I'm wondering why Ms. Hart is even in this episode. She doesn't really play an integral part other than the fact she had her hands on Abby's report on Hernandez. And she turns it over to Gibbs. So she's showing her loyalty to Gibbs and admitting she backed the wrong man? I do like the fact she basically tells Gibbs all this brouhaha over what he did in the past; if everything had gone through the proper channels, she could have had him cleared. I have a feeling we may be seeing Ms. Hart next season. They certainly leave it open. However, I did enjoy being reminded that Gibbs has a rule of never involving lawyers.

Mike Franks

Poor Mike gets his finger cut off. The crafty veteran escapes the shootout but we don't see him until the very end when he gets the jump on Dinozzo. Tony's mission is to observe Alejandro and report, but I think it's to do much more. I think he's there to take care of Alejandro if you know what I mean. But Franks takes it out of Tony's hands. And I know this is a dirty deed, but I wanted to see how far Tony would go for his country, for his boss. I didn’t want to see Franks take over even though he has plenty of reason to get revenge. Why send Tony down in the first place?

Colonel Bell

When Robert Patrick first appeared as Colonel Bell, I really thought we'd see him again. It's weird that that didn't happen. That he just ended up dead on a beach in Mexico. It's Robert Patrick! He's big guest star get.

Paloma Reynosa

I knew I had seen Jacqueline Obradors (Paloma) before. She was on NYPD Blue towards the end of the series. I think her detective character was even involved with Mark-Paul Gosselaar's character for a little bit.

McGee and Vance

Vance has always preferred agents like McGee over agents like Dinozzo. He once again turned to McGee to help him out. For some reason I feel like he's going to continue turning to McGee next season. However, I did appreciate him telling Gibbs, Ziva and Tim that Dinozzo had point on the shootout. And he did send Dinozzo to get Alejandro which is interesting. But I guess Vance knows to use Tony for his muscle and Tim for his brains. He shouldn't underestimate Tim or Tony, they are both very well-rounded agents. Love how Tony and Ziva both had to perform tasks usually tailor made for McGee.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I liked "Rule Fifty-One." It was at times intense and dramatic and even fun and as he's done so often at the end of this season, Mark Harmon shined. However, I feel like this storyline is going to continue even past the season 8 premiere. I could be wrong about that, but I feel like this story has legs and I'm not sure what to think about that. We've been dealing with this for much of the second half of the season, I'm not really interested in it lasting for much further past the beginning of Season 8. What did you guys think?