Post by Llyan (Admin) on Feb 11, 2017 3:32:49 GMT
Spinning Wheel – 13.11
W. Steven D. Binder
D. Terrence O'Hara
OAD: 12.15.15
I've liked all the Ducky episodes but this one really takes the cake. So good. Mr McCallum hit it out of the ballpark.
PHOOFS:
Cold Open/Teaser: The Investigative Team
ACT I: Ducky - Young Ducky
ACT II: Gibbs and Abby
ACT III: Ducky
ACT IV: Duck and Nicholas
Movies/TV:
Pawn Stars - allusion
McNicknames:
Didn't catch any
COLD:
* Excuse me but how would autopsy get so dusty? When Ducky blew on a keyboard it looked like weeks or months worth of dust.
* Jimmy not at work yet but he's already in trouble for the dust. Ducky using a Pass/Fail system to grade him on his tasks.
Passed: Organization.
Failed: Cleanliness
Hasn't gotten to: Inventory Supply or X-Ray Calibration yet when his phone rings. Ring tone still Scotland The Brave.
He's so unnerved that our beloved ME drops the handful of hemostats he was holding.
* Meeting. Cafe in Arlington. 20 minutes.
* 1st sighting of the MALLARD.
EDIT: Not 1st sighting. It was, per Steve Binder, there in Season 1 - above a computer.
* Enter Jimmy, exit Ducky as Jimmy sees his failing grade and remembers it's dusting day (if he hadn't done it yet why was Ducky grading him?). Ducky doesn't seem to hear Jimmy as he keeps going and is gone by the time Jimmy turns around.
TEASER:
* Tony as observer of Ellie. Tim joins him.
Episode takes place immediately after Bishop and Gibbs return from OK.
Didn't quite catch the exact words Tony & Tim spoke over each other but from the sound of it Tony thinks she and Jake have split. Tim seems to disagree. Each on the opposite side than they normally are.
* Now we know (or do we?). How Gibbs overhears all their conversations (and it's not Gibbs putting his desk phone on speaker as Tony thought back in Season 4).
Despite T&T whispering, she can hear them. Tony skeptical. She expounds.
Sweet spots. The skylight reflects sound from the other side of the staircase to her desk. Her desk connects to Nancy at the Middle-East desk on the other side of the cubicle walls. Tony whispers "can you hear me, Nancy?" and she waves at him.
Guess the Middle-East "desk" got moved since the days of Nikki Jardin. She definitely didn't sit over there.
* Tony comparing Gibbs to a Howler Monkey in heat.
T: ... picks the right moment to walk in and...
G: ... finishes your sentence.
* Case. Which we didn't start with, well mostly. Dead Marine in an alley in Arlington - dun dun dun!
* PVT John Angel (nice holiday name). Not a mugging - still has his cash & credit cards. Stabbed in chest.
* Jimmy arrives alone. Victim has bruised hands. Bruise on jaw. Gibbs asks where Ducky is and Jimmy tries to sidestep.
Tony: You're aware that Gibbs is perfectly capable of eating you.
Jimmy: It's a recurring nightmare - yes.
Palmer has called him 11 times. No answer. Call him again. Team chatters. Gibbs shushes them and hears Ducky's ring tone. From nearby van. They open side door and inside is a bound and gagged Ducky.
ACT I:
* Call from a lawyer claiming to have information about a family member. Untrue.
Guy was fishing for information. Ducky left and got followed. Guy tried to put him in the van (he DID put him in the van so why not drive away?) Ducky struggled.
* Looks like PVT Angel was one for Ducky. After killing the Marine the suspect ran off.
* Ducky clearly doesn't want to answer.
Gibbs: What family member?
Ducky: He was asking about Nicholas Mallard, my brother.
Half-brother. 20 years younger than himself. From father's 2nd marriage to an awful woman named Lorraine.
FLASHBACK.
* DONNIE!
Younger Ducky and young Nicholas. Christmas Eve. Father's house. The awful Lorraine is about to go out and leave her 8 year old son alone (Ducky's dad is working). Ducky came bearing a present from his young brother. The 4468 Mallard engine. Tells a tall-tale about it being named for their great-great-grandfather.
Nicholas sees through this and Ducky calls him a Cheeky Monkey.
* (Cheeky Monkey. Howler Monkey)
* The 2 brothers have a warm relationship - Nicholas seems to worship "Donnie" and "Donnie" adores Nicholas.
Donnie tossels Nicholas' hair.
Nicholas tweaks Donnie's nose with a "honk".
* Their reunion is interrupted by an emergency call from hospital. Person in question only wants Dr Mallard. Rather than leaving Nicholas alone Donnie takes him with him.
* Hold on just a minute, Gibbs. You're not one to be asking anyone about them not telling you about the existence of a family member.
Ducky, like Gibbs, couldn't talk about it. Lost contact years before Ducky even met Gibbs.
Bullpen
* Van a rent out. Tony & Tim try to explain to Gibbs who asks if they're speaking English. Gibbs bemused. Van owned by Sam Butler. From photo he's not the one who attacked Ducky. Tim & Tony told to go question him.
* Ellie with a sketch composite she drew from Ducky's description. Bald as a ping-pong ball.
* Oh dear. Jake called Gibbs. He's coming over to talk to his wife. She's not seem him since before she left after he told her about the affair. Ducky points out that it seems to him she has "a lot to say". Advice from her older brother - wait, I thought all 3 were older - was 3 choices when life throws you a curve ball:
Duck
Get hit.
Swing.
She's decided to swing.
FLASHBACK
Hospital
Field Marshal is the patient. He's unconscious. A skeptical nurse think he had too much port or just too much Christmas. She's not a fan of the holiday.
Cheeky Monkey Nicholas suggests she might want to change religions.
* Good thing he insisted she call Dr Mallard. Not too much port or Christmas. Has "medical jargon". Needs surgery right now.
* In the hallway outside the room Donnie has a short chat with Nicholas. Gives him the stamp book.
* Bad news for the Mallard men. Lorraine served Mr Mallard with divorce papers. She's taking Nicholas and leaving the country.
ACT II:
* Although I'm glad everything isn't set in the office the houses they show are very much not like the ones in VA.
* Tony would have loved to have had Ducky as his brother, or dad. Tim agrees with him on the dad part.
Guys go around back and find the homeowner in a tent. When he gets close enough it's clear that he's stoned.
Guy he rented his van to is: Rufus Sims.
Sketch not him but does look like the guy who was with Rufus. Rents everything out (except his bike - they weren't interested). He's in the tent because he rented them his house.
* Well so much for that theory, Tony. Thinks the tent is a sure way to detract women - a beautiful one comes out of the tent and heads around the house. T&T are about to knock on the back door to see if Rufus is there when the woman screams. Through a side window she sees him - hanging.
Tony: Did you rent him the rope too?
Autopsy w/Gibbs
* Not suicide. Drowned in the backyard pool. (Most mid-atlantic states pools are covered for the winter.) Hanging was staged.
If Sims was there at the time I guess he was too stoned to notice the drowning happening.
Victim from Philly. Worked in post office.
Ellie with a find. In lining of suitcase was a letter to Ducky from Nicholas and addressed to a decades old address.
Couldn't read all of it (the last couple of lines).
Nice cursive.
Address was on the letter itself. Was that something that use to be done?
Donald Mallard
35 Bracknell Gardens
London
NW3 7EE
Dear Donnie,
Where are you? I miss you so much.
When am I going to see you again? You said you would always find me.
* Donnie owes him a hot chocolate.
FLASHBACK:
* Taxi in London. Donnie & Nicholas.
The little boy tells Donnie what he already knows and Donnie reassures him it won't happen. Nothing will keep them apart.
Gives him stamps for his collection - the Congo.
* FYI: I really like the muted colors NCIS uses for flashbacks.
* Pub. Nicholas spots a pinball machine and goes a quid further into debt (11 rather than 10) so he can play.
They went there because Ducky knew who he'd find at that time of day - Angus. Donnie explains why he's there. No chance of getting custody - a time when motherhood, even lousy motherhood, trumped all else.
Ducky will resign his commission in the RMAC to be with his brother. No 2nd need for a 2nd thought.
SHOWTIME.
* Jake arrives in autopsy and looks and sounds broken. Ellie leaves with him.
* Ugh, Jimmy. Stop it, just stop it. Not even a little amusing and very inappropriate. Get that silly smile off your face.
Asks Ducky & Gibbs if he should be preparing for another crime scene.
Evidence Garage.
* No! No no no no no. McGee you were SO wrong to just stay in the van (dusting for fingerprints). I know it was awkward but you needed to get out as soon as you heard them and then exit stage left!
* It's time for Ellie to say "when".
Jake tries to say it's not the affair itself.
She counters that it is. As an NSA couple they lived in a bubble.
Jake says he put the NSA/national security above their marriage. He'll do what he can to repair their marriage.
* She's done. Why'd he even tell her about the affair? She'd never have found out. Says on some level he must have wanted her to know.
ABBY-VILLE
* She's doing her child behavior. She's created a game where she can head slap an animated Jake - so hard that it decapitates him each time.
* Music in the scene almost drowned out the dialogue.
* Sims was wearing a motion sensor watch. The GPS was rendered useless when it got wet but she was able to get wrist motions off of it and knows he'd emailed a pawn shop.
Also, the paper from the letter Nicholas wrote to Donnie was old (but in good shape) but the ink on the paper has only been there for 3 weeks.
ACT III:
Conference room. Ducky, Gibbs, Tim.
Ducky can't believe the letter was only written 3 weeks ago. Nicholas died years ago. Handwriting is that of a child. Address one he hasn't lived at for decades.
Abby picked up DNA from the letter and there's a familial match to Ducky - it is Nicholas.
Gibbs asks his friend if he's OK. No.
Pawn Shop - w/Tony & Tim.
* Thanks to those who recognized a likeness to a show/reality show called Pawn Stars. Never seen it.
* I thought the pawn shop owner looked a lot like the composite.
* Rufus was in last week. Composite guy was with him. Owner gave Rufus 2K for a stamp (on an envelope) - he still has it under glass. It's the Arthur stamp. One of a pair. The other Merlin.
If I understood correctly, the cleaned up Arthur stamp is now worth over $500K.
Rufus & his buddy argued. Seems Rufus lied to the buddy about how much the stamp was worth.
BULLPEN
* I like it when security footage is clear.
Buddy is Viggo Trellis (wasn't Viggo one of the baddies who were hired by Natasha/Svetlana to kill Jenny?). Philly (again) Private Investigator.
* Team reporting to Gibbs. Ellie there but not really there. Missing her cues for her part of the report. Sims hired Trellis.
Gibbs concerned enough to ask if she needs to go home. She says yes. Takes a few steps toward her desk and them comes back and tells them she's staying. Rather than miss a few cues she keeps going with the whole report.
Stamps on the letter weren't valid so it went to the dead letter department (HELLO! Rufus worked in that part of the PO). Sims wanted the companion stamp (Merlin) and hired Trellis to find the owner of the King Arthur.
Didn't tell Trellis how much they were worth. He found out at the pawn shop and killed Rufus and then carried on trying to find Nicholas Mallard.
* Not funny guys. Tony realizes why Bishop is rambling.
Tony: I get it! You dumped Jake.
Tim (who knows): Like a hot potato.
Seriously. Not funny. This is the end of a marriage.
* Enter Ducky. He got an update from Abby and is stunned to find out that Nicholas may have been this close all this time.
* DiNozzo & McGee to MTAC to see if they can spot Trellis' vehicle on freeway cams between here and Philly.
Bishop will put out a BOLO
Gibbs tells Ducky to tell him about the stamps.
FLASHBACK
* Hospital room of the Field Marshal.
He gave himself liver disease from too much drinking. Doctor Mallard not even a little afraid to tell him this.
The FM has a gift for his doc. Nicholas' stamp book. The FM had his aide fill it with some of his own favorite stamps - including the King Arthur and the Merlin.
* News from Angus. No chance of getting custody of Nicholas even if Lorraine is a horrible person. Because of this Angus is giving Ducky the 10,000 pounds. Ducky can't accept. Angus won't let him refuse.
A second or 2 of joy and then the Christmas hating nurse says he has an emergency phone call. Neighbor says the movers are there now! Donny runs.
Bullpen
Trellis has an older cell phone (see Gibbs, this is why you need to upgrade) no GPS. His mobile can be listened in on though - if they have a search warrant. Screw that (okay, Ducky didn't actually say that but I'm sure he was thinking it).
D: They can sue me.
After exchanging glances with Gibbs, Ellie activates listening in.
In the car Trellis calls the driver "Nicholas".
ACT IV:
* Team Gibbs pulling out all the stops. LEOs from here to the Rio Grande have been put on alert.
Abby & Ellie are trying [in the lab] to get an exact location. Car stops.
Voice of Nicholas told to get out.
Tony hears something. Wind chimes. It's Sims house. Gibbs, DiNozzo & McGee head out.
Glad Bishop was working with Abby since she really wasn't in any condition to be in the field.
* Gibbs told Ducky he couldn't come with them. Relents with a single word "Jethro".
I think it's going to be a good thing that he went along.
* The 4 get out of the car at Sims place. Crime scene seal on door broken (sealed due to the staged hanging). McGee around back. DiNozzo with Gibbs. Ducky? Stay outside.
FLASHBACK
* That woman was really a B-word.
Donnie gives Nicholas his stamp book back.
Lorraine, probably because she knows how much her husband and step-son love Nicholas, decides she doesn't want the 10,000 pounds after all. No love there, just ownership.
She's got backup. She called a magistrate and he sent over 2 Bobbies. They restrain Donnie as she drags Nicholas into a taxi. He drops his MALLARD.
* Gunshots in the house. Ducky enters. Trellis put up a fight and is now dead.
Nicholas restrained in a chair and very relieved to see the NCIS folks.
FLASHBACK
* Cab driving away with Nicholas screaming through the back window of the taxi. DONNIE!!!
Donnie being cuffed.
* Ducky steps up to Nicholas. His name IS Nicholas Mallard but he's not Donnie's Nicholas.
* Ducky will call in Jimmy to come with the ME van. Gibbs tells him to take his time, he's clearly affected but this turn of events.
FLASHBACK
* Mr Mallard's residence. Donnie & his dad.
She took the art of the walls, including things Mr Mallard had before he married the witch. He steps out when Angus arrives.
* Angus now married to Maggie. Ducky didn't attend. Angus promised not to tell her he'd seen Donnie.
He's got information that Lorraine may be taking Nicholas to Albania. She's got family there.
Ducky going to get stationed there to see if he can find his brother. The Field Marshal owes him.
He's holding the model of the MALLARD.
AUTOPSY.
* Finally! Not an inappropriate word out of Jimmy. In fact he's kind and supportive. He connects the dots of Ducky's wanderlust life of his younger days.
He moved wherever he got a lead on Nicholas.
Ducky tells him that he finally got word from relatives of Lorraine that she and Nicholas were killed in a car crash in Prague.
He was so lost after getting that word he volunteered for duty at a field hospital in Afghanistan. He wasn't fit to be in polite company.
Jimmy tells him the relative lied.
* Noticed: Ducky called Jimmy, Jimmy and not "Mr Palmer".
* Nicholas' death almost killed "Donnie". Even thinking his name was too much. He never got over it and doesn't think he has the strength to "start that journey again".
* Enter the investigative team (no Abby).
They overheard the last part of the conversation.
Tony: Maybe we can help with that.
- all are bearing gifts.
Tony: Happy Christmas
Loved Tony using the UK version rather than "Merry".
* The gifts.
Tony's in a silver bag.
Tony: This is a copy of 1973 plane tickets to Albania for Nicholas and Lorraine Mallard.
Tim's in a box with red paper.
Tim: This is an application for a name change. Italy 1974. Guess Mrs Mallard got tired of that last name.
Ellie silently hands him a box wrapped in green paper.
Ducky opens it.
Application for United States residency. 1987.
Gibbs holds out a card in a red envelope.
D: You found him.
G: Yeah.
Tim: He's in a nursing home just outside of Philly. They say he's got early on-set Alzheimers but he's healthy.
D: I'll take it.
Gibbs gives one of his very rare full-blown brilliant smiles.
Eleanor: C'mon, let's go. I could use a happy ending.
She helps him on with his coat.
NURSING HOME - Ducky, Ellie & a nurse.
Nurse tells them that Nicholas is kind and gentle and sweet.
Gave them a scare a few weeks ago when he wandered away. Was found in Philly. In a post office.
She warns them that although Nicholas is happy he has no memory of his life before.
Ducky approaches him - sitting on a bench on the grounds.
* Donnie: I think you many have dropped this - hold out the MALLARD.
I thought you might be looking for it.
Nicholas seems to have a recognition.
Donnie: Hello, Nicholas.
In a brilliant move Donnie tossels his hair.
Nicholas reaches up and tweaks Donnie's nose - one of them honks.
Both smile.
Nicholas: You got my letter. You found me, Donnie. You found me.
Donnie: I did that. I told you I would.
N: You broke one of the wheels on my MALLARD.
Donnie: That I did, you cheeky little monkey
(OK, by now I was bawling)
Both Donnie and Nicholas have tears in their eyes now. Nicholas stands up to hug the big brother who never forgot him.
W. Steven D. Binder
D. Terrence O'Hara
OAD: 12.15.15
I've liked all the Ducky episodes but this one really takes the cake. So good. Mr McCallum hit it out of the ballpark.
PHOOFS:
Cold Open/Teaser: The Investigative Team
ACT I: Ducky - Young Ducky
ACT II: Gibbs and Abby
ACT III: Ducky
ACT IV: Duck and Nicholas
Movies/TV:
Pawn Stars - allusion
McNicknames:
Didn't catch any
COLD:
* Excuse me but how would autopsy get so dusty? When Ducky blew on a keyboard it looked like weeks or months worth of dust.
* Jimmy not at work yet but he's already in trouble for the dust. Ducky using a Pass/Fail system to grade him on his tasks.
Passed: Organization.
Failed: Cleanliness
Hasn't gotten to: Inventory Supply or X-Ray Calibration yet when his phone rings. Ring tone still Scotland The Brave.
He's so unnerved that our beloved ME drops the handful of hemostats he was holding.
* Meeting. Cafe in Arlington. 20 minutes.
* 1st sighting of the MALLARD.
EDIT: Not 1st sighting. It was, per Steve Binder, there in Season 1 - above a computer.
* Enter Jimmy, exit Ducky as Jimmy sees his failing grade and remembers it's dusting day (if he hadn't done it yet why was Ducky grading him?). Ducky doesn't seem to hear Jimmy as he keeps going and is gone by the time Jimmy turns around.
TEASER:
* Tony as observer of Ellie. Tim joins him.
Episode takes place immediately after Bishop and Gibbs return from OK.
Didn't quite catch the exact words Tony & Tim spoke over each other but from the sound of it Tony thinks she and Jake have split. Tim seems to disagree. Each on the opposite side than they normally are.
* Now we know (or do we?). How Gibbs overhears all their conversations (and it's not Gibbs putting his desk phone on speaker as Tony thought back in Season 4).
Despite T&T whispering, she can hear them. Tony skeptical. She expounds.
Sweet spots. The skylight reflects sound from the other side of the staircase to her desk. Her desk connects to Nancy at the Middle-East desk on the other side of the cubicle walls. Tony whispers "can you hear me, Nancy?" and she waves at him.
Guess the Middle-East "desk" got moved since the days of Nikki Jardin. She definitely didn't sit over there.
* Tony comparing Gibbs to a Howler Monkey in heat.
T: ... picks the right moment to walk in and...
G: ... finishes your sentence.
* Case. Which we didn't start with, well mostly. Dead Marine in an alley in Arlington - dun dun dun!
* PVT John Angel (nice holiday name). Not a mugging - still has his cash & credit cards. Stabbed in chest.
* Jimmy arrives alone. Victim has bruised hands. Bruise on jaw. Gibbs asks where Ducky is and Jimmy tries to sidestep.
Tony: You're aware that Gibbs is perfectly capable of eating you.
Jimmy: It's a recurring nightmare - yes.
Palmer has called him 11 times. No answer. Call him again. Team chatters. Gibbs shushes them and hears Ducky's ring tone. From nearby van. They open side door and inside is a bound and gagged Ducky.
ACT I:
* Call from a lawyer claiming to have information about a family member. Untrue.
Guy was fishing for information. Ducky left and got followed. Guy tried to put him in the van (he DID put him in the van so why not drive away?) Ducky struggled.
* Looks like PVT Angel was one for Ducky. After killing the Marine the suspect ran off.
* Ducky clearly doesn't want to answer.
Gibbs: What family member?
Ducky: He was asking about Nicholas Mallard, my brother.
Half-brother. 20 years younger than himself. From father's 2nd marriage to an awful woman named Lorraine.
FLASHBACK.
* DONNIE!
Younger Ducky and young Nicholas. Christmas Eve. Father's house. The awful Lorraine is about to go out and leave her 8 year old son alone (Ducky's dad is working). Ducky came bearing a present from his young brother. The 4468 Mallard engine. Tells a tall-tale about it being named for their great-great-grandfather.
Nicholas sees through this and Ducky calls him a Cheeky Monkey.
* (Cheeky Monkey. Howler Monkey)
* The 2 brothers have a warm relationship - Nicholas seems to worship "Donnie" and "Donnie" adores Nicholas.
Donnie tossels Nicholas' hair.
Nicholas tweaks Donnie's nose with a "honk".
* Their reunion is interrupted by an emergency call from hospital. Person in question only wants Dr Mallard. Rather than leaving Nicholas alone Donnie takes him with him.
* Hold on just a minute, Gibbs. You're not one to be asking anyone about them not telling you about the existence of a family member.
Ducky, like Gibbs, couldn't talk about it. Lost contact years before Ducky even met Gibbs.
Bullpen
* Van a rent out. Tony & Tim try to explain to Gibbs who asks if they're speaking English. Gibbs bemused. Van owned by Sam Butler. From photo he's not the one who attacked Ducky. Tim & Tony told to go question him.
* Ellie with a sketch composite she drew from Ducky's description. Bald as a ping-pong ball.
* Oh dear. Jake called Gibbs. He's coming over to talk to his wife. She's not seem him since before she left after he told her about the affair. Ducky points out that it seems to him she has "a lot to say". Advice from her older brother - wait, I thought all 3 were older - was 3 choices when life throws you a curve ball:
Duck
Get hit.
Swing.
She's decided to swing.
FLASHBACK
Hospital
Field Marshal is the patient. He's unconscious. A skeptical nurse think he had too much port or just too much Christmas. She's not a fan of the holiday.
Cheeky Monkey Nicholas suggests she might want to change religions.
* Good thing he insisted she call Dr Mallard. Not too much port or Christmas. Has "medical jargon". Needs surgery right now.
* In the hallway outside the room Donnie has a short chat with Nicholas. Gives him the stamp book.
* Bad news for the Mallard men. Lorraine served Mr Mallard with divorce papers. She's taking Nicholas and leaving the country.
ACT II:
* Although I'm glad everything isn't set in the office the houses they show are very much not like the ones in VA.
* Tony would have loved to have had Ducky as his brother, or dad. Tim agrees with him on the dad part.
Guys go around back and find the homeowner in a tent. When he gets close enough it's clear that he's stoned.
Guy he rented his van to is: Rufus Sims.
Sketch not him but does look like the guy who was with Rufus. Rents everything out (except his bike - they weren't interested). He's in the tent because he rented them his house.
* Well so much for that theory, Tony. Thinks the tent is a sure way to detract women - a beautiful one comes out of the tent and heads around the house. T&T are about to knock on the back door to see if Rufus is there when the woman screams. Through a side window she sees him - hanging.
Tony: Did you rent him the rope too?
Autopsy w/Gibbs
* Not suicide. Drowned in the backyard pool. (Most mid-atlantic states pools are covered for the winter.) Hanging was staged.
If Sims was there at the time I guess he was too stoned to notice the drowning happening.
Victim from Philly. Worked in post office.
Ellie with a find. In lining of suitcase was a letter to Ducky from Nicholas and addressed to a decades old address.
Couldn't read all of it (the last couple of lines).
Nice cursive.
Address was on the letter itself. Was that something that use to be done?
Donald Mallard
35 Bracknell Gardens
London
NW3 7EE
Dear Donnie,
Where are you? I miss you so much.
When am I going to see you again? You said you would always find me.
* Donnie owes him a hot chocolate.
FLASHBACK:
* Taxi in London. Donnie & Nicholas.
The little boy tells Donnie what he already knows and Donnie reassures him it won't happen. Nothing will keep them apart.
Gives him stamps for his collection - the Congo.
* FYI: I really like the muted colors NCIS uses for flashbacks.
* Pub. Nicholas spots a pinball machine and goes a quid further into debt (11 rather than 10) so he can play.
They went there because Ducky knew who he'd find at that time of day - Angus. Donnie explains why he's there. No chance of getting custody - a time when motherhood, even lousy motherhood, trumped all else.
Ducky will resign his commission in the RMAC to be with his brother. No 2nd need for a 2nd thought.
SHOWTIME.
* Jake arrives in autopsy and looks and sounds broken. Ellie leaves with him.
* Ugh, Jimmy. Stop it, just stop it. Not even a little amusing and very inappropriate. Get that silly smile off your face.
Asks Ducky & Gibbs if he should be preparing for another crime scene.
Evidence Garage.
* No! No no no no no. McGee you were SO wrong to just stay in the van (dusting for fingerprints). I know it was awkward but you needed to get out as soon as you heard them and then exit stage left!
* It's time for Ellie to say "when".
Jake tries to say it's not the affair itself.
She counters that it is. As an NSA couple they lived in a bubble.
Jake says he put the NSA/national security above their marriage. He'll do what he can to repair their marriage.
* She's done. Why'd he even tell her about the affair? She'd never have found out. Says on some level he must have wanted her to know.
ABBY-VILLE
* She's doing her child behavior. She's created a game where she can head slap an animated Jake - so hard that it decapitates him each time.
* Music in the scene almost drowned out the dialogue.
* Sims was wearing a motion sensor watch. The GPS was rendered useless when it got wet but she was able to get wrist motions off of it and knows he'd emailed a pawn shop.
Also, the paper from the letter Nicholas wrote to Donnie was old (but in good shape) but the ink on the paper has only been there for 3 weeks.
ACT III:
Conference room. Ducky, Gibbs, Tim.
Ducky can't believe the letter was only written 3 weeks ago. Nicholas died years ago. Handwriting is that of a child. Address one he hasn't lived at for decades.
Abby picked up DNA from the letter and there's a familial match to Ducky - it is Nicholas.
Gibbs asks his friend if he's OK. No.
Pawn Shop - w/Tony & Tim.
* Thanks to those who recognized a likeness to a show/reality show called Pawn Stars. Never seen it.
* I thought the pawn shop owner looked a lot like the composite.
* Rufus was in last week. Composite guy was with him. Owner gave Rufus 2K for a stamp (on an envelope) - he still has it under glass. It's the Arthur stamp. One of a pair. The other Merlin.
If I understood correctly, the cleaned up Arthur stamp is now worth over $500K.
Rufus & his buddy argued. Seems Rufus lied to the buddy about how much the stamp was worth.
BULLPEN
* I like it when security footage is clear.
Buddy is Viggo Trellis (wasn't Viggo one of the baddies who were hired by Natasha/Svetlana to kill Jenny?). Philly (again) Private Investigator.
* Team reporting to Gibbs. Ellie there but not really there. Missing her cues for her part of the report. Sims hired Trellis.
Gibbs concerned enough to ask if she needs to go home. She says yes. Takes a few steps toward her desk and them comes back and tells them she's staying. Rather than miss a few cues she keeps going with the whole report.
Stamps on the letter weren't valid so it went to the dead letter department (HELLO! Rufus worked in that part of the PO). Sims wanted the companion stamp (Merlin) and hired Trellis to find the owner of the King Arthur.
Didn't tell Trellis how much they were worth. He found out at the pawn shop and killed Rufus and then carried on trying to find Nicholas Mallard.
* Not funny guys. Tony realizes why Bishop is rambling.
Tony: I get it! You dumped Jake.
Tim (who knows): Like a hot potato.
Seriously. Not funny. This is the end of a marriage.
* Enter Ducky. He got an update from Abby and is stunned to find out that Nicholas may have been this close all this time.
* DiNozzo & McGee to MTAC to see if they can spot Trellis' vehicle on freeway cams between here and Philly.
Bishop will put out a BOLO
Gibbs tells Ducky to tell him about the stamps.
FLASHBACK
* Hospital room of the Field Marshal.
He gave himself liver disease from too much drinking. Doctor Mallard not even a little afraid to tell him this.
The FM has a gift for his doc. Nicholas' stamp book. The FM had his aide fill it with some of his own favorite stamps - including the King Arthur and the Merlin.
* News from Angus. No chance of getting custody of Nicholas even if Lorraine is a horrible person. Because of this Angus is giving Ducky the 10,000 pounds. Ducky can't accept. Angus won't let him refuse.
A second or 2 of joy and then the Christmas hating nurse says he has an emergency phone call. Neighbor says the movers are there now! Donny runs.
Bullpen
Trellis has an older cell phone (see Gibbs, this is why you need to upgrade) no GPS. His mobile can be listened in on though - if they have a search warrant. Screw that (okay, Ducky didn't actually say that but I'm sure he was thinking it).
D: They can sue me.
After exchanging glances with Gibbs, Ellie activates listening in.
In the car Trellis calls the driver "Nicholas".
ACT IV:
* Team Gibbs pulling out all the stops. LEOs from here to the Rio Grande have been put on alert.
Abby & Ellie are trying [in the lab] to get an exact location. Car stops.
Voice of Nicholas told to get out.
Tony hears something. Wind chimes. It's Sims house. Gibbs, DiNozzo & McGee head out.
Glad Bishop was working with Abby since she really wasn't in any condition to be in the field.
* Gibbs told Ducky he couldn't come with them. Relents with a single word "Jethro".
I think it's going to be a good thing that he went along.
* The 4 get out of the car at Sims place. Crime scene seal on door broken (sealed due to the staged hanging). McGee around back. DiNozzo with Gibbs. Ducky? Stay outside.
FLASHBACK
* That woman was really a B-word.
Donnie gives Nicholas his stamp book back.
Lorraine, probably because she knows how much her husband and step-son love Nicholas, decides she doesn't want the 10,000 pounds after all. No love there, just ownership.
She's got backup. She called a magistrate and he sent over 2 Bobbies. They restrain Donnie as she drags Nicholas into a taxi. He drops his MALLARD.
* Gunshots in the house. Ducky enters. Trellis put up a fight and is now dead.
Nicholas restrained in a chair and very relieved to see the NCIS folks.
FLASHBACK
* Cab driving away with Nicholas screaming through the back window of the taxi. DONNIE!!!
Donnie being cuffed.
* Ducky steps up to Nicholas. His name IS Nicholas Mallard but he's not Donnie's Nicholas.
* Ducky will call in Jimmy to come with the ME van. Gibbs tells him to take his time, he's clearly affected but this turn of events.
FLASHBACK
* Mr Mallard's residence. Donnie & his dad.
She took the art of the walls, including things Mr Mallard had before he married the witch. He steps out when Angus arrives.
* Angus now married to Maggie. Ducky didn't attend. Angus promised not to tell her he'd seen Donnie.
He's got information that Lorraine may be taking Nicholas to Albania. She's got family there.
Ducky going to get stationed there to see if he can find his brother. The Field Marshal owes him.
He's holding the model of the MALLARD.
AUTOPSY.
* Finally! Not an inappropriate word out of Jimmy. In fact he's kind and supportive. He connects the dots of Ducky's wanderlust life of his younger days.
He moved wherever he got a lead on Nicholas.
Ducky tells him that he finally got word from relatives of Lorraine that she and Nicholas were killed in a car crash in Prague.
He was so lost after getting that word he volunteered for duty at a field hospital in Afghanistan. He wasn't fit to be in polite company.
Jimmy tells him the relative lied.
* Noticed: Ducky called Jimmy, Jimmy and not "Mr Palmer".
* Nicholas' death almost killed "Donnie". Even thinking his name was too much. He never got over it and doesn't think he has the strength to "start that journey again".
* Enter the investigative team (no Abby).
They overheard the last part of the conversation.
Tony: Maybe we can help with that.
- all are bearing gifts.
Tony: Happy Christmas
Loved Tony using the UK version rather than "Merry".
* The gifts.
Tony's in a silver bag.
Tony: This is a copy of 1973 plane tickets to Albania for Nicholas and Lorraine Mallard.
Tim's in a box with red paper.
Tim: This is an application for a name change. Italy 1974. Guess Mrs Mallard got tired of that last name.
Ellie silently hands him a box wrapped in green paper.
Ducky opens it.
Application for United States residency. 1987.
Gibbs holds out a card in a red envelope.
D: You found him.
G: Yeah.
Tim: He's in a nursing home just outside of Philly. They say he's got early on-set Alzheimers but he's healthy.
D: I'll take it.
Gibbs gives one of his very rare full-blown brilliant smiles.
Eleanor: C'mon, let's go. I could use a happy ending.
She helps him on with his coat.
NURSING HOME - Ducky, Ellie & a nurse.
Nurse tells them that Nicholas is kind and gentle and sweet.
Gave them a scare a few weeks ago when he wandered away. Was found in Philly. In a post office.
She warns them that although Nicholas is happy he has no memory of his life before.
Ducky approaches him - sitting on a bench on the grounds.
* Donnie: I think you many have dropped this - hold out the MALLARD.
I thought you might be looking for it.
Nicholas seems to have a recognition.
Donnie: Hello, Nicholas.
In a brilliant move Donnie tossels his hair.
Nicholas reaches up and tweaks Donnie's nose - one of them honks.
Both smile.
Nicholas: You got my letter. You found me, Donnie. You found me.
Donnie: I did that. I told you I would.
N: You broke one of the wheels on my MALLARD.
Donnie: That I did, you cheeky little monkey
(OK, by now I was bawling)
Both Donnie and Nicholas have tears in their eyes now. Nicholas stands up to hug the big brother who never forgot him.
