History Recap / NCISS17E20

* AbsenteeActor: Despite Kasie being mentioned and her working on the case, she doesn't show up on-screen during the episode.

* TragicKeepsake: The Caplingers' daughter's Purple Heart is this for her parents, especially since her grandfather hand-carved a message on the back of it in the two months between her death and his own. It's also why Joe Smith steals it as leverage for getting his ashes buried on the ''U.S.S. Arizona'' wreckage once he dies.

* BreatherEpisode: Compared to the previous episode and the last few season finales, this is pretty light.

The team tries to verify the identity of Joesph Smith (portrayed by GuestStar Creator/ChristopherLloyd), who claims he served on the ''U.S.S. Arizona'' during the attack on Pearl Harbor under his older brother's name and wants to be buried on the wreckage after he dies.

* ApologyGift: [=McGee=] spends much of the episode dealing with calls asking for Aunt Lupe to RSVP for a potluck because Aunt Lupe put down the wrong number on the invites. When Aunt Lupe found out, she felt so bad about the mix-up that she invited [=McGee=] to the party and asked him to bring enchiladas.
* BaitAndSwitch: The ColdOpen starts with an Admiral coming home from a training exercise finding glass and blood in his house and him unable to find his wife anywhere, leading everybody to assume that she was kidnapped. It then turns out that the wife was okay (she was spending the night with a friend and had her phone off), and that the broken glass and blood came from Joesph Smith stealing their daughter's purple heart to get NCIS's attention.
* BittersweetEnding: Joesph ends up dying of a massive heart attack brought about by old age, but the shrapnel in his arm burns is proven to be a match to some of the ''U.S.S. Arizona'' wreckage on display at the Arizona State Capital Museum. This proves that Joesph did serve on the ship during the Pearl Harbor attack and his final wish of being cremated and having his ashes buried on the wreckage is able to be honored. The Caplingers' also get their daughter's Purple Heart back; in fact, Joesph hid it in one of the vents in their house for safekeeping so they were never in danger of losing it.

* InMemoriam: The episode is dedicated to the victims of the Pearl Harbor attacks and the people who are fighting the [[UsefulNotes/CoronavirusDisease2019Pandemic the coronavirus pandemic]].
* LastRequest: Joesph Smith knows that his death is coming pretty soon (and in fact, he dies from an age-induced heart attack near the end of the episode), so he wants NCIS to prove that he served on the ''U.S.S Arizona'' so he can be buried there after he dies.
* OutlivingOnesOffspring: The Purple Heart that was stolen was posthumously awarded to the Caplingers' daughter when she was Killed In Action during her service in Afghanistan.
* TragicKeepsake: The Caplingers' daughter's Purple Heart is this for her parents, especially since her grandfather hand-carved a message on the back of it in the two months between her death and his own. It's also why Joesph Smith steals it as leverage for getting his ashes buried near the U.S.S. Arizona once he dies.

* In Memoriam: The episode is dedicated to the victims of the Pearl Harbor attacks and the people who are fighting the [[UsefulNotes/CoronavirusDisease2019Pandemic the coronavirus pandemic]].

* OutlivingOnesOffspring: The Purple Heart that was stolen was posthumously awarded to the Caplingers' daughter when she was Killed In Action during her service Afghanistan.

The team tries to verify the identity of Joesph Smith (portrayed GuestStar Christopher Lloyd), who claims he served on the ''U.S.S. Arizona'' during the attack on Pearl Harbor under his older brother's name and wants to be buried on the wreckage after he dies.

The team tries to verify the identity of Joesph Smith (Christopher Lloyd), who claims he served on the ''U.S.S. Arizona'' during the attack on Pearl Harbor under his older brother's name and wants to be buried on the wreckage after he dies.

* BittersweetEnding: Joesph ends up dying of a massive heart attack brought about by old age, but the shrapnel in his arm burns is proven to be a match to some of the ''U.S.S. Arizona'' wreckage on display at the Arizona State Capital Museum. This proves that Joesph did serve on the ship during the Pearl Harbor attack and his final wish of having his ashes buried on the wreckage is able to be honored. The Caplingers' also get their daughter's Purple Heart back; in fact, Joesph hid it in one of the vents in their house for safekeeping so they were never in danger of losing it.

The team tries to verify the identity of Joesph Smith (Christopher Lloyd), who claims he served on the ''U.S.S. Arizona'' during the attack on Pearl Harbor under his older brother's name and wants to be buried on the wreckage upon his death.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Joesph says that he hid the Purple Heart in a vent that popped off easily, but he claims he hid it in his hotel room vent and Gibbs has to unscrew it to open it. This indicates that Joesph did hide it in a vent but his dementia made him misremember which vent he hid it in.
* LastRequest: Joesph Smith knows that his death is coming pretty soon, so he wants NCIS to prove that he did serve on the ship so his cremated ashes can be buried there.

The team tries to verify the identity of Joesph Smith (Christopher Lloyd), who claims he served on the U.S.S. Arizona during the attack on Pearl Harbor under his older brother's name and wants to be buried there upon his death.

* BaitAndSwitch: The ColdOpen Starts with an Admiral coming home finding glass and blood in his house, leading everybody to assume that his wife was kidnapped. It then turns out that the wife was okay (she was spending the night with a friend and had her phone off), and that the broken glass and blood came from Joesph Smith stealing their daughter's purple heart to get NCIS's attention.
* BittersweetEnding: Joesph ends up dying of a massive heart attack brought about by old age, but the metal in his arm burns are a match to the bombs that hit the U.S.S. Arizona, proving that he did serve on the ship and his final wish of having his ashes buried on the wreckage is honored. The Caplingers' also get their daughter's Purple Heart back; in fact, Joesph hid it in one of the vents in their house for safekeeping so they were never going to lose it.
* OutlivingOnesOffspring: The Purple Heart that was stolen was posthumously awarded to the Caplingers' daughter when she was Killed In Action during Afghanistan.