Directed by Arvin Brown
Written by Don Mc Gill & George Schenk
Season 7, Episode 12:
Flesh And Blood
A Saudi Prince being trained as a Navy fighter pilot is apparently the target of an assassination attempt when his adjutant is killed by a bomb. The team's efforts to bodyguard the Prince and solve the crime are complicated by the appearance of Tony's father, Anthony DiNozzo, Sr., who happens to be friends with the Prince's father.
- Break the Haughty: After the bomb blast kills his aide, Prince Sayif brushes off the threat to himself, saying assassinations are a way of life in Saudi politics, and he's not going to let fear stop him from doing anything. At the end, when he is informed that the aide himself planted the bomb, on the orders of Sayif's older brother, his confident smirk disappears, and he calls his father in a panic.
- The Casanova: Anthony, Sr. flirts openly with Ziva, and Tony ruefully says he has had a long line of would-be stepmothers, several of whom were his age or younger.
- Diplomatic Impunity: As a member of the Saudi Embassy staff, Prince Abdalla cannot be arrested and the team has to settle for his father's assurances that he will be dealt with back in Saudi Arabia.
- Disappeared Dad: Tony has a long-standing beef with his father's frequent "absences."
- Establishing Character Moment: Prince Sayif jiggles the stick of his fighter plane just a little as he is landing, brushes off his instructor's scolding, and tells his adjutant, Walid, to get the car ready. When his instructor says it must be nice to have a personal manservant, Sayif scoffs that if Walid doesn't get his act together, the instructor can have him.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: In the most literal meaning of the words. Walid is hurled backwards and into the air, to a very fatal impact with the ground, when a bomb that he is later revealed to have planted himself, detonates prematurely.
- Hookers and Blow: What is strongly implied by the debauched scene that greets Gibbs and Ziva when they enter Sayif's hotel suite for the second time.
- Literal Metaphor: Tony observes one of these at the crime scene:Tony: I've heard the saying, 'he got blown out of his shoes', but never thought I'd see it.
Ducky: Now if the explosion had 'knocked his socks off', that would be impressive, wouldn't it?- For bonus points, Abby later confirms that Walid, the victim, was, in the most literal meaning of the words, Hoist by His Own Petard.
- The Mole: Vance reports that the British MI-6 has a deep-cover mole inside the suspected terrorist group, who swears positively that they have nothing to do with trying to kill Sayif.
- Papa Wolf: When Gibbs asks if Prince Abdalla is getting off scot-free, his father's steely response is:Prince Omar: He still is my son, Agent Gibbs. Fathers do what they have to do for their children.
- Praetorian Guard: The NCIS team has to coordinate and work with a contingent of the Saudi Royal Guards assigned to Prince Sayif after the bomb blast.
- Red Herring: Several clues are planted that a terrorist group hostile to the Saudi government is responsible for the bombing.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: Played With. Prince Sayif is in the U.S. to be trained as a fighter pilot, but his Spoiled Brat demeanor strongly suggests that it is just one more way of getting his jollies, and he won't be serving in his country's armed forces once he returns home.
- Special Guest: Robert Wagner as Anthony, Sr.
- Shout-Out: Abby and Ducky remark on the strong resemblance between Anthony, Sr. and Anthony, Jr. Michael Weatherly played a younger Robert Wagner in the 2004 miniseries The Mystery of Natalie Wood.
