Directed by Tony Wharmby
Written by Scott J Jarrett, Gina Lucita Monreal, & Matthew R Jarrett
An active shooter attacks a Navy hospital, causing a manhunt throughout D.C. Meanwhile, Jack recognizes a familiar name, Bishop tries to revive a dead plant she found, and an accidental shipment of green paper is spread throughout NCIS as scratch paper.
Tropes:
- Beware the Nice Ones: Torres throughout the episode when working on the case. He even describes himself when he gets angry like a swan, which looks pretty but gets dangerous when the right buttons are pushed. During the confrontation between him and the injured shooter, he outright dares Evan to pick up his gun so Nick could have a reason to shoot him for what he did.
- Cop Killer: It turns out that the shooter wanted Officer Moseby dead, who was the first responder at his brother's drunk-driving accident. The cop is also the witness impact speaker for the family of four who was killed in the drunk driving accident, so Evan thought that with him out of the way his brother could get out of jail during his next parole hearing. The mass-shooting was to cover up the fact that Moseby was the real target.
- Drunk Driver: The shooter's brother is one of these who's currently spending time in prison for killing a family of four while DWI.
- Fate Worse than Death: Discussed before Team Gibbs confront the shooter in his hiding place.Torres: We can't let this kid off easy.
Gibbs: Easy for him is dead. - Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: According to his father, Evan began to go into a depression when his brother drunk-drivingly killed a family of four. However, as Torres points out to both Mr. Sykes and Evan at separate points, it does not excuse shooting up a hospital lobby of innocent people.Evan:[during the confrontation between him and Nick] I just wanted my brother back.
Torres: Yeah, well, Officer Moseby survived. But what about Diana Sanchez?
Evan: Who?
Torres: She is the woman you killed, Evan. Hey, tell me something. Was shooting all those people just a cover-up for your motive, or was it a cry for help, or was it just a bonus? 'Cause, see, what gets under my skin is that there was no reason, but there was a reason. You had a reason, didn't you? You didn't have the power to save your brother, so in the hospital, you took the power over everything. But, man... I don't accept that reason. - In Vino Veritas: Not in the episode itself, but we find out that Gibbs knows about Jack's daughter because she told him on one of the (apparently numerous) occasions when they had drinks together.
- Luke, I Am Your Father: Faith Tolliver, the RN who directly saw the shooter's face, happens to be the biological daughter Jack gave up for adoption.
- Luke, You Are My Father: It turns out that Faith also was aware of who Jack was, as she had known she was adopted and had looked her birth mother up online. Faith doesn't want anything to do with her birth mother because she considers her adoptive parents her true parents, but Jack gives Faith her phone number at the end of the episode in case she ever changes her mind or just wants to talk.
- Rejected Apology: At the end of the episode, Evan is remorsefully crying over what he did. However, Torres makes it clear that an apology isn't enough to make up for all the damage he caused.
- Swans A-Swimming: Nick describes himself as a swan when he gets angry, as swans look beautiful but can get really brutal when the right buttons are pushed.
