Directed by Donald P. Bellisario
Written by Bellisario & Don Mc Gill
Season 1, Episode 1:
Yankee White
While on Air Force One, a Navy Commander dies. NCIS decides to take the investigation into their own hands and coerce Secret Service Agent Kate Todd to help. Together they must determine whether or not the Navy Officer died of natural causes.
- Brake Angrily: Fornell and his partner when they realize that Tony is in the body bag instead of the deceased Commander Trapp.
- Captain Ersatz: A George Bush lookalike
appears at the start of the episode. The president himself also appears in archive footage used in the episode. - CPR: Clean, Pretty, Reliable: Not so reliable this time, as the victims were poisoned without any chance of survival.
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: The first of many examples of people not knowing what NCIS is.
- Early-Installment Weirdness:
- Fornell doesn't seem to know Gibbs, even though he married one of Gibbs' ex-wives (a plot point that wouldn't be introduced until late season 2). He's also a lot more gruff and unfriendly.
- Tony is on Last-Name Basis with Gibbs, instead of calling him "Boss."
- Gibbs makes a movie reference instead of Tony, though it is very applicable to the investigation.
- The techno music in Abby's lab segments is a lot less energetic.
- The opening theme tune is not nearly as bass-heavy as in later episodes.
- Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: The bad guy fails to hit Gibbs with a friggin' machine gun. In a narrow hallway. Gibbs, on the other hand, takes him out with a Double Tap.
- Jurisdiction Friction:
- NCIS vs the FBI vs the Secret Service.
- Averted, on the other hand, when D.C. police find Major Kerry's body and willingly turn him over to NCIS, as they have another body to deal with.
- Oh, Crap!: President Bush's physician, upon learning that Commander Trapp collapsed right after eating lunch with Dubya, immediately rushes to check on the president.
- Refuge in Audacity:
- Stealing Air Force One? That's pretty audacious.
- And stuffing Tony in a body bag as a decoy for the FBI? Holy cow, Gibbs.
- Shout-Out:
- Gibbs makes a few references to Air Force One. Appropriate, given the setting. Made even funnier considering the "Agent Gibbs" of the movie. This turns into a In-Universe Whole-Plot Reference when Gibbs realises the terrorists might have tried to copy the movie by "vetting a reporter", which he's proven right after the planted terrorist posing as a Secret Service agent steals a gun from the armory.
- The airport security guard makes one to a certain rival franchise.
- There is a news bulletin on CBS, the parent network of the show. Self-referential much?
