Directed by James Whitmore Jr.
Written by Gina Lucita Monreal & Kate Torgovnick May
The team tries to verify the identity of Joesph "Joe" Smith (portrayed by Guest Star 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 interred on the wreckage after he dies.
Examples:
- Apology Gift: McGee spends much of the episode dealing with calls asking for Aunt Lupe to RSVP for a potluck family reunion 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 (he ends up bring enchiladas on her request).
- Bait-and-Switch: The Cold Open starts with an Admiral coming home from a training exercise finding broken glass from his windows and blood inside 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 Joe Smith stealing their daughter's purple heart to get NCIS's attention.
- Bittersweet Ending: Joe 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 Joe did serve on the ship during the Pearl Harbor attack and his final wish of being cremated and having his ashes interred on the wreckage is able to be honored. The Caplingers' also get their daughter's Purple Heart back; in fact, Joe hid it in one of the vents in their house for safekeeping so they were never in danger of losing it in the first place.
- Breather Episode: Compared to the previous episode and the last few season finales, this is pretty light. (Then again, it wasn't meant to be the season finale, but the COVID outbreak forced a change in plans.)
- Foreshadowing: Joesph says that he hid the Purple Heart in a vent whose screen frame popped off easily, but Gibbs has to unscrew the vent that Joesph said he hid it in 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. In fact, it was in one of the vents in Caplingers' house.
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In Memoriam: The episode is dedicated to the victims of the Pearl Harbor attacks and the people who are fighting the coronavirus pandemic. - Last Request: Joe 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 on it after he dies.
- Outliving One's Offspring: The Purple Heart that was stolen was posthumously awarded to the Caplingers' daughter when she was Killed In Action during her military service in Afghanistan.
- Tragic Keepsake: 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.
- Translator Buddy: When Aunt Lupe calls McGee to apologize about the phone number mix-up and invite him to the party, she can only speak mostly Spanish while he can only speak mostly English. Torres, who can speak both languages, helps them communicate with each other.
