NCIS – Privileged Information

By starrymag | October 8, 2016

By: Danielle Cox

 

Episode 3 opens with a body falling from the roof of a building, right in front of a yoga class. You know, just what you need to create that perfect state of calm yoga brings.

 

In the bullpen at NCIS, Torres (Wilmer Valderrama) is complaining about how expensive apartments are to lease in DC compared to Buenos Aires when Gibbs (Mark Harmon) comes out of nowhere and interrupts (How does he ALWAYS know what they’re talking about when he’s not there?). He tells the team that a Marine Sergeant fell off the roof of her building, is in critical condition and the police want them to check it out.

 

At the scene we find out the victim is Marine Sergeant Erin Hill. While Bishop (Emily Wickersham) goes to secure access to the roof, McGee (Sean Murray) hands Torres a NCIS jacket but notes Torres is hesitant to wear it, deducing he still feels uncomfortable advertising he’s NCIS after so long undercover. McGee compromises and tells Torres to wear it when Gibbs is around.

 

On the roof, Torres finds where Sergeant Hill fell from and asks McGee to check it out. McGee refuses, obviously being afraid of heights, and stating he believes Torres is right. Bishop notes that no one from the surrounding buildings could have seen what happened, but McGee does notice a security camera on the roof.

 

At Walter Reed Hospital, Gibbs and Quinn (Jennifer Esposito) find out the prognosis for Erin Hill isn’t good and on their way out they run into Dr. Grace Confalone (Laura San Giacomo) who happens to be Erin’s doctor. Gibbs asks about Erin’s mental health, but Dr. Confalone replies that she cannot break doctor-patient confidentiality. She does; however, tell them to investigate this as a murder, not a suicide. Back in the bullpen we learn that Sergeant Erin Hill is a decorated soldier and she disregarded her own safety to shield casualties with her own body as shrapnel flew through the air. Quinn notes that Erin would be a perfect candidate for PTSD and Dr. Confalone quips that Quinn may be new, but Gibbs has trained her well. She goes on to ask “What’s next? Taking me to your torture room?” to squeeze her for information. Gibbs jokingly asks her preference, water boarding or bamboo under her fingernails. Before leaving, all Dr. Confalone will say is suicide wouldn’t be the first avenue she’d investigate. McGee and Quinn leave to talk to Erin’s Company Commander.

 

At Erin’s apartment, Torres and Bishop find no suicide note, but do find her phone and see she missed a call minutes before she fell from a number in Afghanistan. The building maintenance guy, Greg Abell (Brandon Quinn), arrives and gives them the last 24 hours’ security footage then leaves with Torres to show him an empty apartment for lease in the building.

 

Erin’s Company Commander (La Monde Byrd) isn’t surprised by her apparent suicide and thinks her last tour in Afghanistan was traumatic. She wouldn’t open up to him about anything so he insisted she see Dr. Confalone.

 

At Gibbs’ house, everything is lit by candles and Fornell (Joe Spano) has cooked for him. Fornell snaps at Gibbs not to turn on the lights lest he ruin the mood, saying he’s trying to express his appreciation for his hospitality and friendship. Gibbs tells him to express it by not wearing his clothes at which Fornell replies he had nothing clean to wear. At this point, they start squabbling like an old married couple with Gibbs saying he thought Fornell was going to do the laundry today. Fornell deflects by asking Gibbs how his day was and Gibbs replies saying that prying conversation is why two of his marriages failed. (Personally, I think these two have lived together for far too long by this point and need some separation, but I am loving the dynamic here). Gibbs realizes the power in his house is out and finds out Fornell blew the electricity trying to fix the washing machine, then promptly walks out.

 

In Abby’s lab, she’s bird sitting her brothers parrot and brought it to work because…Well, she’s Abby. Gibbs is not impressed by the parrot and brings Abby (Pauley Perrette) back to the case. She has reviewed the security footage and it shows there was no one else on the roof when Erin fell, but Gibbs’ gut says it wasn’t a suicide and his gut is never wrong.

 

The team traced the missed call to Griffin Dorn (Matthew Holmes) and Gibbs and Torres head to MTAC to speak to him. He was calling Erin to meet up with her in DC because he offered her a job and wanted to seal the deal, but Gibbs doesn’t trust Dorn.

 

At the hospital, McGee and Bishop are told by Devon Hill (Nina Rausch), Erin’s sister, that Erin was going to take the job so she could pay for Devon to go back to school. Devon also asks why NCIS is investigating, isn’t it a suicide? At this point, Erin goes into cardiac arrest, but the doctors resuscitate her.

 

Back in the bullpen Quinn states that Erin has no apparent enemies and Torres tells Bishop he’s not so sure about the apartment in Erin’s building because a 92-year-old man died in it. Over at Gibbs’ house, Fornell found the investigation file and is looking into it when he’s caught by Gibbs (that man sure knows how to sneak up on you). Dr. Confalone shows up and tells them that Erin died and confidentiality ends with death. She goes on to say that Erin was involved in the cover up of a murder, but wouldn’t give up any more details.

 

In the bullpen, Torres brings up the death of the 92-year-old man, Leonard Odette, and thinks it’s worth looking into. Fornell walks in with Bishop, having found him in the lobby, and wants to help the investigation but McGee is ordered by Gibbs to escort him out. Bishop and Torres investigate Odette’s death and find out the 911 call was placed by Devon Hill and the body was found by her and Greg Abell but the death didn’t seem like foul play.

 

Down in Abby’s lab, she still has the parrot much to Gibbs’ displeasure, but she wins him back by showing Gibbs that the security videos had been tampered with. She points out that Erin is wearing different watches in certain frames so they can’t possibly be from the same day. The team looks into Greg Abell since he gave them the footage and find out he has a degree in computer science and was convicted of hacking and internet fraud in 2012 and he’s still on probation now. They can’t locate him and think he’s on the run and that Erin was covering for Abell and her sister.

 

In the morgue, Ducky (David McCallum) and Palmer (Brian Dietzen) have obtained Odette’s body and discover he was hit over the head so he didn’t fall. They say Abby also found a drug in Erin’s system that wasn’t given to her in hospital; she was drugged then pushed from the roof.

 

The team get Odette’s mail from the post office and there is a letter from a precious metal and rare coin dealer asking if Odette will sell his collection, only there was no collection in his apartment. His collection would be worth over seven figures and the dealer has an appointment the next morning with a man claiming to represent Odette’s estate.

 

In interrogation, Gibbs is questioning Devon about Abell being the one who killed Odette. She confesses that Odette showed her his collection and she made a mistake in telling Abell. He convinced her that Odette was going to die soon so they started stealing from his collection, only Odette caught them and threatened to call the police so Abell hit him over the head – killing him. He then convinced Devon that she was in too deep and had to help him cover it up, but Devon insists she did not kill her sister.

 

Gibbs and Quinn are undercover in the dealer’s store, waiting for Abell to arrive, with Bishop and McGee in the car outside. Abell arrives, but Bishop and McGee can’t exit the car due to a window cleaner getting in their way. Bishop shows him her badge in the hopes he’ll move, but he shouts about them being cops which spooks Abell before he can enter the store and he runs before being tackled and arrested by Torres.

 

At Gibbs’ residence, Dr. Confalone asks Fornell how he’s doing saying she doesn’t think it’s healthy for him to be living and sleeping three feet from where he was shot and almost killed. Gibbs walks in at this point and Fornell accuses him of putting her up to this, saying Gibbs obviously wants him out but won’t ask himself. Gibbs walks off and says he’ll be in the basement if Dr. Confalone wants to join him. When she asks what’s down there he replies with “sawdust and bourbon” and Dr. Confalone says “that sounds like fun.” She follows him, leaving Fornell on his own. He calls out after them “Hey, you know I can’t get down those steps by myself…yet!” and the episode ends on his playful grin.