The Tuesday, December 2, episode of NCIS: Origins is a heartbreaking one for Cliff Wheeler (Patrick Fischler) — but it’s Mark Harmon‘s voiceover as the older Gibbs in Alaska that ultimately catches our attention.
The episode is bookended by a voiceover all about Wheeler from Harmon’s Gibbs. “He was the kind of guy that spent a lot of time alone,” he says. “Alone in his big office with the door shut. He spent a lot of time alone at home, too, at least that’s what I heard. … Even though I saw him every day back then, he was kind of a mystery. But from what I could tell, he didn’t seem like the kind of guy that liked being alone. He seemed like the kind of guy that wanted to be heard. … A guy that wanted someone to ask about his day and care about the answer. If Cliff Wheeler had somebody like that, well, he probably would have been a whole new man.”
Wheeler does have someone like that: Noah Oakley (DaJuan Johnson), whom he does go to see in his apartment for that care and joy. However, their romance, due to it being the ’90s, had to be secret. But in this episode, Wheeler’s wife, Shelly (Lauren Bowles), leaves him, knowing he’s seeing Oakley again, and he’s left worried about the fallout. He’s so overwhelmed that he yells out the news of his divorce in the middle of the office.
When a person of interest’s (Rick Cosnett) alibi ends up being that he spent the night in a hotel with another man, Wheeler is ready to report the colonel for misconduct. Being gay makes him vulnerable to blackmail and a security risk, Wheeler argues, but Mary Jo (Tyla Abercrumbie) refuses to have any part in it, whether it’s connecting the call for Wheeler or even letting him make the call himself. The colonel could lose everything. Instead, she reveals she knows about him and Oakley and what he has to lose, but she doesn’t think he’d be able to forgive himself if he made the report. Wheeler lashes out about her giving unsolicited advice in rooms above her station, but Mary Jo stands her ground with just another example of why we love her. “I’m going to walk out of here, and I’m going to keep this whole place running because that’s the job I do here. But I’ll tell you what, Cliff, you can dial your own damn phone,” she says.
Wheeler doesn’t report the colonel, repeating what Mary Jo told him, that he’d never forgive himself. But Wheeler does (sadly) recommend Oakley for a position with a joint criminal intelligence team (more on that shortly) in D.C. (Wheeler looked so happy with Oakley in the montage at the beginning!) He then makes it clear to Mary Jo that she was very much in the right. “Anyone who kicks you out of their office is a damn fool,” he says.
In his closing voiceover, Mark Harmon’s Gibbs says, “I spent a lot of my time alone. Alone in my kitchen eating dinner. Alone in my basement building a boat. You spend a lot of your time alone, you get used to it. If you’re not careful, it starts to become a habit. Things are simpler when you’re alone. You got nothing to lose. So you push people away until they leave. Or you go someplace no one can follow, like the middle of Alaska. I learned to like being alone, or maybe that’s just the thing I tell myself until someone shows up to share a steak by the fire.”
Could that mean that we could see someone join Gibbs in Alaska to share a steak on NCIS: Origins or even on NCIS? After all, after the crossover earlier this season, that comment in the voiceover could end up playing into something that happens on the mothership.
Elsewhere in “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” Vera (Diany Rodriguez) reveals that she’s hoping to head up the joint criminal intelligence team (personnel from the FBI, DEA, CID, and NIS sharing information). Lala (Mariel Molino) is upset that she’s looking to take a permanent position in D.C. without telling her. Fortunately, the tension between the two doesn’t last for long. When Lala goes to offer her support for Vera’s possible new job, the other agent reveals that she’s realized she doesn’t want to leave. Instead, she’d rather set up her own NIS intelligence team.
What did you think of the latest NCIS: Origins episode? Let us know in the comments section below.
