NCIS definitively ends the Carla Marino storyline in Season 23, Episode 2—as it should. The CBS show has gotten all the mileage out of Alden Parker’s battle with Carla that it can. “Prodigal Son, Part 2” hits the notes that viewers will find rewarding, with one exception.
It was an interesting choice for the Season 23 premiere to just be the middle part of the story. Thus Episode 2 is tasked with delivering all the answers that fans expected from its predecessor. There’s a little false jeopardy that exists; audiences know that Parker can’t have been blown up, because if actor Gary Cole was leaving, that news would’ve been reported awhile ago. Yet “Prodigal Son, Part 2” also serves as a reminder of how good Cole is playing Parker. He’s incredibly confident when he needs to be and vulnerable when he needs to be.
The throughline of this episode is about Parker and his relationships with both his sister Harriet (a solid Nancy Travis) and his late father. The case of the week beats are standard stuff that NCIS fans have seen before. One of the team goes rogue and gets in trouble for it. Director Leon Vance reminds the team that they can’t be going rogue, but winds up being on their side in the end. The whole group rallies behind the rogue agent. There aren’t any major shocks in the narrative, but that’s not the point. The audience wants to see Parker beat Carla and for him to make up with Harriet, and that’s what happens. The ending sequence of everyone singing John Denver’s “Country Roads” is the only surprising part, just because people probably aren’t expecting a musical number.
It’s a nice touch that Parker relies on his predecessor Gibbs to pull his plan off. The sign he leaves for the rest of the team is a reference to one of Gibbs’ rules, and he sets up shop at Gibbs’ cabin. NCIS fans almost certainly are hoping to have Mark Harmon appear when Parker gets to the cabin, and that would have been fantastic. But that also would have made “Prodigal Son, Part 2” a Parker and Gibbs story instead of Parker’s story. This version is a way of showing how much Parker has learned from what Gibbs started, and how they have some things in common. The scene of Timothy McGee coming around the corner instead and telling Parker exactly how he feels is one of the best moments in the episode, too—an example of how much McGee has grown, from the first “probie” to the guy who was almost Deputy Director last season.
But it all comes down to the final showdown between Parker and Carla, and that plays out exactly as viewers will have been hoping for. It’s entertaining to see Parker get one over on Carla—deceiving her with what she believes is her son’s half of a locket—and then Carla is killed off when she attempts to shoot Parker with his own gun. It’s the only logical solution. If Carla had been left alive, then there would be the temptation to keep the story going in the future. And her trying to kill Parker with his weapon, after using that same gun on his father, makes sense thematically. This whole sequence of events is exciting while also delivering the “gotcha” moment that pays off the whole Carla Marino storyline.
The only thing to take significant issue with is that NCIS still can’t leave Parker alone. This should be an episode of closure for him, but the script throws in the reveal that Carla is not the person who was using the wine glass in Parker’s apartment. That means now there’s an unknown woman who was present with Parker’s father—and Kasie Hines decides not to tell Parker about it. This is now the third Parker-related ongoing mystery. He doesn’t need another loose plot thread, and neither does the show. It’s more interesting to guess what Director Vance wanted to talk to Nick Torres about. “Prodigal Son, Part 2” shines more light on who Alden Parker is and gives Gary Cole a great stage—and now it’s time to focus on other people.
