SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers for NCIS Season 23, Episode 8.
NCIS Season 23, Episode 8 is what happens when Terminator meets NewsRadio. In “Stolen Moments,” the CBS show spins a yarn about artificial intelligence and mixes it with the literal theft of time (in the sense of the U.S. Master Clock). Audiences know what the theme of the episode is going to be, but this episode has a thoroughly engaging way of repeating it.
Co-writers Jesse Stern and Brian Dietzen start with the premise of an AI chatbot being handed to the team under the pretense of “investigative efficiency.” Anyone who’s seen a procedural or a sci-fi movie in recent years knows what’s coming next: characters skeptical about giving up too much to the machines, and the ultimate message that technology can’t replace human instinct and emotion. It’s not Skynet or—as Kasie Hines name-checks—HAL 9000, but the point gets made. And by the end of the episode, DAWN gets put in its place.
What makes NCIS better than most on the topic is that Stern and Dietzen implement the theme of “people are better than machines” early, often and organically. This isn’t a story where the technology launches into some kind of hostile takeover, or where the characters are a step behind the audience in realizing it’s a Bad Idea. Through the person of Dr. Jimmy Palmer, the script addresses all kinds of reasons why this so-called “efficiency” is impossible—such as the evidentiary chain of custody, the lack of detail in a written witness statement, and even preserving the dignity of a murder victim’s body. Any question that the audience is asking, Palmer is asking too.
In fact, there’s a lighter tone to this episode that may bring back memories for sitcom fans. In 1997, the NBC sitcom NewsRadio did an episode called “Planbee,” in which the radio station brought on an “efficiency expert” to improve operations. The episode is famous in the show’s history because that character—Andrea, played by future Gilmore Girls and Parenthood star Lauren Graham—did not get a warm reception during her four-episode arc. DAWN the AI is NCIS‘ version of Andrea: chipper, occasionally funny, yet totally out of place.
The AI story is the spine of “Stolen Moments,” with the case of the week feeling like the subplot. It involves tampering with the U.S. Master Clock and phantom arbitrage, with the idea of time being its own kind of currency. It’s an interesting concept—albeit a whodunit easy to figure out. Audiences know the first suspect can’t possibly be the correct one, and from the moment her best friend shows up at NCIS looking for her, savvy viewers can guess that the “friend” is actually in on the con. This case exists more to give Jimmy and the AI different scenarios to debate, and in that sense it works. A brief note about the Department of Justice wanting to know more about NCIS works, too, as a kind of ominous foreshadowing for a potential future arc.
After the serious tone of “God Only Knows,” the lighter touch of NCIS Season 23, Episode 8 is a nice change of pace as well. There are some jokes that don’t land and some that do (such as DAWN’s flippant comment about Kasie’s “disorganized file system”). This may not be the most dramatic episode, but on the shoulders of Brian Dietzen—both as an actor and as a co-writer—it’s a charming reminder of why NCIS is so beloved. It’s not the crime-solving but the people doing it.
NCIS airs Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on CBS. Photo Credit: Courtesy of CBS.
