S18.E16: Rule 91

[thewhiteowl]

While pursuing a dangerous arms dealer, the team is shocked when Bishop is implicated in an old NSA leak while Gibbs and Marcie realize the killer they've been tracking may be onto them.

[crazycatlady58]

What the h..l?

[Katy M]

I feel like I can't believe that Gibbs is dead, but it seems hard to believe someone could survive that.  

[MountaineerBro10]

WTF WAS THAT?!!!

[crazycatlady58]

2 minutes ago, Katy M said:

I feel like I can't believe that Gibbs is dead, but it seems hard to believe someone could survive that.  

At tge very end they showed him swimming...but still?

[nitrofishblue]

Noe that was a great cliffhanger. Who is staying and who is leaving? Sad to see that really neat boat blown to bits!!!!!!!

[MDL]

Wow!

A few thoughts:

1)      I guess all the subtle or not so subtle hints that Bishop was getting trained by Odette turned out to be true. How long is her “too long” undercover assignment going to be? is Bishop out?

2)      So there was, or was going to be Bishop and Torres as an item?

3)      Of course they never told us how Gibbs got the boat out of the basement.

4)      I wasn't too surprised when the boat exploded, it was near the end of the episode and something had to happen.

5)      I was glad they let us see “Gibbs” swim away. Without that it would be too much of a cliffhanger. The only thing is- did he deliberately blow up the boat and if so, why and what?

6)      When Gibbs was talking to the Reporter (can't remember her name but it's his real life wife), my stomach was in a knot because I I was afraid they were going to pull another “Kate” and have her killed by the serial killer turned sniper.

All in all, much to think about.

[DavidWeis1]

All that and we still don’t know how he got the damn boat out of the basement.

Not that Gibbs died, but if he did, I could see the scene after they fished his body out of the lake. McGee would come into autopsy to stand over the body. He’d shake his head and say, “Boss, I just got to ask … how did you get the boat out of the basement?”

Edited May 26, 2021 by DavidWeis1
Though they may look alike — how and who — they really mean different things.

[MountaineerBro10]

So what now? Agent Knight takes Bishop’s place, Gibbs is “dead”?

[Grizzly]

I'm pretty happy if Bishop really leaves. They've been so inconsistent with her character that she's become insufferable. 

I will be crushed if Gibbs blew up that gorgeous boat on purpose to throw the killer off his trail. But I guess he can build another one. We now know getting the boat out of the basement involves bringing all the tools upstairs.

[FormerMod-a1]

I'd rather Torres leave instead of Bishop.  That said he didn't annoy me as much this episode.  He was pretty tolerable, actually.

[mommalib]

I've never been fond of Bishop so if she's gone I'm okay with that. And honestly I'm a little tired of Gibbs as well, he's always been arrogant but in this last situation with the dog catcher or whatever he was Gibbs has really bugged me. 

[secnarf]

I assumed whoever planted the bug also secretly rigged the boat to explode (maybe not caring whether it was still in his basement when it did so). I can't see Gibbs looking so happy beforehand if he did it himself.

Glad this whole thing with Odette actually paid off. I wonder if we will continue to follow Bishop in her escapades (like we are still following Gibbs even though he isn't working for NCIS at the moment), or if she will actually be permanently (or semi-permanently) off the show.

[stonehaven]

Please let Bishop be off the show. Gibbs swimming away at the end helped make it a good one.

I wish we had more Kasie(that scene at the diner was great) and Jimmy but overall, it seemed a bit dull and way too self-righteous....

Still, if CBS wants to spin this off, I'd totally watch the Leroy and Marcie hour....beyond that, I think I am about done with this show overall.

...but really, will we ever learn how he got the boat out of the basement?

[Runningwild]

I would rather watch Leroy and Marcie than the rest of them. If they don’t come back to NCIS, I hope there’s a spin-off. 

[Xeliou66]

Interesting episode with a lot to digest - I wonder if they were originally planning to kill off Gibbs with Harmon’s return to the show being uncertain, and then changed it at the end to show he’s still alive when Harmon decided to return. It certainly seems like Gibbs is never returning to NCIS, I have no idea how he’ll get his job back next season, he seems to have no interest in it. I am certain that Gibbs didn’t blow up the boat, I’m certain that the serial killer Gibbs and Marcie are investigating did.

So Bishop is apparently leaving. I don’t care, I don’t like or dislike Bishop, she was always very bland to me, and I did dislike the romantic feelings between her and Torres, no chemistry there at all. Knight will probably take Bishop’s place and I’m fine with that, I’ve liked her fine in her 2 appearances.

McGee is doing a good job as team leader, I like him in that role and if Gibbs never returns I think McGee is a more than competent leader. It’s weird to me how McGee still calls Gibbs “boss” despite Gibbs not being his boss right now, I guess he’s just so used to calling Gibbs that that it comes naturally to him, but really McGee is the boss now.

Not nearly enough Palmer.

So I’m wondering where we start next season, will the rest of the team help Gibbs find the serial killer or will Gibbs just keep them in the dark about that like he does with most things? And what will the team look like? 

[Twilight Man]

1 hour ago, Katy M said:

I feel like I can't believe that Gibbs is dead, but it seems hard to believe someone could survive that.  

 

1 hour ago, crazycatlady58 said:

At the very end they showed him swimming...but still?

I knew it!!!!!   Gibbs is secretly Jason Bourne this whole time!!!!!!

😄😄😄😄😄😄

See you all next fall.

[david gideon]

That final shot of Gibbs floating may have been designed to go either way once Harmon made his decision. If he's done, freeze frame on him floating. If he re-ups, wait another second and freeze frame on him swimming away. I'm not too worried about how they'll bring him back into NCIS (as long as there's no mandatory retirement policy in TV NCIS). In JAG Harm quit the Navy and the season opened with him flying a crop duster if I remember correctly. But he was back in uniform after a few weeks. There's always a way.

[Rosebud1970]

3 hours ago, Katy M said:

I feel like I can't believe that Gibbs is dead, but it seems hard to believe someone could survive that.  

In the final second(s) of the shot, he started swimming away.

Makes me wonder if he planted the bomb himself, in an attempt to throw off the serial killer. Although, we've seen him working on that boat across several seasons. Seems like such a waste, if he's the one that blew it up as a decoy.

[enoughcats]

An architecturally correct possible answer as to how Gibbs got the boat out of the basement.

From the upstairs interior wood work to the munton design on the front door and based on its age and that its wood, I'd guess that that's a Craftsman style house.

We had one in New Orleans that had a full basement sitting on top of the ground (it had been built after a major flood). The basement was sort of finished but had been used as rental rooms during WWII for people working at the navy base nearby.  Only if you looked closely would you see that the house was built on a raised cinderblock wall everywhere there weren't doors.  But if you looked really closely, you'd see that beside the house, there was a cement driveway leading back to the back of the lot, and if you drove a car onto that slab, you could then drive in into the basement. There had been a major  space, large enough for a single garage door. It had been replaced by a door and a window, but the fixin's for a garage were there and would have taken a saw about ten minutes to re open that original garage door.

That's my solution until I hear a better one.

[kicotan]

I’m so glad Bishop left for the incredibly petty reason that her eyebrows are so black paired with her bleach blonde hair, it was hard to suspend my disbelief that she was indeed an intelligent, observant NCIS agent. I wouldn’t be able to spend 5 minutes within 50 yards of her without taking it upon myself to, albeit gently, suggest she either lighten those caterpillars or darken her hair because she sticks out like an infected sore thumb.

Obviously, Gibbs had a secret way out of the basement.  I like enoughcats’s rundown of the technicalities.

[CheshireCat]

5 hours ago, aquarian1 said:

I'd rather Torres leave instead of Bishop.  That said he didn't annoy me as much this episode.  He was pretty tolerable, actually.

I wouldn't mind if they both left.

I was never a fan of Bishop's but I really appreciated that they didn't bring in a Ziva copy but made Bishop a very different character. I think it's unfortunate that they didn't go through with it and forgot all about Bishop, the NSA agent so quickly.

[DavidWeis1]

It’s on Emily’s Instagram that she has left the show. No one is saying anything directly, but it’s clear. I suspect there were some last minute negotiations that fell apart (or unwound) when Harmon decided to stay at the last minute. Plus, what of the new actress. Nothing has been said officially. And the Hawaii show, with some cast openings. 

Talk about flux.

[twoods]

I learned to like Bishop and she’s been around for a while, so I’m bummed she’s gone since it has been confirmed that she left the show. I wasn’t expecting it so wish we got to see more of this undercover agent she has become this season. Also since I am pretty much the only Bishop/Torres fan I was looking forward to a somewhat relationship next year. 

[DavidWeis1]

I'll be the first (today) to bring this up: This show has a horrible track history with women characters. I wonder why. I never thought about it too much, but there does seem to be something . . . weird.

[MountaineerBro10]

55 minutes ago, DavidWeis1 said:

I'll be the first (today) to bring this up: This show has a horrible track history with women characters. I wonder why. I never thought about it too much, but there does seem to be something . . . weird.

Interesting.I’ve never really thought about it till now 🤔

[12catcrazy]

There wasn't any reasons given for Emily leaving the show?  I am always amazed when a tv show can keep it so quiet when an actor is leaving (or has been fired) and then you see the episode where they are written out.  

This is the only TV forum that I'm on, but from the comments I've read here (and on TVwoP), the Bishop character didn't seem to be a fan favorite.  Was she written out because of that, or other reasons?   And did the actress leave because she wanted to (maybe wants to start a family or has gotten another gig) or was she canned?  

It will be interesting to see if the serial killer bombed Gibbs' beautiful boat or if he did it himself to fake his death.  And so far, not really a fan of Knight.  The actress is beautiful but the character also seems as if she's going to be pretty annoying.  

[HurricaneVal]

Remind me again what security agency Odette represents, and where Bishop is going?  Or is that being kept secret on purpose?  Is Bishop joining S.H.I.E.L.D.?

I'm not sad to see her go.  Her character turned bitter and sour after she turned into the "black widow" of NCIS where her romantic interests ended up dead.  I didn't see what Torres saw in her, since he met her when she was sour.  I like the actress, but the writers just left her stagnant.  All her interesting stuff was happening behind the scenes. 

I do have a love/hate relationship with the writers.  It seems to me they concentrate all their cleverness on Gibbs (and to some extent, Tony) and everyone else just gets hastily written to rotate around the Gibbs!Sun.  Remove the Gibbs!Sun from the rest of the team, their stories kind of fall apart and get boring.   Though McGee is doing  a great job taking the reins and leading the team and running investigations.  However it almost seems to me that the actor is pulling that off in spite of the writing.

I did like the conversation between Bishop and Gibbs where she said all Gibbs had to do was apologize, and clarified that was to the team, not to the dirtbag dog abuser.  The look of shock on Gibbs's face when she said that said a lot.  I hope it sent him off thinking hard.

Obviously moving the boat out of the basement is not a trivial thing.  I'm still amazed that McGee just took his "spring cleaning" comment about all the basement contents getting moved upstairs without saying "what about the boat?"  Gibbs has managed to get a boat out, what, four times before?  Isn't this retro little speedboat something like the fourth boat he's built in that basement?  Is that including the off-screen references to the boats he built prior to the show, during his post divorce years?  I think one of those he built, then hacked apart with an axe while still in the basement in a giant catharsis .  Maybe that was fanfic....  Anyways, I like how the writers were actually quite subtle about this, Gibbs obviously has a method for getting boats out and it is quite a process with a lot of steps.  Maybe he's got a garage door like @enoughcats postulated above, only it is hidden behind a false wall behind all his tools.  I could see Gibbs walling off a major access point to his house for security purposes, and not thinking it was a big deal to demolish and rebuild that false wall every few years or so to get a boat out.   One of his neighbors would have noticed that, though.  I'm disappointed that nobody on the team, especially Tony, never thought to casually canvas the neighborhood about that.  So as part of my love/hate relationship with the writers, I love that they're keeping the mystery, but giving us hints.

This last one was actually a fairly small boat, compared to some of those much larger ones he had going in there.  I don't know if it was on purpose, but I had a thought a few episodes ago that this sleek little sporty model was the Gibbs equivalent to the cliche mid-life crisis flashy red sportscar. 

However, holy cow did they give it to us in those final scenes.  I thought the cinematography was amazing with Gibbs in his sleek little retro boat gliding across the glass smooth lake, giant grin on his face, all settled and relaxed.  Then *BOOM*.  But the final scene, filmed from below, of Gibbs's body in a dead man float with burning wreckage all around him then jerking alive was incredible.  I wonder how much that cost to film, but it was beautiful in a way.  Well done.

[transitfan]

14 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

McGee is doing a good job as team leader, I like him in that role and if Gibbs never returns I think McGee is a more than competent leader. It’s weird to me how McGee still calls Gibbs “boss” despite Gibbs not being his boss right now, I guess he’s just so used to calling Gibbs that that it comes naturally to him, but really McGee is the boss now.

 

It probably is out of habit, but technically (very technically) even suspended, Gibbs is still an NCIS employee, at whatever his position is (Team Leader?)  They never said if the suspension is with or without pay, but he is still in his position, not sure how benefits would work.  And an indefinite suspension can be lifted at any time, whereupon, Gibbs continues as leader of the team.

I suspect McGee is now a Senior Agent (like Tony was).  Probably a bump in grade and pay over the other agents, I don't know if he does anything supervisory, like conduct performance reviews, etc.

[Trey]

So many questions about the boat explosion!  I think Gibbs must have rigged it himself and provided protection; otherwise, I don't know how he could have survived, without even any blood showing.  But if he did it, why? To throw the serial killer off his track? To start a new life somewhere else, following Rule 91 "When you are ready to leave, don't look back." But that doesn't make any real sense - why would he want to leave everyone else behind? And, if Gibbs did not set the explosion, who did and why?

Ellie's departure seemed rather odd and just tacked on at the end.  Maybe her leaving was all about negotiations that fell through so they had to write her out somehow.    I can't really say I'm sorry to see her go.

But now the team is down to just two people, only McGee and Torres remaining.  If the new woman is replacing Ellie we are still down one.  So, will Gibbs show up back at NCIS or will we end up with someone else new?

Just found this Newsweek article that says Gibbs faked his own death. So most of my post is already moot.

Newsweek article

[Katy M]

24 minutes ago, Trey said:

But if he did it, why? To throw the serial killer off his track?

But, nobody really witnessed it.  So, all we'll have is a burnt up boat and no body. 

Maybe McGee blew up the boat because he likes being in charge and doesn't want Gibbs coming back.

Or Bishop blew up the boat because she's mad at him for whatever weird thing she was yelling at him about.

Or maybe Torres blew up the boat because he blames Gibbs for Bishop going undercover.

Or Kasie blew up the boat because he ended up wrecking her idiot proof bug detecting equipment somehow.

Or Vance killed him because he thought he wasn't coming back and he'd left him alone with all these homicidal maniacs.

Or Abby, Tony, and Ziva all got together and blew up the boat because he doesn't cal or write and they will not be ignored.

[HurricaneVal]

My money is on Pam Dawber blowing the boat, because Mark Harmon left his dirty socks on the living room floor just that one last time that sent her over the edge. 

[Dr.OO7]

12 hours ago, CheshireCat said:

never a fan of Bishop's but I really appreciated that they didn't bring in a Ziva copy but made Bishop a very different character

So did I.

I guess Jake's not coming back either, then? There goes my hope of ever seeing Jamie Bamber is those cute glasses again.

[nittany cougar]

13 hours ago, kicotan said:

I’m so glad Bishop left for the incredibly petty reason that her eyebrows are so black paired with her bleach blonde hair, it was hard to suspend my disbelief that she was indeed an intelligent, observant NCIS agent.

YES! Every time she was on screen I yelled at her to fix her fucking eyebrows.  I'm sure anyone who watched this show with me is glad she's gone.

I feel like Emily Wickersham was a barely serviceable actor. I've never seen her in anything else but she strikes me as the type who would be the same in every role anyway.  

Was it ever resolved whether Bishop actually had a relationship with Torres?  They kept dropping all these hints, but everything was so "secret" that I lost interest.  It made no sense for the writers to hint at their love and never show anything to prove it.  Their kiss last night was out of nowhere.

I loved Mark Harmon and Pam Dawber together and I hope she's back next season. 

Edited May 26, 2021 by nittany cougar

[milkyaqua]

8 minutes ago, nittany cougar said:

I feel like Emily Wickersham was a barely serviceable actor. I've never seen her in anything else but she strikes me as the type who would be the same in every role anyway.  

Supposedly she was on The Soprano's.  I didn't have an opinion on Bishop one way or another but I'd say that about almost any character on this show.  They've all had/have foibles that annoy me going back to Kate.  I also have no interest in office romances.  I know it's TV and people like their escapism but in a real office, this many people hooking up (at least where I've worked) does not happen that often and most don't know unless there's a wedding announcement or baby.

It'll be interesting to see what happens next season since I'm pretty sure that's got to be the last one with Harmon only working part time.  I hope they can wrap it up decently.

[misstwpherecool]

2 hours ago, Trey said:

So many questions about the boat explosion!  I think Gibbs must have rigged it himself and provided protection; otherwise, I don't know how he could have survived, without even any blood showing.  But if he did it, why? To throw the serial killer off his track? To start a new life somewhere else, following Rule 91 "When you are ready to leave, don't look back." But that doesn't make any real sense - why would he want to leave everyone else behind? And, if Gibbs did not set the explosion, who did and why?

Ellie's departure seemed rather odd and just tacked on at the end.  Maybe her leaving was all about negotiations that fell through so they had to write her out somehow.    I can't really say I'm sorry to see her go.

But now the team is down to just two people, only McGee and Torres remaining.  If the new woman is replacing Ellie we are still down one.  So, will Gibbs show up back at NCIS or will we end up with someone else new?

Just found this Newsweek article that says Gibbs faked his own death. So most of my post is already moot.

Newsweek article

Judging by her comments in the second article I definitely say negotiations  broke down or conditions period were detiorating. Her 'consistency' comment sums it up.  The question is did they disgrace the character instead of killing her off to leave an opening to return or they just didn't want to kill off another female lead.

[enoughcats]

1 hour ago, Dr.OO7 said:

I guess Jake's not coming back either, then?

`That Ellie was clueless about his infidelity meant that she wasn't that great an agent.  That men, some ill chosen, also died around her , to me it means that she was more myopic than she should have been and endangered the whole team. 

She had great hair and probably left it at every crime scene. Whoever created her character and then fleshed it out somewhat illogically, that person did her no favors.

[Linderhill]

I'm really ambivalent about Ellie leaving one way or the other.  I am annoyed that they are trying to make her into some idiot Ziva wanna be.  We don't need another Ziva (I refused to watch the episodes with her unwanted return so Odette was a mystery to me) so Ellie and Ziva can stay gone.  What I really don't want is that obnoxious Katrina character.  Why do the PTB insist on "quirky" obnoxious characters to introduce them?

[GHScorpiosRule]

12 minutes ago, Linderhill said:

I'm really ambivalent about Ellie leaving one way or the other.  I am annoyed that they are trying to make her into some idiot Ziva wanna be.  We don't need another Ziva (I refused to watch the episodes with her unwanted return so Odette was a mystery to me) so Ellie and Ziva can stay gone.  What I really don't want is that obnoxious Katrina character.  Why do the PTB insist on "quirky" obnoxious characters to introduce them?

I agree with all of this! 

But I am disappointed to read that a Katrina Law’s character isn’t an awesome character. She was great in Spartacus  and Arrow.

[milkyaqua]

3 hours ago, enoughcats said:

She had great hair and probably left it at every crime scene.

I always said this about CSI Miami's Callie (well all the female characters) but her especially (and don't get me started on all the white designer clothing and Christian Louboutin shoes).  I watch enough news and even read enough mystery books to know that someone at a crime scene wouldn't be running around leaving their DNA all over the place.  But again, it's TV and people don't want realism.

[Katy M]

18 minutes ago, milkyaqua said:

I always said this about CSI Miami's Callie (well all the female characters) but her especially (and don't get me started on all the white designer clothing and Christian Louboutin shoes).  I watch enough news and even read enough mystery books to know that someone at a crime scene wouldn't be running around leaving their DNA all over the place.  But again, it's TV and people don't want realism.

I've worked in a lot of food places, and I have the same complaint whenever someone works in food service on TV.  

[preeya]

22 hours ago, MountaineerBro10 said:

So what now? Agent Knight takes Bishop’s place, Gibbs is “dead”?

I knew she'd be on the team, just not as a Bishop replacement.

[scorpio1031]

Unpopular opinion, but I liked Bishop and I hope to see her come back for a guest appearance before the show ends.  You never know, her and Ziva may need help:)

[MountaineerBro10]

2 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

I agree with all of this! 

But I am disappointed to read that a Katrina Law’s character isn’t an awesome character. She was great in Spartacus  and Arrow.

 Meh. She’s only been in 2 episodes so far (1 really, since she only had a few lines in last night’s episode), so I wouldn’t conclude she’s terrible. I was rather impressed with her 1st episode. 

[Daff]

On 5/26/2021 at 12:22 AM, enoughcats said:

That's my solution until I hear a better one.

I’ve thought this all along. If you can remember which episodes have footage of longer basement scenes, there does appear to be an old, wooden, overhead garage door on one of the walls. Every time there’s a scene filmed there, I look for the tracks the wheels roll on, but they aren’t there. I suspect the door was attached to the block foundation (I’ve been pondering this for years). I often have to rewind basement scenes because I’m too busy looking at the “garage door” section.  He used the tools to open the door, remove the boat, and reinstall the door. He took his tools with him because he won’t be returning to that house (that’s sad, and no more fireplace-charred steaks, I suspect, using applewood). 
 

Part of me accepted the face-down floating Gibbs immediately. Having considered the whole “how will this end for Gibbs” situation over several “last seasons” (really, THIS is the last, no, wait, one more, no, TWO more....), I couldn’t see him doing a Franks thing on a Mexican beach (maybe on a western mountain, in the woods). Perhaps sail the world, an eternal vagabond....

No, I came to the conclusion two years ago that LJG would go out with his boots on, muttering, “Rule xx” (that would be whichever one says, “It’s been a long, good run, time to go.”). I mostly convinced myself they’d kill him off because who could they possibly get to play him in the remake that’ll inevitably come 5-10 years down the road (there are no new ideas). Wrong again, that’s always the way. Or, Rule 91??? Possibly: Don’t believe your lying eyes?

[Daff]

17 hours ago, scorpio1031 said:

Unpopular opinion, but I liked Bishop and I hope to see her come back for a guest appearance before the show ends.  You never know, her and Ziva may need help:)

I liked Bishop as well. In the beginning, she came off as a bit of a know-it-all, but I chalked that up to having a bunch of bossy, protective brothers. And they toned it down pretty quickly. Don’t hate Nick either, but I have to use cc because he often leaves out syllables when speaking. Within the last two years, I saw him as a teen in a kids/young adult movie. He was quite intelligible then. 
Well, maybe not a teen, very young adult-it was “Unaccompanied Minors”. Talk about a baby-faced cutie, chubby cheeks and all. 

Edited May 27, 2021 by Daff

[Katy M]

23 minutes ago, Daff said:

Or, Rule 91??? Possibly: Don’t believe your lying eyes?

Rule 91: When you finally get sick of your team bugging you every 5 minutes, fake your death.

 

[rr2911]

First of all I'm glad that Bishop is gone. I did like her when she arrived. She was the former NSA analyst who sat on the floor to better think things through. Then her character changed and then she became annoying! Her possible romance with Torres was the shows way of hoping lightning would strike twice. Tony and Ziva were special to the show and a special couple that just worked. They had the chemistry that Bishop and Torres never had. The show never did tell us why Bishop wanted to be like Ziva. Hmm!

A few points about the show and the season finale:

. I was hoping Bishop would take Kasie with her. I just don't like the character. Sometimes tries to act like Abby.

. I like Agent Knight. I liked her on Arrow, so I was happy she is on the show as a regular for season 19.

. People think Gibbs exploded the boat himself to fool the serial killer. Why go through all that trouble? Why not buy a boat? Why work on that boat for months and then blow it up? There were other ways to go about fooling someone into thinking he is dead.

.  If Gibbs did not blow the boat himself, how did the killer know he had a boat and to plant a bomb in it?

. Could the killer be someone we know already? Maybe Pam Dawber's character?

. Did I mention I wish Bishop had taken Kasie with her??  😁

[Daff]

36 minutes ago, rr2911 said:

.  If Gibbs did not blow the boat himself, how did the killer know he had a boat and to plant a bomb in it?

Both Gibbs and the reporter’s work areas were bugged (so that means his home was invaded as well and he left the device with the reporter and a note to check her home). I see your point about Gibbs not wanting to blow up the boat he just spent all that time on, but his attitude would always be that he can build/rehab another boat. What if, just what if, he FOUND a bomb that the killer planted on the boat?  It would be soooo like Gibbs to play along, downgrade the bomb, add some protection for himself in the boat. It’s a wild idea, but I didn’t see any signs that he was injured. 

[enoughcats]

51 minutes ago, Daff said:

your point about Gibbs not wanting to blow up the boat he just spent all that time on, but his attitude would always be that he can build/rehab another boat.

As a boat owner who is too cynical for her own good, I have two snarky answers.

He found out how expensive slip fees are in the D.C. area and the wait list for some marinas.

Then he found out how unwelcome wooden boats are and how difficult to insure.

Whups, there's a third.

The two happiest days in a boat owner's life: the day she buys the boat and the day she sells it.

(IMO he would have real problems getting a certified appraiser to do that boat and it would be uninsurable because it's home made.  This might explain why Mike Franks enjoyed a previous boat in Mexico-he'd just have to get her in the water and sail away.)