S13.E09: Day in Court

[MyAimIsTrue]

In order to clear his name, a petty officer volunteers to be court martialed if NCIS agrees to conduct its own investigation after his murder case is dismissed due to a mishandled warrant. Also, Bishop and Jake discuss their marital problems.

[AimingforYoko]

Really? I mean, Bishop's distinguishing feature was her stable home life. Now, she'll be just another one of those bitter TV people with no life outside of work. I sure hope there's another swerve coming.

[MyAimIsTrue]

Me too, I didn't like the direction this went in at all.  I realize it's sweeps months so it's time to bring in big ratings but will this show ever have a happy long term couple?

[secnarf]

That was such a depressing ending.

 

I'm not sure I believe that Jake was actually having an affair. They didn't really look romantic in the cafe or in the taxi image. But maybe it was just the way it was written/acted when Jake told her. It felt to me like he was grasping at the affair as an excuse for something he wanted to hide even more.

 

Also I realized that Ellie has kind of grown on me, since I was sad at the prospect of her being absent for a few episodes (unless there is a time jump of some sort!).

[Guest]

Really? I mean, Bishop's distinguishing feature was her stable home life. Now, she'll be just another one of those bitter TV people with no life outside of work. I sure hope there's another swerve coming.

 

I'm torn.  I think swerve / job related lie because Gibbs befriended Bishop's husband and I don't think they like it when Gibbs reads people wrong.  On the other hand, this seems to be the season of Gibbs isn't infallible or indestructible so maybe this is another aspect of that.

 

And yes, I realize that I think the disintegration of Bishop's marriage has little to do with her character.  Its Gibbs' world and they all live in it.

[AimingforYoko]

Also I realized that Ellie has kind of grown on me, since I was sad at the prospect of her being absent for a few episodes (unless there is a time jump of some sort!).

Previews showed Gibbs following Bishop to OK.

[MyAimIsTrue]

I'm not going to read it but do want to thank you for using spoiler tags. 

[pally]

That was such a depressing ending.

 

I'm not sure I believe that Jake was actually having an affair. They didn't really look romantic in the cafe or in the taxi image. But maybe it was just the way it was written/acted when Jake told her. It felt to me like he was grasping at the affair as an excuse for something he wanted to hide even more.

 

Also I realized that Ellie has kind of grown on me, since I was sad at the prospect of her being absent for a few episodes (unless there is a time jump of some sort!).

 

I had the same thought, An affair doesn't seem like Jake's MO.  Besides he said "after the bombing" but he was getting into the taxi with her before the bombing.  And no way is he stupid enough to take his girlfriend to the same place he took his wife every day.  

I didn't like Gibbs slapping the suspect...it seems way too un Gibbslike. He gets what he wants by force of personal intimination not by slaps.

[friendperidot]

I've been a casual viewer for the past couple of years. Do hypodermic needles really have serial numbers?

[Julia]

Some might. But we have a box of them from living with a diabetic cat, and they didn't.

[FormerMod-a1]

That was such a depressing ending.

 

I'm not sure I believe that Jake was actually having an affair. They didn't really look romantic in the cafe or in the taxi image. But maybe it was just the way it was written/acted when Jake told her. It felt to me like he was grasping at the affair as an excuse for something he wanted to hide even more.

 

Also I realized that Ellie has kind of grown on me, since I was sad at the prospect of her being absent for a few episodes (unless there is a time jump of some sort!).

 

I  had the thought (hope?) that Jake was lying, too, maybe to protect her from something else.  Sigh.  I realized I've come to really like Bishop.  I started off indifferent and grew to "like" quickly, but now I really like her.  I felt so had for her.  Whether the affair is real or not right now it is her reality and it hurts so bad.  And to think, I had been applauding the show for not making her suspicious of an affair, at least not for long.

[NYGirl]

Wow I didn't even think that the affair would be a coverup for something else.  I thought it was an affair all along.

 

Needless to say I'm very annoyed that they went the route of causing dissension in Bishop's marriage.  It's ridiculous how they involve all of their SO's and families into story lines on this show.  The only one with a decent outside of work life is Jimmy.

[FormerMod-a1]

It's a completely baseless thought on my part.  Maybe more like "grasping at straws" since I'm not sure how faking an affair could help reveal a leak at the NSA.

[MyAimIsTrue]

During the scene with the informant (great comic relief, by the way, I don't know who the actor was but I loved him) did I hear someone say that pot was legal in Maryland?  Unless I've missed something it's only legal in Colorado and Washington state but that would be a seriously huge mistake on the part of the show.

[jennifer6973]

No Tony said it was illegal

[MyAimIsTrue]

Ah, thank you for clearing that up!  My ears apparently deceived me.

[JessDVD]

What. The. Hell. Seriously?!

 

The only bright spot of all that was the verification that Tony and Zoe are still together and happy enough.

 

I'm going to choose to believe that Jake said that to cover up something else. Not that this isn't possible with NCIS but it's pretty terrible writing to have someone just admit it flat out. He was by no means forced to admit anything. 

 

Also, I doubt we'll find out but I hope that guy's wife takes him back. I can understand her separation from him when it looked pretty certain he had murdered someone but now that it's proven he hasn't, I get it's weird but she could at least try...

Edited November 18, 2015 by JessDVD

[pally]

Medical marijuana is legal in Maryland but obviously street sales are illegal even in Colorado and Washington

[pcta]

So do not care about the Bishops and that storyline sucked the life out this epi for me. It has felt that the character balance has been off all season. Where the heck is Palmer? And to ruin a holiday episode next week by making it about Bishop. Why? What am I missing? Is this character so beloved that everyone but Gibbs gets there parts reduced to add screen time for the blond?

The whole storyline suffered because we never really got to know the Navy kid. There is something so wrong this season.

[Saylii]

What. The. Hell. Seriously?!

The only bright spot of all that was the verification that Tony and Zoe are still together and happy enough.

I'm going to choose to believe that Jake said that to cover up something else. Not that this isn't possible with NCIS but it's pretty terrible writing to have someone just admit it flat out. He was by no means forced to admit anything.

Also, I doubt we'll find out but I hope that guy's wife takes him back. I can understand her separation from him when it looked pretty certain he had murdered someone but now that it's proven he hasn't, I get it's weird but she could at least try...

I think the Navy guy didn't want to take his wife back at the end. He mentioned getting over her thinking he was a murderer was too much of a nail in the coffin.

I definitely think Jake is using the affair as a coverup. I'm on the fence whether I think he's an actual bad guy or going deep undercover to find the bad guy.

[Shanna Marie]

I think the Navy guy didn't want to take his wife back at the end. He mentioned getting over her thinking he was a murderer was too much of a nail in the coffin.

Yeah, that's what it sounded like to me, that he was the one reluctant to take her back because she was willing to believe that he was a murderer. I actually kind of like that because it always bugs me in movies/TV/books where there's a misunderstanding and all it takes to mend things is proving that the one person didn't do what they were accused of, and they never deal with the issue of what it means to the relationship that the other person was willing to believe the worst of the loved one.

 

I do hope there's something else going on with Jake because I'd thought their marriage was so cute when he was introduced. I hate the way they keep tearing down everyone's personal relationships, and it was kind of nice to have someone on this show who was happily married, with the relationship mostly offscreen. Plus, being shallow and selfish here, if they split up, then we're less likely to be seeing more of Jamie Bamber in the cute glasses. Then again, this is Jamie Bamber, so we're due a dramatic death pretty soon. Going by his track record, he'll die in action just as she learns that this was all a ruse and he was making a grand sacrifice to root out the source of a major leak to save the world from terrorism.

[preeya]

I can tell you with certainty that ATMs do not scan serial numbers on dispensed currency. It only occurs in the world of Miss Scuito.

[catray]

Well, that blows. I'm not really convinced Jake is actually having an affair-- he seemed pretty emotionless about the whole thing. I am thinking that he's covering something else, but then that leads me back to another poster's theory that Jake was somehow involved in the bombing, which I don't like either. In any case, it sucks that now Bishop's marriage is on rock and/or over. I liked that Bishop actually had a stable life and marriage and I'm bummed that it's all messed up right now. Palmer's next, right? (The way this shows goes, anyway.)

 

At least Zoe got a throw-away mention this episode, so we know she and Tony are still together. I did like how Tim and Tony were quick to get into protective big brother mode for Bishop (as well as Gibbs, of course).

 

Good to see Salli Richardson again, though I wish we had seen a bit more of her. I like her interactions with Gibbs and that they enjoy the occasional (non-romantic) breakfast. I felt bad for the sailor, potentially losing his wife and child, but it does bring up a good point-- shows often tend to gloss over the emotional fallout from something like this, so I appreciate that they at least brought it up.

[twoods]

Really show, an affair? You have to dump on yet another stable couple? There could have been discord just from the secrets, and I liked how Bishop wasn't suspicious of an affair at all. How depressing.

I also didn't like Gibbs slapping the guy- it was unnecessary.

I liked the young cop in Baltimore. Maybe he can have another cameo.

[sinkwriter]

 

I'm not sure I believe that Jake was actually having an affair. They didn't really look romantic in the cafe or in the taxi image. But maybe it was just the way it was written/acted when Jake told her. It felt to me like he was grasping at the affair as an excuse for something he wanted to hide even more.

 

That's what I was thinking. They looked so serious at that lunch when Bishop saw them through the window. I really do hope it's something else and he can't tell her but he needed to misdirect. But if that ends up being the case, she may still choose not to forgive him, for putting her through that. So either way, I think it sucks that the showrunners can't allow one married couple to be happy and have that aspect of their lives remain separate from the show's drama and melodrama. (I'm not including Jimmy because we barely see him, much less his spouse.)

I really loved McGee and Tony standing up to Jake, all incredulous. "Are you seriously showing up here?" And then Gibbs kicked him out. 

 

If Jake's in a bad spot and he really didn't cheat on Ellie, I feel bad for him a little bit because I think he appreciated having those friendships (with all three guys, but especially Gibbs) and now he may have ruined them.

[betsyboo]

 

I'm going to choose to believe that Jake said that to cover up something else. Not that this isn't possible with NCIS but it's pretty terrible writing to have someone just admit it flat out. He was by no means forced to admit anything. 

 

 

I definitely think Jake is using the affair as a coverup. I'm on the fence whether I think he's an actual bad guy or going deep undercover to find the bad guy.

Agreed - I definitely thought he offered up the affair pretty quickly. But how bad could it be that he uses an affair as the lesser of two evils?!?!

 

That being said - I like Ellie, but could not care less about this storyline or her marriage. Unless they somehow bring it back to impacting NCIS professionally, why introduce it? I'd rather see Delilah.  Maybe someone is threatening/blackmailing Jake and he had to tell her that to "protect" her.

 

I really loved McGee and Tony standing up to Jake, all incredulous. "Are you seriously showing up here?" And then Gibbs kicked him out. 

 

If Jake's in a bad spot and he really didn't cheat on Ellie, I feel bad for him a little bit because I think he appreciated having those friendships (with all three guys, but especially Gibbs) and now he may have ruined them.

Me too!! LOVED it. And regardless if he's making it up or sleeping with that woman, that showed some seriously poor judgement. Dude. BALLSY. I thought Tony was going to take a swing!!

I had problems with my spoiler tags in this comment at the end of my post, will try again:

 

As for the previews,

I'm unsettled that I had a dream last night where Gibbs and I were together driving to see my family for the holidays. WTF?!?!?!?!?

Edited November 18, 2015 by betsyboo

[immortalfrieza]

That's what I was thinking. They looked so serious at that lunch when Bishop saw them through the window. I really do hope it's something else and he can't tell her but he needed to misdirect. But if that ends up being the case, she may still choose not to forgive him, for putting her through that. So either way, I think it sucks that the showrunners can't allow one married couple to be happy and have that aspect of their lives remain separate from the show's drama and melodrama. (I'm not including Jimmy because we barely see him, much less his spouse.)

I knew that Jake and Bishop's relationship was destined to have problems after they started bringing the relationship up constantly. The Law of Drama means that nobody in all of fiction can ever have a truly stable relationship for long, and it's easy to see why. Stable relationships tend to be boring or rather writers rarely ever have the ability to make them interesting, therefore any seemingly stable relationship will suddenly have heaps of problems if not outright crash and burn unless like with Palmer and Tony the relationship barely even exists in the work.

 

Now that you mention Palmer I've noticed he has never been a significant and/or enjoyable character. Unless the episode specifically centers around him he very rarely even appears, and the rare times he does nothing a total background character couldn't do except yak a bit until someone tells him to shut up. When he does have an episode centered around him he's probably sharing the time with Ducky and even if not his characterization boils down to bumbling awkward idiot.

Edited November 18, 2015 by immortalfrieza

[Julia]

Totally called the lawyer being guilty.

 

I don't think Jake is having an affair. I think there are things going on it's dangerous for Ellie to know about, and that she keeps (illegally) injecting herself into classified information she isn't cleared to have, and Jake took the opportunity to send her away in a way that would make her stop digging and endangering herself and his career. Because Gibbs and Jake are friends, and Gibbs' gut wouldn't let him be friends with someone who would casually cheat on his wife. Because there's been no payoff for Ellie being suspicious and stalking Jake before anything ever happened, if anything ever happened. And because we had the scene with the wife refusing to speak to the suspect (who, as it turned out, was innocent) and Gibbs telling him that it was the wrong time for anything he had to say to do any good.

Edited November 18, 2015 by Julia

[krimimimi]

I agree with Julia's take completely. Unfortunately. I really don't like what they've done with Bishop's character this season at all. To be fair, I was indifferent towards her before, but this... Yech.

 

I hate the trope of the spouse who can't handle their LEO partner's career and eventually leaves (after much annoying drama. it's so overused that it fails to be compelling tv.). This manages, improbably, to be even worse. Didn't think that was possible.

 

So a quick bit of fact checking: she is the one who chose to change jobs meaning they could no longer talk about his/their work. We've seen her in danger before, which apparently is ok, but not when it's her hubby under threat. And she thinks it's reasonable to spy on him (illegally. total misuse of government resources in the process.) endangering his job and possibly his mission. And when he does finally tell her something (that he probably shouldn't) (whether it's true or not) about a breach at the NSA, she's told, what, every member of her team within 24 hours? And wonders why he doesn't talk to her??? I'm supposed to hate her, right?

 

Writers, you are very questionable. This is just plain character assassination, and you've nuked one of her only defining characteristics to boot. Splendid. /sarcasm. Just: pfui.

[JessDVD]

I think the Navy guy didn't want to take his wife back at the end. He mentioned getting over her thinking he was a murderer was too much of a nail in the coffin.

 

 

Oh yeah, I missed that. I can understand that too.

 

So I'm agreeing with the above posts that Jake is trying to protect himself and Ellie since clearly this season's Ellie has boundary issues. I hope they reconcile because I'm a delusional optimist in this way.

[rainsmom]

Add me to the voices who don't believe Jake had an affair and used the excuse to cover up something else. I also wondered if he was involved with the bombing. I doubt they'd go that way, but they could having him undercover as a disgruntled employee open to being recruited. Having his marriage in jeopardy would help legitimize that cover story.

 

I think, though, that the A story this week alludes to the problem Ellie and Jake will have when they resolve this whole thing. If she believes he cheated on her and later believes he was capable of committing treason, how does that affect their marriage later. I can't see them going back to a happily ever after.

 

Anyway, I loved big brothers McGee and Tony and papa Gibbs all ready to kick Jake's ass. The main reason I don't want Ellie's marriage to end is that I don't want to screw with the sibling relationship by making it possible to ship the now-single Bishop.

 

It also cracks me up that everyone just walks into Gibbs' house to talk with him, even after midnight. (How could she not have seen the boat before?) (Also, who builds those boats for real? Each time we see one, it's at a slightly more advanced degree of build. Who does the actual work?)

[gazebo]

I can't believe Gibbs smacked that sailor!  Not just once, but I think three times!  Is that allowed???

 

I felt bad for the sailor because his wife left him.  I can understand how she must feel after going through the ordeal of a trial and being confused about her husband's character.  In the end of the episode, I still wonder whether she might take him back after he's been exonerated.  Frankly, I think the marriage is pretty much over. 

 

Poor Bishop!  I really did think like Bishop that her husband was being investigated at his job and that's why he  couldn't tell her anything.  The conversation between him and that female investigator at the restaurant looked pretty innocent to me but for the fact that it seemed to be a rather heated talk they were having.  I was pretty angry for Bishop when her husband finally admitted that he was having an affair with that woman.

 

I liked how the NCIS team automatically stuck up for Bishop when her husband went to the office to look for her.  They all look like they wanted to hurt him badly. 

 

Jamie Bamber looks really hot in those glasses.  He does sexy nerd very well.

 

I'm still wondering whether Bishop's husband was really having an affair or covering something up.  He looks full of secrets.

[jennifer6973]

Add me to the voices who don't believe Jake had an affair and used the excuse to cover up something else. I also wondered if he was involved with the bombing. I doubt they'd go that way, but they could having him undercover as a disgruntled employee open to being recruited. Having his marriage in jeopardy would help legitimize that cover story.

 

I think, though, that the A story this week alludes to the problem Ellie and Jake will have when they resolve this whole thing. If she believes he cheated on her and later believes he was capable of committing treason, how does that affect their marriage later. I can't see them going back to a happily ever after.

 

Anyway, I loved big brothers McGee and Tony and papa Gibbs all ready to kick Jake's ass. The main reason I don't want Ellie's marriage to end is that I don't want to screw with the sibling relationship by making it possible to ship the now-single Bishop.

 

It also cracks me up that everyone just walks into Gibbs' house to talk with him, even after midnight. (How could she not have seen the boat before?) (Also, who builds those boats for real? Each time we see one, it's at a slightly more advanced degree of build. Who does the actual work?)

 

 

I think this was her first time in the basement.

[sinkwriter]

 

I think this was her first time in the basement.

 

Yeah, there probably wasn't occasion for Bishop to visit Gibbs at home before this. And I could imagine Tony and McGee telling her all about a boat in Gibbs' basement, and Bishop not believing them, thinking they were yanking her chain. Teasing the newbie. So it amused me when she was surprised by it.

Edited November 19, 2015 by sinkwriter

[itsmeyousee]

I think the affair is real but not a passionate one, more a survivors guilt one. They were both in the Taxi when the bomb went off and it's all that could have been us , that should have been us connection. But that doesn't excuse Jake at all, like Gibbs said pull his head out. At the moment Jake was all about Jake until now.

 

That was really sad watching Bishop go, but she did the right thing. She needs  to think and not just react and being at home with Mum and Dad sounds like a good place for her to be.

 

And an interesting case as well, really liked this ep.

[Ohmo]

I think the affair is real

 

I think so, too.  I don't think it's an op or anything like that.  Going as far back as last year's Christmas episode, Jake's been dropping comments here and there about how different Ellie is to him.  One of the first things that I remember him saying at the airport was that he was surprised when he heard that Ellie was carrying her gun.  Then, he was surprised by what he saw her do when she was dealing with the body in the bathroom stall.  There's been an undercurrent of Jake being uncomfortable with Ellie's career shift for awhile, and while I buy the "survivor's guilt" theory, I also think it's interesting that Jake has had relationships with women that he has worked with.  Ellie did work with Jake at NSA.  The same is true of this new woman.  It's almost like the NSA is Jake's orbit, and he can't deal now that Ellie has stepped out of that orbit, so he's found someone else.  I think the start of this changed dynamic predates any snooping Ellie might have done.

 

Which, as some have mentioned, makes me sad because I've grown to really like Bishop, and something in the tone of Emily's voice really conveyed the hurt that Ellie felt when we heard the note that she left for Jake.  Emily did a really good job because her delivery made me ache for Bishop and feel sorry for what she has lost.

Edited November 19, 2015 by Ohmo

[Julia]

I'd be very sorry if that was true. Because if they chose the season where Gibbs painfully and almost literally at gunpoint joined the current millennium, already in progress, to make the point that even wonder woman Bishop can't trust or hold a man unless she's more or less standing next to him holding the leash, I'm going to be sad.

[HawaiiTVGuy]

At first, I just wanted to post to add my distaste with the idea of an affair, however, now that I think about it, a mis-direct is the most likely scenario in NCIS-verse.  It isn't like NCIS to spend so much time on a spouse or significant other, to the point of having numerous interactions with other team members unless they are helping with the investigation of multiple cases (like Delilah).  So to just end the relationship with Bishop with an affair doesn't seem right considering how much time they spent showing Jake interacting with various members of the NCIS team.  If the other lady agent really is internal affairs, I wouldn't be surprised if Jake is acting as a CI to uncover a leak.  And an "affair" with said lady agent is the perfect cover to explain interactions with her.

 

If it turns out it is an affair, I think this is such BS.  I know we are supposed to feel bad for Bishop because she was the one that was cheated on, but I think she was just so..."needy" about needing to know more about what Jake was up to when she KNEW that he can't talk about things.  And he had to keep reminding her OVER AND OVER again and yet she STILL KEEPS COMPLAINING ABOUT IT!  And then her "angst" about possibly going undercover and that story line.  IIRC the ironic thing is she didn't seem concerned about how her absence would affect Jake, but more how would she be able to handle trying to nurture a relationship.

 

Considering all her complaining, I am surprised that many view their relationship as that stable.  I view McGee and Delilah's relationship the most stable in NCIS.  They have their typical relationship milestone issues but they talk about it and work it out.

Edited November 19, 2015 by HawaiiTVGuy

[krimimimi]

If it turns out it is an affair, I think this is such BS. I know we are supposed to feel bad for Bishop because she was the one that was cheated on, but I think she was just so..."needy" about needing to know more about what Jake was up to when she KNEW that he can't talk about things. And he had to keep reminding her OVER AND OVER again and yet she STILL KEEPS COMPLAINING ABOUT IT! And then her "angst" about possibly going undercover and that story line. IIRC the ironic thing is she didn't seem concerned about how her absence would affect Jake, but more how would she be able to handle trying to nurture a relationship.

That [highlighted bit] in and of itself wouldn't have been a huge problem. It might not make her sympathetic to the viewers, but it is in keeping with how she joined NCIS. That move created a lot of new issues in her relationship, and IIRC it wasn't presented as something she carefully and thoroughly discussed with Jake so much as something she did and he got to cope with. Like I said, might not win her any fans, but no real reason to hate either. Jake and Bishop could just have been a mutually supportive couple, that allowed each to make decisions for themselves but treated the other's decisions with respect. (Changing jobs means you can't talk to me about work anymore, but because it's what I want to do, and because you want to stay where you are, we'll simply have to make it work. It will be a bit of a loss, but professionally fulfilled people have good things to offer in a relationship as well, and with understanding and a conscious effort, things will be just fine.) Except they couldn't leave it at that. They had to turn her into a hypocrite, and a willfully needy and dense one at that. "Tell me! Why won't you tell me? You never tell me anything! Wah!" More's the pity.

[Ohmo]

I'd be very sorry if that was true.

 

If it's not an affair (and I still think the odds are decent on that), then I think the next likely scenario is that Jake IS in trouble, and the NSA is making him push Ellie and NCIS away. Otherwise, Jake's going to be jailed for some reason.  If he works with NSA, they won't throw him in jail, they'll let him retain his license to practice law, and he leaves the agency.  (Remember when Tony made the comment that Bishop wanted to marry a spy and she corrected him and said Jake was a lawyer?  I think that comment may come back around.)  Jake being forced into this under the threat of prosecution is the only way this scenario works for me.  The thought of him just flipping an affair out there as a cover for an op he's not forced into is revolting to me.  The connotation of the word "affair" is of the most intimate betrayal in a marriage.  You don't flip out that excuse because it's handy, so the NSA better seriously have Jake's ass in a sling.  Otherwise, if it comes out that Jake just tossed an affair out there for the sake of a plain-Jane op, I don't see how Ellie ever trusts anything he says to her again.  To me, that's equally as bad as him actually having an affair.

Edited November 20, 2015 by Ohmo

[Julia]

Well, just throwing this out there - if there's already an investigation into Jake's operation being compromised, and Ellie doesn't stop ignoring the law, breaching NSA security, and sharing what she finds with random (also not cleared) coworkers, she's not just going to lose her job, she's likely to end up behind bars, possibly in Cuba. And if there was ever a chance that Jake would be able to argue that she should be cleared for enough information to reassure her, she made sure that was taken off the table by demonstrating that she can't be trusted with classified information or with the level of security clearance she already has.

So while I think there's an argument that the writers really had to shank the character to set her up for this, one way or another Ellie's own behavior has put her husband in an untenable position. That wouldn't excuse an affair if there was one, obviously, but it doesn't seem like the most logical explanation to me. And I have to admit, watching how Mary Sue's actual one year performance evaluation would go is kind of satisfying. Just once having a show acknowledge that maturity and experience are valuable things their improbable prodigy needs to develop is nice.

I also wonder if Gibbs doesn't know or suspect more than he's letting on. I feel like the conversations with the guilty-looking husband about the wife who misjudged him have to be anvils. These writers aren't that subtle.

[Notwisconsin]

The only one with a decent outside of work life is Jimmy.

And he's generally depicted as a moron.

[jaytee1812]

Wait, isn't McGee happily living with Delilah and Tony is with Zoe, although whether that's happy is debatable. Also Abby always seems happy outside work.

[brgjoe]

Maybe it's just wishful thinking, but I too think that the affair is a swerve. 

 

I can see a scenario that either he is being investigated for something related to the bombing, or he is being put in a deep undercover position.  And that he has probably been told or figured out himself that Ellie has been snooping around where she shouldn't.   I'm sure he's tried time and again to tell her to stop using her contacts in the NSA to find out what is going on.  So the only way he could get her to back off and go away is to tell her he's having an affair.   That's my hope, anyway.  Otherwise I am with the rest of you here.  I hate to see the one stable, healthy relationship on this show get blown away to kingdom come like this.

Most of the other stuff was "meh" to me.  I thought crooked lawyer was crooked pretty much from the get-go.  Though I did like Tony's return trip to Baltimore.   I like it when he visits his old place of employment. 

 

Otherwise, yeah, that ending was really a downer.  Ugh.

[GHScorpiosRule]

Jake was totally lying about the affair. And considering that the two guys who wrote the episode have been with the show since Season 1, I'm betting that Jake is undercover, and that like brgjoe speculated, that Ellie's constant using her NSA contacts to try and suss out what Jake is doing and why was probably compromising his cover. It was just the look in Bamber's eyes--I don't buy that he's having an affair, and though it was nice how Tim and Tony were "defending" Ellie, both Tony and Gibbs, will have to take a few seats, as they both have done the undercover thing, if they get all up in Jake's face after they find out that he's not having an affair.

I say that because this show will not let Gibbs not find out what's really going on.

And I really, really, and I mean really wish they could have gotten Harm, Bud, or Mac to reprise their role from JAG. Especially Harm, because I have soooo missed seeing David James Elliot on my screen. If not as a JAG laywer than as the judge. Or something.

What?

I'm so stoked for tomorrow--Lindsay Wagner Jamie Somers Austin will be on!!!! Too bad they couldn't get Lee Majors Steve Austin to play her hubby (because they did finally get married!)/Ellie's daddy.

Again, I say, What?

Edited November 25, 2015 by GHScorpiosRule

[Dr.OO7]

It's almost three years too late, but having just joined this website, I'm finally posting to count myself among those who thought Jake was lying about the affair in order to somehow protect Ellie from something even worse. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought it, because I seriously thought I was crazy or imagining things--did anyone else notice that when she asked him "Were you with her last night?", he didn't answer? I took that as a HUGE clue that he was lying. His "confession" sounded very forced and rehearsed, IMO. I was sorry disappointed when the follow up revealed otherwise, and even then, I still expected an eventual revelation that he'd lied about it. You ever watch a show and get the feeling the writers had something planned and nixed it for some reason?

I hate that they ruined Bishop's marriage. And for what? To get her started on having the same screwed up love life that nearly everyone else on the show/TV has?

Edited May 7, 2018 by Camille

[Dr.OO7]

On 11/17/2015 at 10:58 PM, Shanna Marie said:

Then again, this is Jamie Bamber, so we're due a dramatic death pretty soon

Heh. I see I'm not the only one who's noticed that he gets killed off in literally every other thing he stars in. Last I checked, the count stands at TEN of his characters who have prematurely gone to meet their Maker.

I miss him in the cute glasses too! Jesum peace, just when I thought he couldn't get any sexier.

[scorpio1031]

On ‎6‎/‎7‎/‎2018 at 4:21 PM, Camille said:

Heh. I see I'm not the only one who's noticed that he gets killed off in literally every other thing he stars in. Last I checked, the count stands at TEN of his characters who have prematurely gone to meet their Maker.

I miss him in the cute glasses too! Jesum peace, just when I thought he couldn't get any sexier.

Did he die in Perception?

[Dr.OO7]

3 hours ago, scorpio1031 said:

Did he die in Perception?

No, he made it through that one. He's kicked the bucket in Ghost Rig, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Outcasts, The Messengers, Horatio Hornblower, Law & Order: UK, Cold Case, Ghost Whisperer, Star Trek Continues, and John Doe: Vigilante.

It's such a shame. I adore him and I love seeing him on screen, but I've become very reluctant to get attached to his characters because I know the odds of him shuffling off the mortal coil are very high. 

I hated the affair story because aside from being very uncharacteristic of him (and I agree with whoever said he was not the kind of idiot to take his girlfriend to where he frequently had lunch with his wife), it was also very rushed, clichéd, and anticlimactic. I can just imagine the conversation in the writers room:

"We've got to get rid of this guy."

"So let's kill him off."

"No! We kill off everybody! And HE always gets killed off too!"

"Okay, let's make him cheat on her and then they split up."

"Terrific! All done!"

Like most of you who have posted, I have a sneaking suspicion that the fake affair/undercover mission/heroic death was the arc that was planned but it was then nixed for some reason, like Bamber wasn't available and/or tired of his characters always ending up dead.

Edited August 13, 2018 by Camille

[Dr.OO7]

Now that "Strike Back" is done, maybe Jake will resurface and tell Ellie that the affair was a lie and he's been working as a covert military operative in central Europe for the past few years. 😆