S14.E17: What Lies Above

[MyAimIsTrue]

McGee discovers his apartment has been torn apart by a robber trying to locate an item of great value hidden somewhere by the convicted criminal who previously owned the unit. Also, Congresswoman Flemming tries to persuade Director Vance to pursue a career in politics.

[hookedontv]

So happy that this episode has McGee in the spotlight! But Congressman Flemming too? I much prefer Mary Stuart Masterson as Watts in "Some Kind of Wonderful," not as an interfering politician on NCIS. Just sayin'...

[stuckin60s]

Tim has always been one of my favorites.  Others are Ducky and Frank

[AimingforYoko]

Forget about telling Delilah, who's going to tell Tony he lived with a dead body for 14 years?

[stonehaven]

I liked this episode but was wondering if anyone would tell Tony about the dead body....I'll bet he would have had some movie reference to make.

Still, a decent episode..and Gibbs fixing McGee's floor was awesome.

[CarpeDiem54]

The Good:

• Lots of McGee!  He wasn't just a minor background character.
• More Ducky and Dr. Palmer!
• They mentioned Tony and it had nothing to do with Senior.
• Gibbs repairing Tim's apartment.  Awww.

The Bad:

• Bishop.  STFU.
• That Alvarez guy, or whatever his name is, trying to be Tony and offering his advice.  He's not been around long enough to know Tim.  STFU.

The Ugly:

• That meddling Congresswoman.  STFU.  Hopefully, after Leon (not "Lee", you PITA woman) told her off, she's gone for good.

[enoughcats]

I'm not sure that I liked or even understood the way Tim's character reacted.  Delilah is a grown woman who has faced death, big time.  She would not have a fainting spell had Tim come right out and told her the truth.  I think, my opinion only, that the Tim from earlier years would have found it logical to be truthful.  

Now I really don't understand the Congresswoman's motives.  Probably just starting a story arc for the future, instead of a relationship for the present-to keep Leon doing something for his salary.

[betsyboo]

I laughed throughout this entire ep. It was like an Abbot & Costello skit at the beginning with the back and forth and omission vs. lie vs the "oh my stars!" exclamations. Cracked me up. I'm an easy mark. "This is happening, right? This is real?" HAAAAA

I'm with @enoughcats that Delilah would have handled it fine. Now - I see maybe waiting to tell her until you see her in person, but she did not need to be sheltered. 

I like MSM, but i wanted to throat-punch her. Take your ambition and go back to your duck-hunting.

I know I am the lone dissenter, but I love Jennifer Esposito, so I have been giving Quinn a lot of rope. HOWEVER, I must address her pants while visiting French Stewart. I'm 99% sure they were jeans with ELASTICIZED HEMS. AS IN SWEATPANTS. SHE WAS WEARING SWEATPANT JEANS. 

Ahem. 

[DrScottie]

22 minutes ago, enoughcats said:

I'm not sure that I liked or even understood the way Tim's character reacted.  Delilah is a grown woman who has faced death, big time.  She would not have a fainting spell had Tim come right out and told her the truth.  I think, my opinion only, that the Tim from earlier years would have found it logical to be truthful.  

It was that he never told her about the triple murder in the first place. When he had to explain what happened, he'd be compelled to tell her about that. At least he can say that he got Rosebud back. I'm guessing it wasn't compromised, because that guy doesn't strike me as any sort of tech genius. 

[enoughcats]

That was French Steward?  I would not have known the older him,  but......there was something familiar. Like so many of us, when we stop getting taller, there's only one direction left to grow. 

Thank you for knowing that and sharing.

[rtms77]

4 minutes ago, enoughcats said:

That was French Steward?  I would not have known the older him,  but......there was something familiar. Like so many of us, when we stop getting taller, there's only one direction left to grow. 

Thank you for knowing that and sharing.

Lol the same. Never connected the two until now. I mean he looked familiar yet different enough to think he was some random character actor. He has filled out and I think the glasses fooled me.

[Starscream]

I won't miss Jenna "Lee" Flemming.  She was written almost as annoying as M. Allison Hart.

Even with the escalating gruesomeness attached to it, I'd still cherish living in that apartment if it's such a great deal.  I'm just glad Kate and Ziva were never harmed.

7 minutes ago, enoughcats said:

That was French Steward?  I would not have known the older him,  but......there was something familiar. Like so many of us, when we stop getting taller, there's only one direction left to grow. 

Thank you for knowing that and sharing.

He was just like fat Bronson Pinchot in that Halloween episode a couple seasons back, both in creepiness and how shockingly aged they look.

[betsyboo]

35 minutes ago, Starscream said:

I'm just glad Kate and Ziva were never harmed.

 

Me too!!!

[Katy M]

I don't think I would care if there had been a murder in my apartment, assuming that the reason wasn't just because the neighborhood was bad.  Especially, if it's been 15 years.  I could see it being a bit odd if it was recently.  Knowing you've been sleeping over a dead guy would probably be a bit icky and I'm kind of with the whole gang on that.  What Delilah doesn't know won't hurt her.  Same goes for Tony.  Also, if I did find out that my husband or whatever, didn't tell me we'd been sleeping over a dead guy, I would not be mad that he kept that secret.

Yay, lots of McGee this week.  Apparently, I'm the only one who likes Bishop.  I could do with less Torres.  I'm not sure why, but he gets on my last nerve.

[brgjoe]

I thought it was a decent enough episode.  Glad to see one focus more on McGee.  Though did they really have to include *more* bodies found in that apartment of his?  ;)

I'm also on the side of McGee should have told Delilah about the history of the place as well as the recent, er, body count.  She is not some sheltered, sensitive, snowflake.  In fact, I think she probably would have reacted more calmly than Tim did.  Also a bit disappointed we didn't see her actually appear in the episode.  But points for showing both Kate and Ziva.  :)

Also liked the throwaway line of McGee talking on the phone with Dinozzo.

I normally like MSM.  And even her character didn't really get on my nerves until this particular episode.  She seemed almost giddy about the events taking place in McGee's place.  I almost changed the channel every time she appeared on my TV screen.  Glad to see (hopefully) she won't be around.  At least for awhile anyway. 

And what was the heavy price that Bishop and/or Gibbs was supposed to pay?   Nothing was ever mentioned about that.  Not that I saw, anyway.

But all in all, I generally liked this one.

[threebluestars]

Really sad there was no Delilah on screen. I'm assuming the actress has another show or something that prevents her from guesting? Which sucks because I love her character.

Quinn and Torres weren't as annoying in this episode (I actually found Torres kind of funny), but I still can't really enjoy the Bishop/Quinn/Torres trifecta. I think this episode really drove that home as well since the focus on McGee reminded me of when I enjoyed all of the characters on the show, and now there's only a few I actually like to see.

FYI, writers - Mary Stuart Masterson is not one of them. My God her character was ten kinds of annoying.

[Chaos Theory]

Fun episode.  Never been a big McGee fan but his reaction shots were hilarious.  Then again everyone's kinda were.

15 yr old murder that makes it so you can afford a really nice apartment in a really nice neighborhood is not so bad but something all parties should be aware of.   Sleeping over ashes of dead father kinda creepy but not so bad.  Sleeping over dead body.......oh boy.

Edited March 8, 2017 by Chaos Theory

[HurricaneVal]

16 hours ago, AimingforYoko said:

Forget about telling Delilah, who's going to tell Tony he lived with a dead body for 14 years?

Exactly.  Short of one throwaway line from McGee about him calling Tony to see if he knew anything, Tony was totally dropped, and he lived there for many, many years.  At the very least, he should have been questioned and a line in the investigation should have gone off to see if Tony in his occupation as a Federal Agent might have been related to the break-in.  Nope.  They went straight to assuming it was related to the triple homicide.  Then when the diamonds and the shady lobbyist and French Stewart got involved, that was logical.  But early on?  No.  They should have looked at all the possibilities.  And all the possibilities means it could be related to Tony's, Tim's and Delilah's jobs in Federal agencies.  That thread was never explored.

Creepy French Stewart can stay.  Every once in a while this show exhibits some brilliance in their casting of secondary roles.  The afore-mentioned Bronson Pinchot was fantastic, and Mary Stuart Masterson--while many do not like her character--is a shrewd casting as a congresswoman, and she had some pretty good chemistry with Rocky Carroll.  Jamie Lee Curtis as the head of the NSA Psyops was another terrific choice.

I think McGee fell victim to the snowballing nature of lies and omissions.  At first, not telling Delilah about the triple homicide is OK--but she easily could have heard the story from Tony or someone else on the team.  Then not telling her immediately about the break-in is OK--she was in Dubai, what could she do about it?  McGee didn't say he was going to withhold the news from her entirely, just that he wasn't going to tell her just then, and only after the mess was cleaned up.  Then came the news that it was related to the triple homicide, then the news that the triple homicide was grislier than first thought.  Then came the news that it was related to this really creepazoid furrier and a shady lobbyist.  Then came the news that said lobbyist was mummified under the floorboards in their bedroom.  At some point, McGee really needed to make a strategic retreat from his omission dodge and come clean.  She's in Dubai...she's a big girl...and as others have said, she's dealt with some seriously dangerous shit.  She can take it.

In some states, counties, and municipalities it is required when selling real estate to disclose if any violent crimes or deaths had occurred on the property.  If DC was such a municipality, then that information would have been in the sales or lease agreement.  But I am entirely ignorant of the real estate law in the area, so I can only speculate.

Gibbs being there to fix the floors reminded me of Hotch wearily cleaning the blood off the walls in Prentiss' apartment in that old Criminal Minds episode.

Also, when the actual body under the floorboards was discovered, Tony should have been told, or at least mentioned again, even in a funny line like "I can't wait to tell Tony that Senior sleeping with his neighbor isn't the worst thing that happened in his bedroom."

[Katy M]

17 minutes ago, HurricaneVal said:

In some states, counties, and municipalities it is required when selling real estate to disclose if any violent crimes or deaths had occurred on the property.  If DC was such a municipality, then that information would have been in the sales or lease agreement.  But I am entirely ignorant of the real estate law in the area, so I can only speculate.

Isn't, or shouldn't, there be a statute of limitations or something.  Like who cares what happened somewhere 100 years ago?  But, at any rate, this is a sublease between friends, and Tim was aware.  Maybe Delilah didn't even read the lease.  I think as long as one half of a couple reads and passes on the pertinent info, the other really doesn't need to slog through the legalities.

 

18 minutes ago, HurricaneVal said:

Also, when the actual body under the floorboards was discovered, Tony should have been told, or at least mentioned again, even in a funny line like "I can't wait to tell Tony that Senior sleeping with his neighbor isn't the worst thing that happened in his bedroom."

I thought they did mention him and whether they should tell him in the last scene at the office?  Or am I making things up in my head?

[basiltherat]

My scenario had Gibbs telling Delilah about the events at the apartment.  After all, when Tim shot the guy, no one knew if there was a danger to Delilah.  No one knew about the mummy until later.  She needed to be warned -- maybe "Rosebud" had something on it that could target her.

I didn't trust Congresswoman when she was lunching with "Lee" and spilled the beans about the diamonds to the random pol.  And I think Leon at that moment didn't trust her either.  She may have been using his high profile as an entry for HER to get ahead.  Plus, Congresswoman, anyone with a memory knows that Gibbs DOES NOT want to take Leon's place.  Been there, done that.

[roamyn]

18 hours ago, Starscream said:

Even with the escalating gruesomeness attached to it, I'd still cherish living in that apartment if it's such a great deal.  I'm just glad Kate and Ziva were never harmed.

Well, except for Kate being killed, and all.

[AimingforYoko]

18 minutes ago, roamyn said:

Well, except for Kate being killed, and all.

Kate was killed? When? (And you know this is referring to the fish, right?)

[betsyboo]

17 minutes ago, AimingforYoko said:

Kate was killed? When? (And you know this is referring to the fish, right?)

they *are the longest-living goldfish EVER. Kate is supposed to be 12!?!?!?!?

[MyAimIsTrue]

On ‎3‎/‎7‎/‎2017 at 10:56 PM, forumfish said:

I'd watch a whole hour of sublimely creepy French Stewart messing with McGee's head.

Even though I saw French Stewart's name in the opening credits it took me a while to realize that creepy Hannibal Lecter-ish character was him.  Damn he was good in the role and surprisingly so.

[Clanstarling]

10 hours ago, MyAimIsTrue said:

Even though I saw French Stewart's name in the opening credits it took me a while to realize that creepy Hannibal Lecter-ish character was him.  Damn he was good in the role and surprisingly so.

I recognized him from the mug shot. Then again, he was a regular on Mom last season (or the one before), so I'd seen him recently. Love him, he does a psycho so very well. I'm a little astonished to hear people describing him as fat. He's not as skinny as he was as a young man, but hasn't put on nearly as much heft as a certain former cast member (imo).

I loved the scene between Leon and the congresswoman where she got insulted about the "dancing with the devil" phrase. It's one thing to be pragmatic and understand that you make morally ambiguous choices for "the greater good" (as she might), but that huge dose of denial is not a good look. Yeah, maybe Leon was a bit self-righteous. But hey, he's not wrong either. If he'd been clear with her (or with himself) that he didn't want to be a politician, she probably would have dumped him long ago.

[roamyn]

On 3/8/2017 at 7:02 PM, AimingforYoko said:

Kate was killed? When? (And you know this is referring to the fish, right?)

 Duh.  I was thinking the characters.  LOL

[roseha]

Quote

At least he can say that he got Rosebud back. I'm guessing it wasn't compromised, because that guy doesn't strike me as any sort of tech genius. 

I had the same thought.  By the way am I the only one who felt bad that the writers spoiled the reveal about "Rosebud" to anyone who hasn't seen Citizen Kane (there must be some people...)?

I also couldn't believe the way the congresswoman blabbed about an ongoing investigation by NCIS in the middle of a busy restaurant?  I almost felt also that they were making up this subplot to give Rocky Carroll something to do.

I'm glad Tim finally told Delilah, though I imagine she would have found out eventually even without the missing diamonds tie-in.

Nice to see a  Tim-centric episode.  I wonder though, have they gotten away from Tim's computer-whiz geekiness?  I didn't see much of it in this ep or in the others I've seen this year (not many I admit).

Edited March 10, 2017 by roseha

[Katy M]

33 minutes ago, roseha said:

I had the same thought.  By the way am I the only one who felt bad that the writers spoiled the reveal about "Rosebud" to anyone who hasn't seen Citizen Kane (there must be some people...)?

I also couldn't believe the way the congresswoman blabbed about an ongoing investigation by NCIS in the middle of a busy restaurant?  I almost felt also that they were making up this subplot to give Rocky Carroll something to do.

I'm glad Tim finally told Delilah, though I imagine she would have found out eventually even without the missing diamonds tie-in.

Nice to see a  Tim-centric episode.  I wonder though, have they gotten away from Tim's computer-whiz geekiness?  I didn't see much of it in this ep or in the others I've seen this year (not many I admit).

I haven't seen Citizen Kane but I have been well aware of what Rosebud is for years.  I also have never seen Pscycho and am well aware of that twist.  I don't think you can keep an old movie classic's twist a secret.

[ForReal]

I was disappointed in Tim for keeping it all a secret. It seemed wussy of him to not tell Delilah; like others said, I'm sure she could handle it, and it wasn't decent of him to withhold the information. I doubt he would have been pleased had the situation been reversed.

"I loved the scene between Leon and the congresswoman where she got insulted about the "dancing with the devil" phrase. It's one thing to be pragmatic and understand that you make morally ambiguous choices for "the greater good" (as she might), but that huge dose of denial is not a good look."

This! The nerve of her to dump him when he called her on her @#! I'm glad Leon finally stood up for himself. When I compare her to his wife Jackie, I think he owes her memory (and their kids) more than to take up with someone like this.

[marina to]

On 3/7/2017 at 9:07 PM, AimingforYoko said:

Forget about telling Delilah, who's going to tell Tony he lived with a dead body for 14 years?

I wanted to have someone at least mention telling Tony. Why did you deny us, show?

[marina to]

On 3/9/2017 at 8:35 PM, roseha said:

Nice to see a  Tim-centric episode.  I wonder though, have they gotten away from Tim's computer-whiz geekiness?  I didn't see much of it in this ep or in the others I've seen this year (not many I admit).

Now he's senior field agent so it doesn't make sense for him to spend his time doing that work. It seems they've given Quinn some of those skills and they haven't done any stories this year that requires anything particularily "hacky".

[roseha]

21 hours ago, marina to said:

Now he's senior field agent so it doesn't make sense for him to spend his time doing that work. It seems they've given Quinn some of those skills and they haven't done any stories this year that requires anything particularily "hacky".

Thanks, I hadn't thought of that but it makes sense.  I guess having missed a lot of the shows this year I didn't adjust to Tim's new status yet.

[HawaiiTVGuy]

Someone mentioned in the last episode thread and it bears repeating, not enough Delilah.  Her character and the actress that plays her is so much better than Bishop, and the two newbies.  It is really too bad that the PTB didn't just think about doing it that way or just keep the team one man down with a revolving cast of guest agents helping out.  Too bad they had to go and kill Dorneget, he would have been a great replacement for Tony IMO.  Maybe they should have just brought in Esposito's character from the beginning instead of Bishop.  Ugh so many combinations that would have been much better than the current iteration.

[marina to]

@HawaiiTVGuy Dorneget would have been a great choice. I also like your idea of having brought in Quinn to replace Ziva. I like Bishop but we would have had a smoother transition with Quinn's more laid back approach.

[lh25]

On 3/9/2017 at 4:23 PM, roamyn said:

Duh.  I was thinking the characters.  LOL

LOL-me too.  I had totally forgotten about the goldfish's names.  I thought I had missed some flashback scenes or something.

[HurricaneVal]

I miss Dorneget.  Killing him off was so unnecessary.

[enoughcats]

It does not bode well for N.C.I.S. when fans prefer dead characters to the currently alive group.  

I am afraid that the franchise takes itself seriously and that means we won't see the dead return as Zombie NCIS, righting the wrongs of society one scared-to-death at a time.

[brgjoe]

I'd probably watch NCIS: Zombie that had all my favorite zombified characters in it.  Probably better than 90% of what is currently on TV now. 

And I also agree, I wish there would have been a phone call to Tony telling him, "Hey guess what?  You have been sleeping above a dead body for 14 years.  Have a nice day!"  :)

[catsitter]

This episode has just been shown on a free channel in the UK - it had previously been on pay channels but I hadn't seen it.

I realise that they had an episode a while back which was supposed to settle all the questions about the fact that Leon had a false identity - it was fine because NCIS knew about it all along.  But surely he couldn't run for Congress without someone digging into his past and revealing his stolen identity? Even if a journalist innocently went to look for people who knew him when he was growing up to get some quotes for a piece supporting him, they would likely realise that he wasn't the real Leon Vance, never mind opposition research. So I don't see how he could ever have seriously considered running.  And surely Gibbs would be aware of that.

 

As for the main plot, I thought Tony rented the apartment and his father was sub-letting it to Tim and Delilah? In this episode someone said that Tony had bought the apartment? Anyway, like everyone else, I was relieved that the fish were o.k.   I thought Delilah would probably have heard about the triple homicide from a neighbour already.

[scorpio1031]

On ‎8‎/‎1‎/‎2018 at 3:53 PM, catsitter said:

This episode has just been shown on a free channel in the UK - it had previously been on pay channels but I hadn't seen it.

I realise that they had an episode a while back which was supposed to settle all the questions about the fact that Leon had a false identity - it was fine because NCIS knew about it all along.  But surely he couldn't run for Congress without someone digging into his past and revealing his stolen identity? Even if a journalist innocently went to look for people who knew him when he was growing up to get some quotes for a piece supporting him, they would likely realise that he wasn't the real Leon Vance, never mind opposition research. So I don't see how he could ever have seriously considered running.  And surely Gibbs would be aware of that.

 

As for the main plot, I thought Tony rented the apartment and his father was sub-letting it to Tim and Delilah? In this episode someone said that Tony had bought the apartment? Anyway, like everyone else, I was relieved that the fish were o.k.   I thought Delilah would probably have heard about the triple homicide from a neighbour already.

I'm confused - I thought Vance had a false background/job history, but not a stolen identity??  And yes Tony bought the apartment cheap cause of the murders.