S15.E08: Voices

[MyAimIsTrue]

An NCIS person of interest in a bribery and fraud case is found murdered after a runner is led to his body by a strange voice. Also, McGee and Delilah disagree on whether to find out the baby’s sex or keep it a surprise.

[Katy M]

I loved loved loved this episode.  It's probably in my top 10.  I felt so sorry for the killer, but that doesn't make it right.

McGee's having twins.  I was worried about them having time for one kid.  

Ducky was great.  Sloan didn't bug me at all this episode.  Hope that's a permanent change.

I bet Ellie's ex would defend her if she were accused of murder.

[marina to]

I thought this was fantastic. I love that they had Sloan talk about the amazing mental ability that we all have that we're not aware of. I love the story's twists and turns. Everyone was great. And the baby plot was enhanced by the A story. 

More like this, please!

[roseha]

Yes, it was a really good episode but this was the 2nd week in a row that I guessed the plot twist of the killer's identity.  Or thought of it as a possibility anyway.  But it doesn't really matter to me.  

I liked that Gibbs was looking at a photo of Hicks just before the young woman came to his house.  I don't know when they are picking that thread up again but I'm glad they are reminding us.

Cute ending about McGee and Delilah having the twins.

[marina to]

Just now, forumfish said:

This is the second week in a row I figured out who the killer was early on. As they were trying to explain how the woman could be hearing voices, I said "she probably killed the guy and blocked the memory and now her guilty conscience is getting to her."

Either I watch way too much TV or the NCIS writers are running out of clever twists. Probably both.

That was pretty much the only explanation. This story wasn't so much about the whodunit - we knew half way in - but the whydunit.

[Bina]

Didn't they say Delilah was just a few weeks away from giving birth? And nobody discovered twins until now???

[marina to]

Nice to see Ducky again too!

[secnarf]

I had the woman pegged as the murderer as soon as it was confirmed there was no speaker next to the body. It was a different kind of story, but I wasn't overly engaged.

It's completely ridiculous that nobody noticed Delilah is having twins if she is truly a few weeks away from giving birth.

[AimingforYoko]

6 minutes ago, Bina said:

Didn't they say Delilah was just a few weeks away from giving birth? And nobody discovered twins until now???

Delilah's still carrying shrapnel, so no ultrasound.

8 minutes ago, roseha said:

Yes, it was a really good episode but this was the 2nd week in a row that I guessed the plot twist of the killer's identity. 

I guessed once they figured the murders were carried out by computer.

Vance was enjoying Gibbs' discomfort way too much.

Amber: "This was no accident."

Gibbs: "How do you know?"

Amber: "I just know."

Vance: "Yeah, good luck with that."

[Sharpie66]

I saw Muse Watson’s name in the opening credits and was wondering how they would work Franks into the story. Liked that it was just a brief cameo that makes sense given his previous post-death appearances. 

I figured it was Amber early on, but as was said upthread, I appreciated it was a whydunit and not a whodunit. She was definitely an appealing woman, and I guessed that they wouldn’t make her a lying sociopath since we’ve already had a few of those this season. 

Loved the way they set up the firewall at NCIS by having Delilah put one in place to block Tim from hacking—smart woman who knows her husband all too well! The twins were a nice surprise. I just did the math, and she should be about a month early for next week’s delivery if she got pregnant in early March. 

[Katy M]

16 minutes ago, secnarf said:

I had the woman pegged as the murderer as soon as it was confirmed there was no speaker next to the body. It was a different kind of story, but I wasn't overly engaged.

It's completely ridiculous that nobody noticed Delilah is having twins if she is truly a few weeks away from giving birth.

My best friend is a twin.  They didn't know until her mother was in labor.

[BookWitch]

14 minutes ago, Sharpie66 said:

I saw Muse Watson’s name in the opening credits and was wondering how they would work Franks into the story. Liked that it was just a brief cameo that makes sense given his previous post-death appearances. 

I figured it was Amber early on, but as was said upthread, I appreciated it was a whydunit and not a whodunit. She was definitely an appealing woman, and I guessed that they wouldn’t make her a lying sociopath since we’ve already had a few of those this season. 

Loved the way they set up the firewall at NCIS by having Delilah put one in place to block Tim from hacking—smart woman who knows her husband all too well! The twins were a nice surprise. I just did the math, and she should be about a month early for next week’s delivery if she got pregnant in early March. 

Edited November 15, 2017 by BookWitch
Oops.

[secnarf]

10 minutes ago, Katy M said:

My best friend is a twin.  They didn't know until her mother was in labor.

That doesn't happen nowadays. Especially with such a high-risk pregnancy like Delilah's. She would have been monitored very closely.

[babs1226]

Has anyone else noticed that Gibbs and Abby haven't had any scenes together in the same room this season, when they have scenes together at all?  I read that this is her last season.  Is he miffed about it?

[marina to]

Forgot to mention Franks! Not a fan of the character but loved the reminder that Gibbs talks to dead people, even if he'll never admit it.

[VinceW]

2 hours ago, Sharpie66 said:

The twins were a nice surprise. I just did the math, and she should be about a month early for next week’s delivery if she got pregnant in early March. 

Your math is correct!!!

Nov 21, 2017  "Ready or Not"
"The team’s Thanksgiving plans are put on hold while they track an elusive international arms dealer in D.C. who recently murdered an MI6 officer who was Sloane’s close friend. Also, Abby races Delilah to the hospital when her labor starts three weeks early."

[MissLucas]

9 hours ago, babs1226 said:

Has anyone else noticed that Gibbs and Abby haven't had any scenes together in the same room this season, when they have scenes together at all?  I read that this is her last season.  Is he miffed about it?

Maybe just a coincidence? Yeah, I know. But somehow I have a really hard time imagining that Harmon would pull a Margulies.

[enoughcats]

11 hours ago, secnarf said:

She would have been monitored very closely.

Even checking for heartbeats would have caught someone's attention.  Low tech, but straightforward.

Edited November 15, 2017 by enoughcats

[babs1226]

7 hours ago, enoughcats said:

Even checking for heartbeats would have caught someone's attention.  Low tech, but straightforward.

My siblings and I were born in the time before ultrasound, but my mother and her doctor were completely surprised by the arrival of my brother 4 minutes after my sister because their heartbeats had been in unison.  

[Sake614]

yeah I cry foul on the twins premise too. Especially these days. But it was still a nice twist.

i loved the look on sloane’s face when Amber was in her office and the lights started flickering and Amber ‘zoned out’. Like she thought she was in the twilight zone lol!

anybody know how Mark Harmon got that cut on his face? It’s too fresh to have been from Paraguay but I don’t remember Gibbs being in an altercation last week.

[Sharpie66]

I was just rewatching and noticed that, even there was no overt mention of Gibbs’ own lost daughter, MH played his reaction to Amber saying that remembering a loss like hers should be painful in a nicely subtle way.

[twoods]

I cry foul too on the twins reveal but it was cute so will let it go. How would an ultrasound be a risk to Delilah since she has shrapnel in her? 

Figured the killer but glad that she had a decent reason to kill and wasn't a sociopath, unlike last week's creepy-as-hell killer. Bishop isn't bugging as much this season and Torres continues to fit in well. I have been enjoying this season so far.

[stuckin60s]

Loved, loved, loved seeing Mike Franks again!!!!!

[abbey]

I too question the "ultrasound is a risk" scenario.  I could see how an MRI would be risky with the shrapnel, but I don't think ultrasounds use magnets (at least the ones I have had don't appear to), so I am curious why they came up with that for the excuse for no ultrasounds.

[MortysCleaningLady]

Gosh. I am surprised by the reception here on this episode. I hated it.  Glad to see Ducky and Franks, but thought the voices, hacked GPS, and twins were silly.  Too much psychology and too little crime solving....

[pally]

On 11/14/2017 at 10:19 PM, babs1226 said:

Has anyone else noticed that Gibbs and Abby haven't had any scenes together in the same room this season, when they have scenes together at all?  I read that this is her last season.  Is he miffed about it?

they were together in the episode about Reeves friend.  But they are definitely scaling back.  I don't see it as anyone being mad but as them slowly easing her out of the show.  Similar to how they did with Michael Weatherly/Dinozzo.  The Gibbs/Abby interactions have always been a staple of the show and they need to get the audience used to not seeing them

[eel2178]

20 hours ago, Sake614 said:

yeah I cry foul on the twins premise too. Especially these days. But it was still a nice twist.

I'm jumping on that bandwagon, too. She was a high risk pregnancy, and she would have been monitored a whole lot more closely. Finding twins three weeks before she delivers is bogus.

I'm also wondering if they are winding down to the end of the show. McGee having twins and a paralyzed wife would probably be too much to handle with his job. It may be his exit. They already have Ducky's exit in place. We know Abby is leaving, but they aren't moving towards an exit line for her. I'm wondering if they are saving that for a reason to wrap the whole show.

[secnarf]

5 hours ago, abbey said:

I too question the "ultrasound is a risk" scenario.  I could see how an MRI would be risky with the shrapnel, but I don't think ultrasounds use magnets (at least the ones I have had don't appear to), so I am curious why they came up with that for the excuse for no ultrasounds.

Ultrasounds do not use magnets - they use ultrasound waves. I think the rationale given was that they were concerned about 'heating up' the shrapnel. I guess it's theoretically possible, but I don't know how much of a real risk this would pose during a normal ultrasound. I really raised an eyebrow at this, but I'm not actually 100% sure it's incorrect.

[Clanstarling]

This isn't exactly the scenario, but if you can think of shrapnel as a type of metal implant (though an involuntary one ),  maybe it's not so far fetched. I was a little skeptical myself. Not to mention, if the shrapnel was left in, it generally means it's in a place too risky to attempt to remove it.

Quote

Ultrasound therapy works by driving sound waves into the tissue to help alleviate pain, inflammation and muscles spasms while increasing range of motion. Therapeutic ultrasound can be used to produce both thermal and non-thermal changes in the tissue. While this type of ultrasound is safe for treating many conditions, there are contraindications for this therapy.....

This type of therapy is also contraindicated over growing bones, as thermal injury can damage growth plates. Due to the tendency of metal to have higher heat conductivity than tissue, ultrasound therapy should never be used directly over metal implants because of the risk for burns.

Edited November 16, 2017 by Clanstarling

[secnarf]

47 minutes ago, Clanstarling said:

This isn't exactly the scenario, but if you can think of shrapnel as a type of metal implant (though an involuntary one ),  maybe it's not so far fetched. I was a little skeptical myself. Not to mention, if the shrapnel was left in, it generally means it's in a place too risky to attempt to remove it.

Ultrasound therapy is different from using it for imagery though.

Ultrasound therapy is more intense - for example, can be used to break up kidney stones.

That's why I was questioning it - not sure the ultrasounds used in imaging would cause damage.

[Clanstarling]

Just now, secnarf said:

Ultrasound therapy is different from using it for imagery though.

Ultrasound therapy is more intense - for example, can be used to break up kidney stones.

That's why I was questioning it - not sure the ultrasounds used in imaging would cause damage.

Fair point. Certainly therapeutic uses are different. Couldn't find anything specific to ultrasounds and shrapnel. ;) My initial (non medical knowledge) thought was simply that ultrasound waves might jiggle the shrapnel. 

[JessDVD]

Yeah, no way in this universe would a 2017 pregnancy for a paraplegic or whatever Delilah is considered, not be monitored well enough to detect twins before the third trimester but whatevs, we'll hand wave. Mr. DVD mocked me when I got a little weepy at the ultrasound but I'll blame that on earlier today watching the episode of Friends where Phoebe has the triplets.

I confess the show totally got the whodunit right past me up until Bishop was talking to the ex-husband about how the daughter died. I'll have to turn in my "successful ID of the perp within 10 minutes of runtime" card for the week. I did think it was a nicely brought together story line, and a good use of Psych Lady, as opposed to just about all the other uses so far. Vance's "... unofficially!" after saying that he understood the perp's motivations was possibly the best line of the show. I likewise was glad that it turned out to be a suppressed memory rather than a sociopath.

I'm glad to see last week's perp mentioned because I was hoping we'd come back to that one. Could have not seen Mike Franks and continued to live in the happiness thereof.

I hate that I'm saying this but Torres is getting tolerable and even likeable. I preferred MI-6 guy over Torres when they were first introduced and I still probably do but I'd be fine with keeping Torres if it meant we could keep only one and everyone got a little more screen time.

[VinceW]

7 hours ago, eel2178 said:

I'm jumping on that bandwagon, too. She was a high risk pregnancy, and she would have been monitored a whole lot more closely. Finding twins three weeks before she delivers is bogus.

I'm also wondering if they are winding down to the end of the show. McGee having twins and a paralyzed wife would probably be too much to handle with his job. It may be his exit. They already have Ducky's exit in place. We know Abby is leaving, but they aren't moving towards an exit line for her. I'm wondering if they are saving that for a reason to wrap the whole show.

A lot of hype at last season end including Sean Murray post season interviews over the marriage and the baby coming this season, but both the marriage life story and the pregnancy have been all off screen given only one Delilah scene after 8 episodes. The twins was a nice twist, but it presents as an easy way to also keep any baby storytelling off screen given a disabled mother with a full time job now caring for twins at home while unable to continue in her career job. The past crossover cases that included Delilah working with NCIS have been done well, but there presents no way to continue on that path unless working from home. Delilah has good chemistry working and interacting with the team including Gibbs. At some point, McGee must come to realize that his family comes before his job. The baby event now seems more as a teaser which is disappointing if this is the last season.

Edited November 17, 2017 by VinceW

[MommySusan1]

Loved, loved this episode.  I figured it was Amber pretty quickly, but it still kept me guessing.  I actually teared up little when Gibbs saw Franks at the end, especially Gibbs smile as he walked away.   Screamed out loud when McGee found out he was having twins (I scared the cat & the dog).  I had a few quibbles on top of the late realization Delilah is having twins- like how did Amber so easily get a fake passport to come back to the US?  But I am willing to overlook that in a near perfect episode.   Writers- more please!