Enigma

I like this episode. Lots of twist and turns resulting in a surprise ending

With Terry O'Quinn as guest star how can you go wrong? This is a compelling episode of the series, old enough to have Harmon at home wearing an "NIS" vintage sweatshirt predating the organization called "NCIS".

Original cast regulars are all in fine fettle, including Sasha Alexander, who real ans remember fondly even though so many cast changes have passed her by.

It's an interesting story, suspensefully directed by Thomas Wright and with some solid action scenes, a model for what made the series so durable over the years. And a young-ish Harmon is great to watch, far more animated than the Grand Old Man we've come to know and love over the decades, and miss sorely in 2023.

Using the theme of combat related PTSD as a basis for paranoic schizophrenia, the episode deals with a real issue. However, a major flaw in the episode is the murder if the FBI agent in Colonel Ryan's cabin. Who murdered him if Ryan only fantasized about being chased?

Lt. Cameron's existence is depicted in several scenes as an accomplice, only to be shattered in the end by his apparent death. We are kept in the dark about his relationship with Gibbs, and given only a bit of the backstory.

It does seem unlikely that Colonel Ryan could have accomplished the transfer of weapons and money from Irag on his own, without the aid of others. In the end we are left to wonder if it was at all plausible, if not possible. That is an artistic problem for the writer and director.