Marine Down

I like the bit where he shot the bloke but also shot the other mans ear

While the episode has some good character moments, the villain's main plot was needlessly complicated. It seemed more like they had a beginning and ending in mind, but no real idea how to link them in a way the makes any sense. Had he simply killed the marines in the first place, it would have made more sense for his goals, but there would have been no episode.

They never really explain if the marines were really kidnapped by insurgents or if the villain faked that. I suppose the latter makes more sense since he had them and they weren't killed by the insurgents for non- payment of the ransome. He then engages a mortician to embalm one of the marines alive so that he could put him in the grave. So now he's included someone else in on his plan that would have worked out better if he'd just shot the two marines in the first place.

Talk about a gripping and exciting episode. I'm not sure whether the popular opinion regarding this episode is the same, but I thought it was pretty good. The way it unfolded, all the build-up. The way the atmosphere was being set; those things made the episode very enjoyable to watch. Without a doubt; the best episode so far.

I'm looking forward to watching the rest of the season, more than ever, thanks to this episode. I hope each remaining episode will maintain this level of excitement. Probably not, but I hope so. At the very least, a few out of the remaining episodes should be as exciting or even more exciting than this episode was.

The only other thing to add is the Mysterious Red-Head; that's what the NCIS fandom wiki has her listed as for the first season. She showed up again, giving Gibbs a ride in quite the nice car at the end of the episode. That's the third time, I think, that she's shown up. No wonder she's listed as the Mysterious Red-Head. I'm guessing she's Gibbs' third wife, but the show-don't-tell game going on is a little weird but intriguing. It makes me think there's a twist at the end of it.

There's not much else to say. I've already said everything that came to mind. It's weird how this was the best episode so far, yet my review for it is as short as it is. I guess it's because the episode was good that nothing more needed to be said. But, yeah. Best episode yet, very enjoyable, and I look forward to seeing what the next episode(s) have in store.