Dead Air

Another quality episode, but not without its problems. While the series rarely delivers a Format Breaker, the show-runners really know how to keep the series alive by concentrating on differing plots. NCIS has the luxury of not being limited to investigating only deaths, like some other successful Crime Procedural shows and this time the writers take advantage of that.

There are no Special Guest Stars to steal the viewers' attention - the plot is the star here, with a genuinely surprising amount of twists, and a *really* funny subplot that I would be foolish to spoil. In the end, this is not a radical, special episode enough to warrant more than 8/10, but this early in the season the series does not need them. It's during the Sweeps and the Season Finale that the show-runners are under pressure to deliver something *major*.

The problem with this episode is the very same that plagues the whole series. There is one scene that once *again* hints at the undisclosed events in Paris on 26 January 2010 (Season 7, Episode 13). The scene seems rather telling, but since the show has been teasing the viewers with the Paris mystery for almost a year now, it comes off only as really frustrating for long-time viewers. But this is a minor complaint in an otherwise *great* episode.