NCIS Season 18 Updates: As the 18th season of NCIS premiered on CBS back in November, it’s fair to say it did so with a bang. Though much of the season so far has traveled back in time, the opener began with a gun-sniper Gibbs (played by Mark Harmon) shooting and striking colleague Timothy McGee (Sean Murray) twice successfully-though just why it remained a total mystery.
It turns out that Gibbs had to take some radical action against his colleague and comrade as a result of the continuing task between Gibbs and Fornell (Joe Spano) to bring down an enigmatic drug ring.
Although the first episode of Sunday’s double bill saw McGee and his wife Delilah (Margo Harshman) soak up the sun in the Bahamas, the second installment eventually brought the answers.
The episode began with Gibbs planning to investigate the meth ring and its dangerous yet enigmatic chief Merriweather-even though Vance (Rocky Carroll) had thrown a spanner into the works, implying that the DEA would take over. In a moment of urgency to keep their dreams of taking down the crime empire intact, Gibbs raced to the airport where he saw Merriweather’s aircraft.
Yet none other than Fornell emerged from the plane, leading to a slightly comical exchange of battles between Gibbs and his friend before figuring out what Fornell was doing there in the first place.
Fornell had collected intel on the meth ring and that a large new shipment had arrived-although this may have led to disastrous results as a basis for a terrorist strike after an alert from Vance.
Putting two and two together, Fornell and Gibbs found out that fresh opioids were intended to circulate across the military bases via the local burger chain, resulting in the deaths of thousands.
NCIS Season 18: Drug Twist
Gibbs roped McGee into the scheme but was unable to warn the latest intel that the Merriweather and Bishop aircraft were meant to be on the plane was rigged to explode.
Thus, when McGee approached the plane in hopes of rescuing Bishop from it, Gibbs had little alternative but to shoot him in order to save him from being entangled in the blast.
McGee was shot in his arm and leg and could only wait as the plane he was approaching became an inferno after the crash. Luckily, Bishop wasn’t on board, and instead, he appeared from the adjacent hangar, where Torres exchanged an emotional embrace.
In the end, there was a happy ending to Gibbs’ firing at McGee, and it became apparent that he had really spared his life. Fornell was also able to reunite with his daughter, the survivor of the meth ring back in season 16, which led to a gripping storyline. NCIS season 18 starts on CBS Tuesday.
