NCIS 21×07 Review: “A Thousand Yards”

NCIS 21×07 “A Thousand Yards” is a very good episode of NCIS and a homage to a thousand episodes of a franchise that feels like it’s got a lot more to give. The episode, short on the big cameos we expected – though Vanessa Lachey and Daniela Ruah do pop up for a banter-filled conversation with Torres – nonetheless makes it feel like the world of NCIS is far larger than just the mothership.

If we say ironic it’s just because CBS recently renewed NCIS for a 22^nd season, but it has yet to renew NCIS: Hawai’i for a fourth season. NCIS: Los Angeles was canceled last season. And though yes, NCIS: Sydney was recently given a second season order, outside of that we have NCIS: Origins, a Gibbs origin story, and the as-of-yet untitled Tony and Ziva Paramout+ original. NCISverse sounds all nice and well, but for that name to really mean something, the network is going to have to let something grow that isn’t connected to the mothership.

What we’re basically saying is, that this episode of NCIS just made us want more, not less. Of this particular team, of course, but also of the possible stories of this universe. So, can we make that happen?

THE WHY

NCIS 21×07 “A Thousand Yards” was basically about two things, the why these people do what they do, and the team they do it with. The why was what Jared, Vance’s son, was stuck on. How can you continue doing the job when the job has taken so much from you? How can you continue putting your life at risk? He didn’t get it when the hour started, and he especially didn’t get why his father would continue to be so invested after getting shot.

Ironically, the episode was about showing Jared that half of the why was the part that he never considered, the people. Yes, there’s the doing what’s right, and there is a greater good aspect to a job like being an NCIS agent. You don’t go into it without caring about that. But there’s also why you stay in it daily, and that has a lot to do with the people you work with.

You want to do good, yes. You know you’re making a difference, yes. But on the day-to-day, you’re not doing it for the big reasons, you’re doing it for the person who sits next to you. The one who goes out on the field with you. The one who saves your ass, and the one whose ass you get to save. That’s why you do the job.

THE PEOPLE

And that’s what has made NCIS so special for so many years, if we want to get meta. That’s what has made the NCISverse so special for 1000 episodes. All these years, all these shows, the franchise has managed to craft good shows and interesting cases, yes, but you don’t get here on the back of interesting cases. You get here on the back of memorable characters.

The NCIS franchise is here because people connected with Gibbs. Because people fell in love with Tony and Ziva, enough that all these years later, they’re coming back for a spinoff. Because they loved a character who knew as G for close to a decade. Because they shipped a scruffy-looking cop and a tough army brat. Because they fell in love with the newest grumpy/sunshine ship in Hawaii. Because of our first female SAC. And also because of the stories that have yet to be told.

NCIS: Hawai’i airs right after this episode. The episode is titled “The Next Thousand.” It’s a clever thematic nod to this hour, but it also feels like a promise. There are more stories to be told. For NCIS proper – for the team, for Parker who hasn’t had as much time, for Jessica and Jimmy, who are still finding their footing as a couple. For a NCIS: Hawai’i, that deserves that fourth season. For a NCIS: Sydney, that is getting that second one. And yes, even for a NCIS: Los Angeles that didn’t get to keep telling its stories, and for NCIS: New Orleans and for whatever comes next. NCISverse, after all.

Things I think I think:

• Okay, but that’s a fair question, Leon Vance.
• How dare you start by putting Vance in danger, NCIS?
• Yes, too soon Curtis. TOO SOON.
• Jared was actually supremely helpful.
• Of course, we can only see Kensi’s face. HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN? DID SHE HAVE THE BABY?
• We need answers, damn it.
• Also, of all the people to mention, Kilbride? Truly?
• Another question, why is Kensi taking this call? Where is Callen? We know where Sam is, but …Callen? Somewhere looking for Hetty, I presume, in a storyline that is going to conclude sometime soon, on screen, right? RIGHT?
• Me, emotional at this Vance and McGee scene? Nah.
• Yes.
• I cannot at this Bones flashback from the past from Fletcher Voss, who is giving EVIL.
• Look, I resent the implication that 20 years was a long time ago.
• Yeah, just stand there with your badges. That’ll do it.
• “The only way light can grow is by passing it on.”

Agree? Disagree? What did you think of NCIS 21×07 “A Thousand Years”? Share with us in the comments below!

NCIS airs Mondays at 9/8c on CBS.