NCIS: Origins Season 1, Episode 13 ‘Monsoon’ is an episode about Mike Franks, but it’s also an episode about war—or perhaps, about how you find normality once again after war, or if you even can. It’s also a great showcase of how good Kyle Schmid is as Mike Franks. If ‘Monsoon’ proves anything, it is that this show might have Gibbs at the center and he might think this story that he’s telling is somehow about Lala, or his relationship with Lala, but in many ways, the real standout character of NCIS: Origins Season 1 so far is Mike Franks.
It’s more than a little surprising because the show never attempts to paint Franks as a perfect man. He’s a man of his time, sometimes a little sexist, sometimes casually racist, often more than a little clueless, but generally well-meaning, even when his table manners could use some work. He’s also a man marked by war, one who, like many others who have served, has never understood how to be anything but the solider. Anything but the man who solves problems with violence. That’s what makes Mike Franks worthy. That’s what gives him purpose. Even if it isn’t—even if it never has been.
MOST PEOPLE WANT TO BE SEEN
The Gibbs voiceover at the beginning of the episode does a good job of pointing out how everyone wants to be seen for who they are, and for Franks, the person who saw him, who understood him, was Tish. That’s why he fell in love with her. Not because she saved him, but because she looked into his eyes and saw more than the wounded veteran. She saw the man he was, the man he could be. And she embraced that.
But that doesn’t mean she healed him. And that, well… that is something Gibbs understands all too well. The desire for revenge is how we got to this place—for Gibbs, and apparently for Franks too. Because even though his story didn’t end as tragically as Gibbs’ story did, the facts remain. Someone hurt his person. And Mike Franks doesn’t know any other way to face that than with violence.
NCIS: Origins doesn’t even have to be heavy-handed with this message. We get it. We understand. And by the end of the episode, we see how the facts of the case have affected both Franks and Gibbs. One, however, is in a downward spiral that is likely to get worse without Tish. The other is starting to want to heal.
THEY TRAIN YOU TO KILL
There’s perhaps no phrase as heartbreaking on this hour than “They train you to kill. How come they don’t untrain you when you come back?” Because it’s true. I’m not a veteran, so I don’t have first-hand experience with this, but I remember vividly my mom’s uncle, who was a Vietnam vet, struggling through his PTSD even many years after coming back from Vietnam. War marks you. It changes you. And it’s very easy to throw people into war, but apparently not as easy to support them once they’re out of war.
But if NCIS: Origins Season 1, Episode 13 ‘Monsoon’ manages to send one message, it’s that you cannot get through it alone. Gibbs couldn’t. Franks can’t. And whenever the issue with the man who attacked Tish comes to a head, I hope Franks leans on his team. Not just because, without Tish, what else he has, but also because… as Gibbs said, if someone understands, it’s him. And sometimes, you need someone who understands. Not because there’s any absolution in someone else understanding, but because the fact that someone else gets it is grounding.
It means what you’re feeling is normal. Or, at least, that you aren’t the only one who has ever felt this way. That might not seem like all that much, but when you’re down in the dumps, it’s something. No, it’s everything.
Things I think I think:
- “Most people, they want to be seen for who they are.”
- “Tish found him. She understood him. And he loved her for that. But then he made her a promise he couldn’t keep.”
- The part about the person who hurt his person? Ooff.
- I agree with the voiceover, though. Gibbs of all people would have understood.
- Every second of these homeless veterans broke me.
- MJ calling Vera OMG.
- And the entire team talking about the hot detective.
- “We’ve got it covered, boss.” RANDY.
- The first meeting with Tish was kinda something.
- Gibbs has very good instincts, which should not surprise us.
- Tish and Franks broke me this hour.
- “You think those groups help?”
- SOMEONE HUG GIBBS.
- AND FRANKS.
- Look, Vera, at least the detective wasn’t the killer, lol.
- I’m so proud of Gibbs.
- “I do love you anyway, but I can’t be with you anymore.”
- We better get a resolution for this storyline this season.
Agree? Disagree? What did you think of NCIS: Origins Season 1, Episode 13 ‘Monsoon’? Share with us in the comments below!
NCIS: Origins airs on Mondays at 10/9c on CBS.
Here are our last 5 NCIS: Origins reviews:
