NCIS: Origins Season 1, Episode 14, ‘To Have and to Hold’, is about Mary Jo and the kinds of people we all know—the ones who hold everything and everyone together. It’s also another episode that proves that NCIS: Origins might just be one of the best shows on TV at taking big character swings. A show about young Gibbs? No, this is a show about deconstructing human beings.
From the beginning, it’s felt like the NIS office works because Mary Jo is there, but ‘To Have and to Hold’ finally peels back the layers of how amazing it is that Mary Jo continues to hold everyone while, deep down, she’s very much broken. And the story is not for the members of NIS. They will go on the next day, and the day after that, seeing Mary Jo as the same person they always have. We, however, never will. We will remember. That’s our burden to carry now.
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SOMEONE WHO FIXED EVERYTHING FOR EVERYONE
NCIS: Origins Season 1, Episode 14 ‘To Have and to Hold’ shows Mary Jo not just noticing everything that’s going on, but how much she is often the one pushing everyone to be their best selves. We’ve seen this before, of course. Mary Jo is as much responsible for the Mike Franks we have these days as Tish is. And she’s the one who notices the little things about Lala, Randy, and even Gibbs, who hasn’t been there as long as the others.
This episode particularly makes a point about it in regard to Franks, though. She notices Franks’ ring is missing, and when Franks ends up lashing out at Mary Jo, because she’s one of the only people he trusts enough to tell about Tish and to lash out at, Mary Jo pushes back. Because she knows she can. She knows Franks will listen to her, even if perhaps, he won’t know how to say thank you. He won’t know who to say ‘Mary Jo, I hear you, and you’re right.’
But next day, he will come into work and do the thing Mary Jo said. Not just that, he will just the exact words Mary Jo used. Because that’s the influence Mary Jo has on Franks and on everyone at the NIS office. She’s not just a secretary. She’s the soul of the place.
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SOMEONE WHO LOVED LIKE IT WAS THEIR JOB
It’s not just about fixing things with Mary Jo, though. No, it’s about love. It’s about having her house filled with people who she’s helped, not because she has to, but because she wants to. About doing things for others because it makes her happy. It’s about not forgetting about the kids she couldn’t have but still being the motherly figure for so many others.
We all know a Mary Jo. We might even be a Mary Jo. Or, perhaps, we’re taking this moment to realize how much we have never appreciated a Mary Jo. That’s the beauty of what NCIS: Origins has done with its storytelling in Season 1. It told a story about Gibbs, yes. We know so much more about him, and in many ways that matter, we like him more. We will watch NCIS, especially the first few seasons, with brand-new eyes. But a lot of that won’t just have to do with Leroy Jethro Gibbs, it will have to do with the people that made him who he is.
It will have to do with Mike, Randy, Lala, Mary Jo, and even people like Kowalski and Vera. It will have to do with what it meant to start as an NIS agent in the field office in the time he did. And sure, the loss will still feel as heavy as it did, but what Gibbs gained will have now taken on a new significance, one we could have never understood before. And that, well, that’s worth the second season this show has now been assured.
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Things I think I think:
- “Someone who fixed everything for everyone.”
- “Someone who loved like it was their job.”
- Mary Jo did not screw up, Mike.
- What is this boys will be boys crap?
- I have such a sweet spot for the relationship between Gibbs and Randy.
- The asking for half of everything is such a hard hit.
- I’m glad she went to talk to him.
- What don’t you want to forget?
- Closure is good, Lala.
- Mike really does care for Mary Jo, I just wish he was better at showing it.
- “To help make people whole, even when you’re not.”
- The ending broke me. I have cried more watching this show than any other NCIS show, and I don’t think I ever expected that.
- “Someone who was a mother to everyone she met.”
- Couldn’t even see the screen at the end.
Agree? Disagree? What did you think of NCIS: Origins Season 1, Episode 14 ‘To Have and to Hold’? 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:
