NCIS Season 23, Episode 10 Review: A Perfect Return

NCIS Season 23, Episode 10 ‘Her’ is one of the best episodes of the show in the last few years, which is a testament to how much we needed closure for Ellie Bishop’s storyline, and to how much this show stands to gain by allowing romance to be an important part of the stories it’s telling. And ‘Her’ isn’t just an Ellie episode, or a Nick episode, in many ways it’s also an episode about the team—the one that was, the one that is, and even the one that could be.

The ending is bittersweet, and yet… It’s a little sweeter than bitter, because it leaves open a door that wasn’t open before. And considering we got that happy ending with Tony and Ziva, there’s reason to hope that this can someday be the ending for Ellie and Nick. For now, we know for sure they both want it. And that’s huge. Especially considering the games the show had been playing before with Nick and Jessica.

MORE: Here’s the review for the midseason finale and Bishop’s return

LOVE TRIANGLE? WHAT LOVE TRIANGLE?

I must have said there wasn’t really a love triangle in at least four or five different reviews, but I appreciate the show making me sound so smart in ‘Her.’ Because this hour takes us back to the past and, in doing so, proves why there really is only one person for Nick Torres. There has only been one person for Nick Torres. And that’s why all his attempts to move on have been for naught. He’s been waiting for Ellie in so many ways.

And I don’t even think that’s been healthy. He didn’t really deal with her absence; he just did the Nick thing, which is basically “conceal, don’t feel.” Which is such a Latino thing to do, so I get it. As a community, we’ve avoided our feelings for so long that sometimes we’ve convinced ourselves those feelings weren’t there. But with Ellie coming back, it all hits him, and boy, it hurts. And there’s longing, too. There’s a possibility.

So, when Ellie asks him to go with her, there’s a part of Nick that wants to say yes. Because he knows he wants a relationship with Ellie. He’s always wanted that. And before, she didn’t open this door; she just left. They are different people now. They have gone and done their thing and realized that the place they want to be is with each other. But timing is still not on their side.

“For now, my place is here,” Nick says. And the for now is doing the heavy lifting there. And I think Ellie understands it for the promise it is. I can’t leave my team yet. There are things I still want to do, that I still need to do. But one day… one day. Of course, this is a very elegant solution to the fact that Wilmer Valderrama doesn’t want to leave NCIS right now, but if he ever wants to… or, if the show were ever to end, well, we know where Torres is going next.

MORE: Here’s how to watch every NCIS show in order

THAT’S GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME

‘Her’ also, ironically, reinforces the connection between Torres and Knight and once again places it back to where it always belonged, in the strictly platonic. And sure, in another world, maybe Torres and Knight could have worked. But in this one, there’s an Ellie for Nick, and there’s a Jimmy for Jessica. And Nick and Jessica can still love each other and be partners and have that relationship mean a lot to both of them without the need for it to ever turn romantic.

We’re very used to romantic partnerships in procedurals, and that’s perhaps why there was so much discourse about the two of them and about whether the show would have Jessica move on from Jimmy with Nick, but I never actually saw any interest from either of them. Jessica clearly has some unfinished business with Jimmy. Nick has unfinished business with Ellie. Hopefully, the show can figure out how to get Jimmy and Jessica back together, just as they gave us the best happy for now that we could get for Nick and Ellie, considering she can’t stay.

Someday. Someday. Hopefully, that day will be soon for Jimmy and Jessica.

MORE: Want a complete list of Gibbs’ rules? We’ve got one!

Things I think I think:

• “She’s family.” Straight to the heart with that one.
• Though you did barely know her, that is a fair point.
• Bishop leaving Torres breadcrumbs, lol.
• Yeah, so Knight didn’t keep that secret for one second. I kinda like it.
• Oh, so Torres knew about Bishop’s team. Are you playing matchmaker, Director?
• “Not buried, gone.”
• “We’re no longer partners. I’m done.”
• In bed?!?!
• How very dare you to show me this as a flashback, NCIS.
• Gibbs’ rule number 12 is “Never date a coworker.”
• “From Gibbs and everyone else, but never from each other.” A knife in the heart would be less painful.
• Not ready to see you, nope.
• “It was real, Jess.”
• No jealousy at all!
• You do always know the gossip, Jimmy.
• “Trash talking my b*tch, lol.”
• “I was afraid you’d ask me to stay and I was afraid I’d say yes.” The ship points Nick and Ellie are accumulating this episode, I swear. Getting epic.
• Going from “I trust her” to “That’s good enough for me.”
• This team, man. I actually love them.
• I love reunions! They heal my soul.
• “I’d write your alibi in my own blood.” Dramatic much.
• See, she’s not married!
• “I used to think goodbye was easier if I didn’t say it” and “Come with me.”
• And I GOT A KISS!
• Jimmy and Jessica had a bet on this, right?

Agree? Disagree? What did you think of NCIS Season 23, Episode 10 ‘Her’? Please share with us in the comments below! And if you have any thoughts about the show, leave a review/rating of your own in our NCIS hub!

NCIS airs Mondays at 8/7c on CBS.