NCIS: Origins Season 2, Episode 11 ‘Feelin’ Alright?’ is the kind of episode that is a particular treat for fans of the NCISverse as a whole, but one that still manages to be entertaining even if you have no idea who Dwayne Pride is. However, as with most of NCIS: Origins, if you know, well, you’re getting so much more out of this story.
It’s particularly interesting to see the Fed Five reframed in the way ‘Feeling Alright’ does, mostly because we believe it. It makes sense that a woman put in all the work, and five men were the ones getting the glory. Who’s surprised? Not me.
But above all, this is a very fun hour for everyone who loved NCIS: New Orleans. In many ways, this show was the redheaded stepchild of the franchise. It got 7 seasons, more than Hawai’i, and it certainly had its audience, but it never really had the dedicated audience LA had, or the promo Hawai’i had. It did, however, have Dwayne Pride. And as this hour proves, he’s just a really good character.
MORE: Here’s how to watch every NCIS show in order!
GO WITH THE FLOW
Pride comes to Camp Pendleton with a very different vibe from Gibbs, and advice that, all in all, doesn’t really fit Gibbs. “Go with the flow,” Pride says. Because that’s what’s worked for Pride. Or, well, what he thinks works. Those of us who’ve met Pride in the future know that even that advice comes with a caveat, because things didn’t always work out for him either.
But Gibbs does loosen up a bit this episode. It’s hard to say if that’s just because of Pride, or because the experience in this particular hour shows him that sometimes, you gotta wait until you have all the information before you make a decision. But either way, just as we will one day meet an older Dwayne Pride, we will meet an older Leroy Gibbbs. And we know that he never really becomes a go with the flow guy.
Would we want him to be, though? People are who they are. But people can take lessons from others and apply them to their lives. Not change who they are completely, but learn to adapt and adjust. If Gibbs can learn to go with the flow just a tiny bit more, and Pride can learn to take things a bit more seriously, then maybe this experiment will turn out to be a win… for both of them.
Not so sure that’ll work out all that well for Mike and Dan, but we will probably find out.
MORE: Want a complete list of Gibbs’ rules? We’ve got one!
SHE AIN’T YOURS TO DISMISS
Mike Franks spends the entire episode basically being a fanboy and letting someone else dictate what he does because of it. It takes Vera literally knocking some sense into it for the real Mike to return, and not a moment too soon. Because as Lala points out, we’ve already gone through this with Mike. We thought he’d learned. And though we don’t have any vested interest in McLean becoming a better man, we do have one in Mike proving that he actually has learned.
He needs a little push in the end, but perhaps the best thing about Mike standing up for Vera and letting Lala know that he was wrong is that he actually got there by himself. He didn’t do it because he had to, or because it was expected of him. And he certainly didn’t do it to please McLean. He did it because he thought he was in the right, period. And though there’s a certain level of ego there, it’s much better to have Mike believe he’s in the right about the women around him being good at their job than to have him bow his head to McLean, who believes women are only a distraction.
This is the 90s. Only a little over 30 years ago. Sometimes we don’t believe things have changed. And they truly are nowhere where they need to be. But it’s still very illuminating, in a truly sad way, to see that the Fed Five only happened because someone, somewhere, didn’t think a woman deserved to be the face of the thing she put together. So much of our history is written to push out women, and as sad as it is to see on-screen, it’s good that the show is making a point of showing us. There’s a lesson to be learned there.
MORE: Here’s our latest NCIS: Origins review
Things I think I think:
- “Some things you think are buried deep, until they rise to the surface.”
- I’m always a little wtf at the Panama office thing, because why would you need a Panama office, my dudes?
- “I hadn’t seen that face in 11 years. But after what happened, it was a face I’d never forget.”
- That was… a first meeting.
- You really should have asked what your dad did, Gibbs.
- Pride being like “I never forget a face,” but pretending he doesn’t know Gibbs.
- “Anger is a funny thing.” Is it?
- Randy is such a chismoso, I love him bad.
- Vera is killing this interagency thing.
- Lala just casually made Gibbs a wrap?
- “He said I’m not a normal female. I took it as a compliment.”
- Dan McLane is here, too.
- Everyone who shows up is already dead in the present time, oh well.
- So annoying how they’re treating Vera.
- “Life’s a lot simpler if you just go with the flow.”
- I got excited when they mentioned the LA office, not gonna lie.
- Gibbs wasn’t even moving. Pride had no shot at winning that.
- Mike, are you really gonna stop smoking because this man said so? Like, I hate smoking, but have some self-respect.
- And cutting Lala out, too! All because of one speech.
- I like Mary Jo looking out for Vera. Someone has to.
- “We don’t have a testosterone problem.” Don’t you?
- Gibbs just wanted to hit Price. But hey, it worked!
- Pride, did you have to bring up the Gibbs and Lala thing?
- Oh, Pride bringing up Linda.
- Spoiler alert, your secret ain’t shit. You’re gonna get divorced.
- Felix Betts is from the LA office, ok. Okay. Gotcha. You could have given me Hetty, but I’ll take the Fed Five, I guess.
- Well, Pride, you tried to save Gibbs. That counts.
- Vera is doing all the work! I hate men sometimes.
- “They didn’t give us a choice.” Not enough, Gibbs. Not enough.
- “She ain’t yours to dismiss.” At last, Mike finds his voice.
- And McLane obviously listens to him because men.
- “Pride told me I made things harder than they needed to be.”
- Wait, is Diane leaving anyway?
- Randy, that was… not funny.
Agree? Disagree? What did you think of NCIS: Origins Season 2, Episode 11 ‘Feelin’ Alright?’ Share with us in the comments below! And if you have any thoughts about the show, share them with us in our NCIS: Origins hub!
NCIS: Origins airs on Tuesdays at 9/8c on CBS.
