NCIS Season 23, Episode 13 Review: The 500th Episode Hits Hard

NCIS Season 23, Episode 13 ‘All Good Things’ is a celebration of the agency that has been home for these characters for two decades, as well as a toast to a show that still has a lot of life in it, twenty-three seasons in. It’s a very hard combination to pull off, but ‘All Good Things’ manages to strike the perfect balance between reminiscing and moving forward. And it does so while delivering the kind of gut punch we did not expect. The kind we didn’t think the show could or would deliver at this point.

Long-running procedurals usually have one thing in common. The ones that work, the ones we invest in, the ones we watch religiously and then put in the background when we’re doing other stuff just so we can rewatch… those are about comfort. About dynamics that feel like family. And even when they break our hearts, they are also about characters we love. About characters that stay with us long after they’re gone.

Twenty-three seasons in, NCIS still feels like family. And sure, there have been a lot of moving parts to that family. Some family members went to study abroad. Some returned, some didn’t. Some left us way before their time. But they’re all still that… family. And family is forever.

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

THIS COULD NOT BE THE END OF NCIS

We weren’t all that concerned about NCIS not surviving because, you know, the show is called NCIS. Not just that, there are other shows called NCIS something, one of them also set in the present time and in Sydney. Didn’t feel like we could get away with having a Sydney office without a main office, so. And canonically, the Los Angeles and Hawai’i offices still exist. So yeah, the future of NCIS wasn’t ever in doubt for us.

It was still a bit of a shock to see how this episode delivered an end for NCIS that wasn’t really an end for the agency, but an end for Director Vance. Before the hour, I joked they had to do something big for such a monumental episode. I did not see this coming. I did not want this. And I don’t actually like it. But boy, what a great episode it was. What a way to go.

The hour brings the team back together, little by little. Of course it does. But it’s mostly about allowing Rocky Carroll’s Leon Vance a chance to sit in his chair, the same chair he’s held for years, and tell the story of his agency. The story of his people. And to protect them like he always has. Now, it’s not his job anymore. He did what he could. He did more than anyone else could have. His watch has now ended.

Before we say goodbye, though, may this episode serve as a reminder that this team is a team in great part because of Vance. He has been at the center of what makes NCIS a family for a long time. From Gibbs to Parker, from Tony and Ziva to Knight and Torres, from Ducky to Jimmy, from Abby to Kasie, he’s a big part of the reason it works. How does it work going forward? How do we go on with a broken heart? We have no idea.

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STILL A TEAM (FAMILY)

In many ways, the setup of ‘All Good Things’ is kind of obvious in its simplicity. Everything is lost, and the team is separated. Something happens that brings the team back together. And it’s only together that they can figure out how to help Billy and how to save the agency. But the fact that the story is a bit predictable in its storyline, if not in format, doesn’t make the beats the episode hits any less gut-wrenching.

We just didn’t see it coming. Not that NCIS hasn’t done any big deaths ever, but it’s been a while. We were too safe in our comfort zone, believing all our main characters were safe. Now the ground has shifted. We don’t know which way is up. We don’t know what comes next.

But perhaps we’re not supposed to know. Perhaps what has to stick with us is the fact that the smaller personality beats of the episode were on point. Torres was kinda perfect as the guy who wouldn’t take a reassignment to that soulless place and decides to get a job where he gets to go rogue a bit, and yet the guy who is now so used to working with his team that he doesn’t actually enjoy it as much as he would. Parker was kinda on point as the man who doesn’t actually need the job, he can take some time and try talking to the internet. But he likes the job, nonetheless.

And Knight and McGee would be the ones to accept the transfer, even if they hate it. But also the ones who would jump at the first chance to get the team back together. In the end, though, it takes all of them, and Jimmy and Kasie, to crack this case. It takes Vance to lead them back to where they belong. That’s NCIS for you. A team that’s not just a team, but a family. That’s why we’ve watched for 23 years. And that’s why we’ll keep on watching, now through the tears.

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

Things I think I think:

• Wait, what? Is that a flashforward?
• It’s been a month?
• “You’re under arrest?”
• McGee you really trying to hack into Vance’s computer while in the room with him? Or are you trying to hack the DOD?
• “We’re being shut down.”
• What do you mean thank you for your service, you didn’t answer any questions my dude! Or give any information!!
• Even if McGee and Knight had done something, how’s this on Vance?
• Torres refused his reassignment?
• Undercover, makes sense. Very Nick.
• The sign reading Naktok Bay, Alaska.. I’m fine. FINE. Giiibbbs.
• Also, Hollis Mann? Gibbs’s ex? Winning the trip to Alaska?
• Austin Marques plays Billy Fuentes again. He did so as a kid.
• I do want to hear the story!
• At least Knight and McGee are sitting together in their boring offices.
• Okay, I can see Parker refusing his transfer too. That actually makes sense.
• Parker is an internet star?
• GIBBS! I would have been sad if I hadn’t seen Gibbs.
• What do you mean you killed him, Vance?
• “Your people are famous for cutting corners.” They are?!
• McGee cut the power?!
• He is destined to lead, I agree.
• ABBY’S CLOTHES.
• Kasie did step right in, even though she had very big shoes to fill.
• He counted the regulations he broke! Jimmy, I love you.
• “That theory sucks, sir.”
• “It’s time to move on and trust that others will carry the torch.” This made me very emotional.
• What number did Kasie say that Parker thought was practically a hug?
• Okay, what? Nick wants to start a family?
• You really should have asked for ID, Vance. LOL.
• Kasie and Jimmy are so good together.
• Jimmy, you set him up with Jessica’s sister?
• All the bad guys go to college together!
• The CID director?!
• I mean, this had to go catastropically bad to get NCIS back, I guess.
• We never trusted anyone at CID!
• “This is still my agency.” Vanceeee.
• HE JUST SHOT VANCE OMG.
• Parker and McGee did shoot him.
• Is it time to move on?
• He wasn’t wearing a vest!
• Did I cry at Ducky? I did.
• “Yes, and so it goes.”
• Sobbed through that montage. SOBBED.
• The clock! Rule 11 is “When the job is done, walk away.” I’m not crying, you are.
• Man, everyone’s just gonna sit there and think about their last conversation with Vance, and I cannot stop thinking about the little speech he gave Jimmy. Someone hug Jimmy. Someone hug everyone. Someone hug ME.

Agree? Disagree? What did you think of NCIS Season 23, Episode 13 ‘All Good Things’? 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.