NCIS Season 23, Episode 19 ‘Deal With the Devil‘ starts as a Parker episode and ends up being a Gibbs episode, or at least a study in how this show has worked with Gibbs and without him. It’s a very good hour that contrasts two very different leadership styles and one that ends with a bang, literally.
I’ve said this before, but after so many years of Gibbs, I was indeed very worried when Mark Harmon left the show, and Parker was introduced. Could the show still work without the character it was built around? Or should we just move on to newer things? Perhaps the most surprising thing about the last few years of NCIS is how well the show still works without Gibbs.
No, it’s not the same. It’s not trying to be. And that, perhaps, is the answer. Gibbs can be Gibbs, and this team can be one thing under his leadership. And Parker can be Parker, and the team will be a completely different thing when he’s in charge. It’s like apples and oranges. You can like one or the other more, but you can also just like both.
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THE GIBBS WAY
It feels so good to be able to put a Gibbs picture and dedicate an entire section to him, even if we didn’t actually see Gibbs. Of course, his presence has never actually faded from the show. He’s still mentioned from time to time, and his rules are still followed by the team. But this is about more than what Gibbs left us with; this is about him doing what we know he would, and getting revenge for Vance.
Parker was, indeed, very upset about the possibility of Vance’s murderer going free, and Parker and Vance had a much shorter relationship than the one Gibbs and Vance had. So yeah, it makes sense that Gibbs would return to “solve” the problem the same way he got revenge for the death of his wife and daughter. What is perhaps more surprising is the insinuation that it was Parker who called him.
But the fact that Gibbs came, that the show found a way to incorporate him even without needing Mark Harmon, shows how important he still is to this show and this franchise. At the end of the episode, everyone understands what happened. Everyone knows what the likely answer is. It’s just that no one’s saying it out loud. But do they need to? This is now Parker’s team, but Leroy Jethro Gibbs still casts a large shadow. And that’s probably the way NCIS wants it.
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THE PARKER WAY
I think the whole “the Parker” way thing is a little misguided. It’s not like Parker is a stickler for the rules. He’s gone rogue quite a few times. He might be more methodical in some things, and sure, he doesn’t have a sniper rifle or can make that shot, but he’s not a straight-laced boss either.
For me, the most interesting part is how Parker goes from insisting “the Gibbs way” isn’t us, to being the one to actively help Gibbs and probably bring the whole thing to his attention in the first place. Pretty good reception for Alaska, Gibbs.
Where does Parker go from here? He seemed pretty chill in the last scene of the episode, pretty at peace with what happened. But will that weigh on him? It would make sense for Parker to have to confront all the ways this is also him, despite how much he protested to the contrary. After NCIS solved the Lily mystery, we’ve been left with little to pull from when it comes to Parker, other than his sister. This is an interesting path to take, one that Gary Cole can really sink his teeth into.
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Things I think I think:
- “Not all criminals can be dealt with the Gibbs way.”
- I mean, to be fair, Gibbs didn’t deal with ALL criminals like that.
- The Parker way is different indeed.
- I know sometimes it’s for the greater good, but I get how deals like this one suck.
- Look, if we know anything about Parker, it’s that if he punched that man it was for a reason.
- Kasie is the smartest of them all.
- I like the sister being here, actually. She seems more human now.
- Parker caught on that something was happening really quickly.
- Jimmy, you don’t need calf implants.
- Listen to Jess!
- Wilmer’s Spanish is 9.5/10, love to see it.
- I somehow didn’t expect this level of fallout for this dude who killed Vance, if nothing else because that part of the episode was tied up so quickly.
- Oh, how the turntables, Harriet.
- “That’s not us,” says Parker. And Nick’s like eeeeeh.
- Shot and killed by a sniper, you say.
- “There are not a lot of snipers who can make a shot from that distance.”
- Yeah, yeah, he trusted the system. And he casually has salmon from Alaska.
- Imagine if we’d gotten one second of Harmon.
Agree? Disagree? What did you think of NCIS Season 23, Episode 19 ‘Deal with the Devil’? 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.
