NCIS Season 12 (2014)
Season 12 of NCIS originally aired between September 23rd 2014 and May 12th 2015, for the first time in a while not beginning on a cliffhanger from the last season. It begins in Russia, introducing us to the main antagonist of the season Sergei Mishnev, later revealed to be half-brother of Ari Haswari. He plots to avenge his sibling and other NCIS targets, using a repatriation mission by Gibbs as an opportunity to shoot his helicopter out of the sky and leave him, Kevin Hussein, Timothy and two pilots stranded in the forest.
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While both pilots perish, the other three survive and make it towards the border, while at home Abby struggles with a computer virus unleashed on the NCIS network by a microchip smuggled into the country by Kevin who has unbeknownst to his rescuers been manufacturing malware. Gibbs manages to take out two mercenaries and makes an attempt on Sergei’s life too, later finding out he survived which causes problems for the rest of the season.
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Sergei’s lust for revenge becomes personal, and we see the death of Diane as he kills her with a sniper rifle to hurt Gibbs. She’s a character I’ve grown very fond of over the series and I’m sad to see her go, but it makes for a very impactful moment and we see how this weighs on Tobias Fornell, FBI agent who has recently rekindled his relationship with her. It’s eventually him that takes Sergei out, as Gibbs arranges a retreat in the woods to get him sober and knows the only way he can get closure is for Tobias to avenge Diane’s death.
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This season offers up an array of scenarios, from a ship taken by pirates to a terrorist threat at an airport, as Bishop, her husband and DiNozzo are snowed in and tasked with stopping the assassination of a prisoner being transported from Columbia. Ellie is really established as a character in Season 11, as we learn more about her personal life and the things that drive her. We also get a glimpse of a younger Tony in the episode ‘Cadence’, as he’s tasked with visiting his old military school to solve a murder, and the episode ‘So It Goes’ revisits Ducky’s earlier days as a college graduate moving to America.
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Personally, I found some elements of this season to be a bit repetitive, which isn’t something I’ve felt before. For a show that’s ran for this long I’m not surprised to see the same plot devices used in different episodes, but some of the stories seemed a little too similar. However, I still really enjoyed it and there were some great episodes like ‘House Rules’ that uses archival footage to revisit Gibbs code of conduct, narrated by letter McGee is writing to his dying father.
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The special features includes extended and deleted scenes, commentaries, a round table with the cast, an overview of season 12, a short film about shooting at a real airport for the episode ‘Grounded’, and a clip about Rocky Carroll’s experience directing an episode this season.
