It’s Christmas Eve and our favorite NCIS team is working. Why wouldn’t a pregnant Marine show up needing protection from unknown bad guys? Doesn’t that happen every holiday season?

Room at the Inn

A Navy captain is anxious to check into a room, any room, at a hotel. After arriving at his suite, he opens the closet doors to find two men who shoot him. My biggest question is how did these guys get into the room before he did? He just checked in without a reservation. How did the bad guys get into the room before the captain without him seeing them? Did he take a detour to the gift shop?

What Child is This?

The gunmen are after the captain’s traveling companion, not him. The pregnant Marine he was with never made it to the hotel room and eventually leads NCIS to her location. Her baby is valuable because the deceased father was the last male heir to some strategically located land in Afghanistan. If her baby is a boy, he inherits everything. That means he’s a valuable bargaining chip. One the baby daddy’s family wants at all costs.

Scrooged

Jimmy Palmer’s father-in-law-to-be is trailing him around the NCIS office. Mr. Slater isn’t too happy that his future son-in-law is a government lackey with an unpredictable work schedule. After making pointed cracks to each one of the team members (including Gibbs!), Breena’s father offers Palmer a job working in his funeral home. Palmer’s unsure how to proceed until he hears Slater make a crack about the effectiveness of the NCIS team. That’s just the kick he needs to finally stand up to his future relative and tell him off. I guess even the quiet ones can get pushed too far. Good thing for Mr. Slater that Palmer’s the one who went off on him and not Gibbs.

Away in (No) Manger

Gibbs, Ziva and the Marine mama are holed up inside a gas station after their car dies on the way back to the Navy Yard. Clearly, this is a trap set by the Russian would-be kidnappers. Since it wouldn’t be Christmas without an unconventional birth, Gibbs assists in birthing the baby while Ziva takes down the bad guys on her own. Given her hand to hand combat skills after she runs out of ammo, I would not want to get on her bad side. The bright side is that the baby’s a girl, which means the family no longer has a reason to go after mother or daughter.

Auld Lang Syne

Tony receives an invitation to Christmas brunch from his ex-fiancee of a million years ago. She’s now a single mother who’s obviously looking to reconnect with her old flame. Tony actually gets as far as sitting outside in his car, but then bails and shows up at Gibbs’ house. Gibbs has now gotten used to a DiNozzo showing up at his place on holidays, so he’s already told Leyla to expect Tony for Christmas dinner. Before they leave, Gibbs warns Tony not to be like him. There’s still time for Tony to make room in his life for family AND work. Will he listen?

Crystal Waters
Contributing Writer

(Image courtesy of CBS)

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Contributing Writer, BuddyTV