Family is the second episode of NCIS Season 5 and also the ninety-sixth episode of the entire NCIS series.
Synopsis
A Petty Officer along with the original car's driver are both found dead on a country road. At first, it appears to be an ordinary car accident but the team soon discover evidence strongly suggesting that the Petty Officer was murdered. During an autopsy, Ducky later finds evidence that the woman was pregnant and gave birth just before she died, sending the team in a desperate race against the clock as they not only attempt to arrest the killer but also recover the missing baby before it's too late while Tony tries to come to terms with recent events.
Prologue
The scene opens with Petty Officer Christopher Munoz driving through a forest while talking to someone on his cellphone.
He then hangs up and answers a second later, talking to another person about a beer keg but the call gets interrupted when another oncoming car drives by him, forcing Munoz to drop his phone and swerve to avoid getting hit.
While surveying the wreckage of the car, Munoz gets a shock when his airbag kicks in too late, hitting him in the nose while his friend at the other end of the phone asks what's going on.
Munoz tells his friend he got into an accident and that he'll call him back.
Munoz looks up just to see someone aim a shotgun at him and fire with the impact of the gunshot killing Munoz straightaway.
It then cuts to Munoz's right hand where it's shown that he's still holding his cell-phone, Munoz's fingers also drenched with blood.
Act One
NCIS Special Agent Timothy McGee and NCIS/Mossad Liaison Officer Ziva David arrive for work with Ziva telling McGee that it was a simple question.
McGee tells her that it's one he'd expect from Tony, not Ziva.
Ziva remarks that she's just being curious.
Act Two
Act Three
Act Four
As they leave the elevator, Tony remarks to Ziva that at least McGee has an idea for his next book consisting of "Baby Kidnapped: Cops Screw Up Ransom Drop".
As they head for their desks, McGee tells someone on his cell phone to let him know ASAP if the situation changes before he hangs up.
Ziva states that the Nelsons hid the kidnapping from NCIS and that the mistake was theirs.
Trivia
- When the team are entering the house, the reflection of a camera man is visible in the door window.
- While Gibbs, Ziva, and McGee are in the Nelson's nursery, Tony enters soaking, glistening wet (face, clothes) from being caught in a lawn sprinkler. But if you watch the scene carefully, one second to the next, he goes from fully drenched, to somewhat wet, to fully drenched, to somewhat wet, back and forth.
- While in the suspects living room, he claims that he blew a breaker. After a conversation next to the breaker box, Gibbs simply flips the breaker switch on. When breakers blow, they will not turn on without first being turned off.
- In the baby room the Nelsons have created, a toy of the elephant, Babar can be seen sitting on the lamp side table right next to a toy monkey. Babar the Elephant is a fictional character who first appeared in the French children's book Histoire de Babar by Jean de Brunhoff in 1931 with a Canadian cartoon airing between 1989 and 1991.
Cast
Series Regulars
Name | Portrayed by | Role |
---|---|---|
Leroy Jethro Gibbs | Mark Harmon | NCIS Special Agent in charge of the NCIS Major Case Response Team. |
Anthony DiNozzo Junior | Michael Weatherly | Senior Special Agent and second-in-command of the NCIS Major Case Response Team. |
Ziva David | Cote de Pablo | Mossad Liaison to NCIS and also a member of the NCIS Major Case Response Team. |
Timothy McGee | Sean Murray (actor) | NCIS Junior Special Agent and a member of the NCIS Major Case Response Team. |
Abigail Sciuto | Pauley Perrette | Forensic Scientist with NCIS. |
Jennifer Shepard | Lauren Holly | Director of NCIS. Despite being credited, Holly does not appear in this episode. |
Donald Mallard | David McCallum | Chief Medical Examiner, NCIS. |
Recurring Cast
Name | Portrayed by | Role |
---|---|---|
Jeanne Benoit | Scottie Thompson | Uncredited role. |
Other Cast
Name | Portrayed by | Role |
---|---|---|
Joseph Barnes | Nick Searchy | Nicholas Barnes's father. |
Nicholas Barnes | Owen Beckman | Joseph Barnes's son. |
Christopher Munoz | Schuyler Yancey | Petty Officer in the United States Navy and the murder victim. |
Adrian Nelson | Rick Otto | Sara Nelson's husband. |
Sara Nelson | Margaret Easley | Adrian Nelson's wife. |