1.22: "A Weak Link"

by Sammie


 
TONY. Hey.
KATE. Morning.
TONY. How was your weekend?
KATE. Oh, let's see. I paid bills, did laundry, went shopping, vacuumed. I bet you don't even own a vacuum.
TONY. I lease. (UMM, I'm confused. What does this have to do with vacuuming? They don't clean your apartments FOR you, do they?)
KATE. [LOOKS PUZZLED] Ooookay. (Hey, I'm not the only one confused!) So what did you do this weekend that left that smile plastered all over your face?
TONY. I watched a GREAT movie.
KATE. Let me guess. A horror flick.
TONY. "Halloween 8". I think it's the best "Halloween" ever. Makes "Halloween 7" look like "Halloween 5".
KATE. I can't believe they even made one of them, much less eight. It's got to be a men are from Mars thing.
TONY. Arianna liked it. (TONY, what kind of girls are ya datin'?)
KATE. Arianna? I thought you broke up with her.
TONY. What makes you think that?
KATE. Oh, I don't know, because you came in the other day and said, "I broke up with Arianna"? (Hehe. Yeah, heaven forbid Kate takes Tony at his word.)
TONY. [CHUCKLING, CROSSES ARMS] Aw, you don't know much about dating, do you.
KATE. [SMIRKING] Why don't you enlighten me.
TONY. There's always a phony breakup that precedes the real breakup. Everyone knows that. [TAPS HER ON THE NOSE]
Um, Tony? WHO TOLD YOU THAT?! Did you ever think it might be because of that that, oh, Michelle put dog poop in your apartment (like you said in "Engima"? Tony, you're such a dear, but, um, you might want to be square with 'em next time. (On an entirely unrelated note, if he doesn't vacuum because he leases, did the apartment managers have to clean up the dog crud left by the ex-girlfriend?)

A Navy SEAL's D-link (I guess it's called a D-link because it's shaped like a D) snapped while he was rappeling down a cliff, and he dropped to his death. He was practicing for a very classified ops, so they had to remove all the paperwork he was carrying.

Abby is being very not-Abby. Gibbs doesn't seem to notice or he prefers the quiet, not rambling Abby - which is rather unsettling to me, because Abby equals bouncy; Kate, however, notices, and as is her custom with all her teammates, she asks if Abby's all right. Ooh! Girl bonding!

KATE. You okay?
ABBY. I'm fine. Why?
KATE. You're not your normal, effervescent, cheerful Abby.
ABBY. That's because she's been replaced. By the abnormal, dull, and melancholy Abby.
KATE. Something you want to talk about?
ABBY. I don't want to bore you.
KATE. Who else are you going to tell? Tony?
ABBY. McGee is all mad at me.
KATE. Why, what happened?
ABBY. We went to Buzz [Bud's?], it's a coffeehouse in old town. Sunday night's like a poetry night.
KATE. I didn't know you liked poetry. (YEAH, me neither. Abby and POETRY?!)
ABBY. McGee likes it. (Ah, the sacrifices you make for love. This is to be a opposites attract, because how else do you explain a geeky writer going out with Abby?) So we're popping back double espressos, and out of the blue, he says, "I really really like you." [MAKES FACE]
KATE. [WINCES] What did you say?
ABBY. "Thanks?" What was I supposed to say?
KATE. I don't know!
ABBY. Ugh, then he gets like all quiet, and we're leaving, and he wants to know where our relationship is going.
KATE. Oh, I hate that. Why do guys have to push the issue.
ABBY. Because they're insecure.
KATE. What did you say?
ABBY. Well, I said, "Why does it have to go anywhere? Why can't we just enjoy what's happening now?"
KATE. What did he say?
ABBY. "Fine. Whatever."
KATE. Typical passive-aggressive.
ABBY. I know! I mean, what's next? We're going to be watching "Sleepless in Seattle" on a rainy Sunday afternoon?
This scene...sorry. It just amuses me! Not only is girl bonding so little on this show, well, because Kate is always out with all her male agent colleagues, but just one woman telling another how she DOESN'T want to go steady with the guy she's seeing now. And, of course, the looks on their faces when they mention "Sleepless in Seattle" - Haha! Not a huge fan of the movie, either.

Um, Palmer's a dear boy, but, um, this is NOT the way to get us to like him. He's so lucky they cleaned him up after Season 1. He's late for work. He was in the shower when the doorbell rang, but he thought it was the kitchen timer, and so he tried to think of what it was he'd been cooking, and when he finally figured out it was the doorbell, he forgot he'd taken a shower. On top of that, he didn't answer the door. Which may be good, considering he forgotten he'd taken a shower. No wonder Gibbs tells him in "SWAK" he wouldn't trust him with their weapons. I wouldn't trust him with a spatula.

Kate's talk with Abby obviously perked her up, because she's back to her chatty self the next time we see her - and grumpy Gibbs is cutting her off. AGAIN. "Is all this necessary?" Anyway, she's found that the D-link Lt. Johnson (the SEAL) used was 66% aluminum, a much weaker metal than the company-issue all-steel D-link. Someone swapped out Johnson's real D-link for one made of inferior metal.

They don't see much at the Johnsons' home. No break-in or lock-fiddling. Only Kate finds anything of interest - that Johnson was sleeping in the den. She also meets Johnson's old high school friend, Larry Clanon (played by Doug Savant), who is now a priest (with a sense of humor!).

The team goes to interview Cmdr. Rainer, who is very concerned that someone tried to sabotage the mission. A CIA agent shows up later to talk to Gibbs and the team, and he's even more concerned - the CIA vetted all those SEALs, and so someone managed to slip through all that vetting process AND murder someone....

A petty officer Vengal made a few calls to his pregnant wife (when he was supposed to be in isolation) and supposedly took her to the hospital - which Johnson wrote up as a UA. Then Abby gives them another lead - Denise Johnson (Julie Benz)'s fingerprints are all over her husband's D-link, and Kate finds out that she works at a metal jewelry maker's. (She tells them that she was always picking up after her husband, and since D-links can be taken home by their owners, that was one thing she was always cleaning up.)

Vengal was a bit of a problem - Lt. Johnson wrote up several "page 13" reports on him, and one said he was not recommending Vengal for promotion. None of those are in Vengal's service file, so Gibbs thinks that that was how Johnson was motivating Vengal - he'd write up a poor page 13, show it to Vengal, and if Vengal cleaned up his act, not file it. Kate's got confirmation - Vengal's wife's doctor confirmed that he did bring her to see him...just not on the day he said he did.

There's one more bit of evidence - Johnson's cell phone started vibrating when Abby was down in the evidence locker. He got a text message - he had another email account he had forward his emails to his phone as text messages. Gibbs wants to get into the servers to see who sent it.

KATE. Get a search warrant for the servers.
GIBBS. We don't have time for a warrant. What's a quicker way?
KATE. Hack into the servers. (Um, no offense, but for a federal agency, they do a lot of illegal stuff!)
GIBBS. [GRINS]
KATE. I can't believe I just said that. I would have never suggested that before I started working here.
GIBBS. You're welcome! Get McGee over here. Have him work with Abby. ...
KATE. Are you sure we need to do that? (AWW, loyal Kate!)
GIBBS. You have a problem with McGee?
KATE. Not me.
You tried, Kate. I'm sure Abby appreciates that much!

Gibbs then takes Kate with him to visit Father Clanon, but he can't break the seal of confession and tell them what he and Johnson discussed. As they're leaving, Gibbs stops to light a candle, but he won't tell Kate who it was for.

Abby and McGee are nervous and fighting. Um, I'm one who can't really see the Abby-McGee attraction, but really, I hate to see them fighting.

Turns out Vengal had an inner ear infection he didn't want anybody to know about, so he went to see a doctor off base. He makes a good point, though - he risked his career (sneaking off to see a doc off base) so he could stay ON the mission...if Johnson was killed, the entire team would be OFF the mission.

So, they've got nothing. It's late at night, and they're working on their suspects: PO Vengal, who Johnson was always writing up but really has a good reason why he's not the killer (see above); Father Clanon, because Johnson called him twice while he was in isolation - but no other motive, especially since they were childhood friends; and Denise Johnson, because they were sleeping in separate bedrooms AND she had the ability to make a metal D-link at her workplace. Otherwise, not much. Ducky shows up...aw, DUCK!

DUCKY. Ice cream's here!
TONY. THANK GOD! I'M STARVING!
GIBBS. [GLARES]
KATE. [GRINS]
TONY. I can wait. (Aww...poor Tony! It sucks to work with them sometimes, doesn't it?)
GIBBS. Duck, what are you doing here? It's the middle of the night.
DUCKY. How could I be at home in my warm and comfortable bed knowing my brethern were here, toiling away in the name of national security?
GIBBS. Couldn't sleep, huh?
DUCKY. Not a wink.
GIBBS. Neighbors again?
DUCKY. Or, as I like to refer to them, "the Devil's spawn". (Haha! Of course, with his sassy mother, I think the Mallards and their Corgis probably whack back as good as they get.)
I love Ducky. He smiles all grandfather-like as he hands Tony the ice cream scoop; poor Tony's been eyeing and fingering the carton this whole time, totally afraid of saying anything after that stare Gibbs gave him after his outburst. Tony's very grateful smile!

Abby and McGee are working on getting in...McGee's found a way in, and Abby's helping to correct him. She asks if he can type any faster, and he says he can't, unless he grows another hand, and Abby puts her arm around him to help him type.

Um, I don't know a lot about computers, but considering Abby just JUST saying that he typed something wrong...and what I do know is that computers need to take very specific directions and a missed comma will screw it up...how does FOUR HANDS on one teeny keyboard fix the problem? It's not like just punching keys will make the hacking go faster! Four hands on a piano keyboard have to be orchestrated very well and it gets crowded - I TOTALLY fail to see how this is supposed to help them get into the system faster. At least they've made up.

Kate's got problems of her own now. She makes the mistake of saying she wished she knew more about the whole rappelling thing....

TONY. I have...kind of a crazy idea.
KATE. Those are never comforting words coming from you.
TONY AND GIBBS. [LOOK AT EACH OTHER]
KATE. What! CUT TO A RAPPELLING ROPE DROPPING TO THE FLOOR
KATE. No! No way.
GIBBS. You'll do fine. [GRABS HER HARNESS TO TURN HER AROUND] Push this down and clamp it to your harness like that. [HOOKS UP HER D-LINK] There ya go.
KATE. Okay. Remind me. This is going to help us solve the case because...?
TONY. [GRINNING] It's fun?
KATE. (DUCK, Tony! Evil eye glare from Kate.... Ouch. It's as bone sizzling as the one she gave him at the end of "Vanished" when Gibbs told her Tony went through her purse.)
GIBBS. You want to understand what happened. [PULLS BACK THE HANDLE TO MAKE THE PLATFORM RISE] This is how you understand.
KATE. [WHIMPERING AS THE PLATFORM RISES] Okay.
TONY. You used to protect the president? (Haha...good one, Tony! Tony 1, Kate zip.)
GIBBS. I'm going to check your harness. Turn around. [GRABS HER HARNESS TO TURN HER AROUND] Turn around. [TURNS HER THE OTHER WAY] How does that feel? (Okay, you really have to see this. Our usually brave, shotgun-wielding Kate all twitchy. It's kind of funny!)
KATE. Like I'm about to throw up.
GIBBS. Face me.
KATE. [GRABS THE RAPPEL ROPE AND PULLS IT OVER TO HER HARNESS]
GIBBS. Through. [LOOPS THE ROPE THROUGH THE LINK] DiNozzo, you're on belay [spelling?]
TONY. Don't worry, Kate, I got your back!
KATE. Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of, Tony!
GIBBS. Okay. [TURNS HER AROUND, PUTS HER GUIDE HAND ON THE ROPE, BRAKE HAND BEHIND HER] Guide hand right here, brake hand. If you want to stop, clamp down, your thumb right at the center of your butt.
TONY. All set down here, boss! (Haha...he's so enjoying this, and so he should. Time to get back at Kate for all the times she was a wet blanket on all his fun!)
GIBBS. Remember what I told ya.
KATE. Todd on rappel.
TONY. DiNozzo on belay.
GIBBS. Ya ready?
KATE. You know, Gibbs, I kind of think I got the jist of it now - Ah! (He pushed her off.)
GIBBS. You're doin' great. (Imagine lots of squealing like a stuck pig.)
KATE. [RAPPELS ALL THE WAY DOWN] Cool!

Kate figures out from just one shot that Johnson had to have known the D-link was swapped out. He was an experienced climber, and SHE noticed the difference between the real link and the fake one - the real one's heavier. Then Abby and McGee provide them the information they got from the email.

HIGHLIGHT BETWEEN ~ FOR ENDING: ~ When they arrive at the Johnson home, Gibbs uncovers what he and Tony missed the first time they were in the garage - a machine to work with metal links. Denise Johnson admits she remembers seeing her husband work on his D-link. He was having an affair with another man. Although both his wife and his priest friend were supportive and gentle with him, it was too much and he committed suicide by making a D-link he knew would fail. ~
 

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Crazy Credits

  • Adam Baldwin played Cmdr. Rainer in this episode and on an episode of "JAG"; he and Mark Harmon both played astronauts in the miniseries "From the Earth to the Moon" and both appeared in "Wyatt Earp".