Tuesday, October 31, 2017

NCIS 15x05 "Fake It 'Til You Make It" Review

“Fake It ‘Til You Make It” was a really good episode. You know I love it when the central conflict revolves around one of the main characters and this one is no exception. Mr. Clayton Reeves was front and center.

The episode revolves around an elaborate game a fellow AA member is playing against everyone, but it’s not apparent until the very end. Melissa Goodman fakes a kidnapping, drugs and kills her boyfriend, and steals stolen government software in order to sell it, all while playing the poor, abused recovering alcoholic who killed her boyfriend out of self-defense and knew nothing about the laptop and software he stole. The title of the episode should have made me suspect Melissa all along, but I was too caught up in following Clay’s point of view that I didn’t even think to suspect her. I’m not sure how I feel about the whole “fake trauma” story; those always make me feel a little weird afterward.

I guessed towards the beginning that the episode would end with Clayton at a meeting and he would share something. It was kind of a weird ending, from a writing standpoint. It just seemed like the opening stinger of an episode, not really something for the end. Nevertheless, I really liked the looks we got into his character this episode. He is one of my favorites of the "new guys", and to see his stoic exterior crumble as one of his friends is in trouble was interesting.

The McGee meme was a little odd and seemed to come out of nowhere. But then it became relevant, sort of. As soon as McGee said the meme originated in Paris, I knew it had to be Tony. That was such a nice touch; I was hoping the whole meme storyline wasn’t a whole bunch of nothing. Nope, just a sweet little reminder of past friends, and McGee getting him back with his awkward high school photo was just perfect.

One more relevant tidbit we get out of the episode is Agent Jack Sloane is now a permanent cast member after only one episode. Having some psychology behind these cases will be an interesting twist, though hopefully not too much like Criminal Minds.

We’ve got a Halloween episode this week, and those never disappoint. Though several of these episodes have kind of felt like Halloween. Oh well. I will be watching excitedly, and hopefully will get my review up sooner than next week. (Life happens. You all get it.)


9/10

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