21.00–22.00Continuing this evening is the hit drama series following a team of special agents who investigate Navy and Marine Corps-related crimes.

Tonight’s episode finds the navy on red alert as a commander responsible for the transportation of nuclear fuel rods goes missing.When a distress call from a woman claiming to have been kidnapped is made to NCIS on a Sunday morning, Tony and Ziva interrupt their weekends and head to HQ to open an investigation. The cell phone number is traced to navy lieutenant commander Wilkerson – an officer stationed nearby who is currently on leave from duty. Tony uses GPS tracking to locate the phone, but without the expertise of McGee who cannot be reached, only a very rough area can be pinpointed. Gibbs arrives at the office clutching his trademark coffee and immediately questions the whereabouts of McGee, before sending Tony and Ziva to the lieutenant’s home to find what they can.When Tony and Ziva arrive at Wilkerson’s house, they establish that nobody is home. Electing to rely on his “good, old-fashioned American ingenuity”, Tony begins to scour the perimeter of the house for a spare key. Before he can find anything, however, Ziva has deftly picked the lock and entered the building. A search unearths very little in the way of clues, but the agents’ snooping soon attracts the attention of a bumbling local policeman.The cop does not believe that Tony and Ziva are federal agents and insists that they handcuff themselves to each other. He then makes the mistake of calling Ziva a “dirtbag” and quickly finds himself on the floor with Ziva’s gun pointing at his chest.

Back at HQ, the situation is more serious. Speaking to navy captain Paul Martino, Gibbs discovers that Wilkerson is a force protection officer – a navy official charged with safeguarding military equipment.

“Protecting what?” asks Gibbs with some trepidation. “Right now, my worst nightmare,” responds Martino, gravely. It emerges that Wilkerson is one of only a handful of people who know the intended destination of a train-load of nuclear fuel rods currently in transit.

In the wrong hands, this cargo could threaten the security of the whole nation. “What the hell was she doing on liberty, captain?” asks Gibbs, accusingly. The nuclear cargo is stopped in Pennsylvania and placed under armed guard, unable to continue its journey until Wilkerson is found.

The race to find the missing officer becomes even more desperate, however, when Abby reveals the results of an acoustic analysis on the recording of the phonecall. Certain noises show that Wilkerson was being held in the boot of a car – as a sufferer of bronchitis, she only has a few hours to live.

Abby scans Wilkerson’s laptop for clues, but it is not until McGee finally arrives at work that they make headway. A note on an electronic organiser reveals that the officer had an appointment at a nearby mall just half an hour before she made the call.

Tony and Ziva head to the mall and begin searching for Wilkerson’s car. After some alarming driving, Ziva locates the car and puts her dubious skills to good use once more as she unlocks the door. What they find inside, however, is even more suspicious.

A camcorder featuring footage recorded by Wilkerson at the mall illustrates that she had clearly planned a meeting at the time of her ‘abduction’. “Why don’t I think what she said is a good thing?” asks Ziva. “Because you’re a better agent than you are a driver,” responds Tony.

Meanwhile, McGee continues his analysis of Wilkerson’s computer records and finds that she had sent several emails from the offices of an organisation combatting online paedophilia called PBJ on the previous evening.

After an interview with the manager of the organisation, it emerges that Wilkerson had been posing as a 14-year-old girl online in order to trap a pervert. Having focused their resources on tracking a terrorist, could the NCIS now be hunting down a paedophile?

Executive Producers Mark Horowitz, John C Kelley Writer Jack Bernstein Director Leslie Libman A Belisarius Production in association with Paramount Network Television

must see friday april 6.

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