21.00–22.00Continuing this evening is the third season of the hit drama series following a team of special agents who investigate Navy and Marine Corps-related crimes. In tonight’s instalment, Gibbs’s life hangs in the balance after an explosion on a ship puts him in a coma. As his subordinates race to catch the culprits, an unconscious Gibbs recalls traumatic events from his past.Gibbs is on assignment on a docked cargo ship when a routine inspection detects a crewmember with a false passport. The suspect flees and Gibbs catches up with him – only for him to be revealed as an undercover NCIS agent. The agent has vital information about a terrorist attack on a naval vessel: “This’ll be as bad as 9/11,” Gibbs says. He is about to let the agent go when a massive explosion ignites the room they are standing in, much to the horror of the NCIS agents watching from ashore. Gibbs is rushed to hospital in critical condition and Shepard and Abby race to his side. Back at the port, Tony, Ziva and McGee cordon off the crime scene and detain the ship’s crew, including its uncooperative Turkish captain. Ziva, Tony and Ducky inspect the laundry room where the fireball occurred, picking over the charred remains of the undercover agent, whose bottom half has been completely vaporised. Ducky wonders how Gibbs could possibly have survived. “The washer and dryer shielded him from the main force of the blast,” Ziva explains. Initial results from the agent’s autopsy show that he was standing over the bomb and an oil drum that was also in the room. As the senior agent, Tony takes charge of the investigation, and soon starts snapping at his colleagues in an oddly familiar way, while brandishing a large cup of coffee. His approach ruffles feathers, until McGee confronts him: “Stop playing Gibbs!” he says. Tony’s response is resolute: “If drinking coffee, staring and whacking the back of your head helps me lead this team – live with it!” he growls. Working from a set of surveillance photos, the NCIS crew believe a dangerous Filipino terrorist was on board the ship. Ziva resumes the interrogation of the captain, whom she accuses of profiting from terrorism, and finally gets him to identify the suspect. As his team work feverishly to untangle the terrorist plot, Gibbs languishes in the hospital, where he is recognised by the chief neurologist, Dr Gelfand. The doctor recalls that he treated Gibbs during the Gulf War, when he was in a coma for 19 days. Both Tony and Shepard are surprised to learn about Gibbs’ past: “Gibbs never told me he was wounded in Desert Storm,” Tony says. Dr Gelfand is worried that Gibbs’ symptoms are identical to before: “He seems to be repeating that trauma – a coma he doesn’t want to wake up from,” he says. Unconscious to the outside world, Gibbs is dreaming of the Gulf War, and of his wife and daughter – of whom he never speaks.

Flashbacks reveal the tragic fate of his family and Gibbs’ shocking actions after returning from the war. Also this week, Ziva is accused of not caring about Gibbs’ condition, leading to an angry confrontation between her and a distraught Abby. An ill-judged remark by Ziva results in a slapping contest – with McGee as an astonished bystander.

Executive Producers Mark Horowitz, John C Kelley Director Dennis Smith A Belisarius Production in association with Paramount Network Television

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