I greatly enjoyed this well-written segment in which DiNozzo's dad (Robert Wagner) appears as the red herring suspect in a murder investigation. The piling on of evidence against him, plus the befuddled expressions of a hung-over Wagner wondering if he actually committed the crime but couldn't remember, made for a diverting show.
What added to the intrigue is the real-life coincidence of the veteran actor being under suspicion as the case of the mysterious death of his wife Natalie Wood 30 years ago has just been reopened by the cops. Here, too, he seems a red herring as the boat captain recollects evidence supposedly pointing to him as a culprit. I wonder how Wagner reacted to last night's airing of NCIS given the timing.
Fortunately, his acting and that of the series' regulars defuses this issue, especially as Mark Harmon's character Gibbs showed impressive sympathy for both DiNozzo père et fils. By episode's end, everything was back in order and in fact one felt a new bonding was in progress for the DiNozzo family.
Actual resolution of the mystery was well-handled, and I couldn't guess the killer's identity even though there were ample clues provided. All told, an unexpectedly timely and rewarding segment.
What added to the intrigue is the real-life coincidence of the veteran actor being under suspicion as the case of the mysterious death of his wife Natalie Wood 30 years ago has just been reopened by the cops. Here, too, he seems a red herring as the boat captain recollects evidence supposedly pointing to him as a culprit. I wonder how Wagner reacted to last night's airing of NCIS given the timing.
Fortunately, his acting and that of the series' regulars defuses this issue, especially as Mark Harmon's character Gibbs showed impressive sympathy for both DiNozzo père et fils. By episode's end, everything was back in order and in fact one felt a new bonding was in progress for the DiNozzo family.
Actual resolution of the mystery was well-handled, and I couldn't guess the killer's identity even though there were ample clues provided. All told, an unexpectedly timely and rewarding segment.
