Happy Valentine’s Day! My husband gave me jewelry! My cat gave me flowers! And the folks at NCIS and NCIS: NEW ORLEANS are giving me (and you) a great crossover to celebrate the day!
There is something for everyone in tonight’s 2-parter, “Pandora’s Box,” which begins on the flagship show at 8pm and concludes on NCIS: NEW ORLEANS at 10pm.
For music lovers, Grammy Award-Nominated Artist, Maren Morris, performs on “NCIS: New Orleans.” For Trekkers, Levar Burton is helming the 10:00 p.m. show. For scenery lovers, McGee (Sean Murray) and Torres (Wilmer Valderrama) travel to the Big Easy to partner with Pride (Scott Bakula) and his team.
The problems begin when Abby (Pauley Perrette) is requested to be a “bad guy” by Homeland Security in a mock mission. When she resists, Director Vance (Rocky Carroll) orders her to assist the DHS, while her involvement in the exercise has Torres, Bishop (Emily Wickersham) and Reeves (Duane Henry) pea-green with envy over the assignment.
But, when the homeland security think tank is compromised, and Abby is found in possession of a real bomb, the NCIS team discovers the leader of the group has been murdered. Not only is Abby busted by Metro Police who think she is a terrorist, the situation is complicated further when a theoretical terror playbook is found to have been stolen.
When the book, which lists strategies and responses to terroristic acts, is put up for sale at an auction in Abby’s (and Perrette’s) hometown, New Orleans, during Mardi Gras, McGee and Torres are dispatched to the Crescent City to assist the NOLA team. (Mark those calendars…real-life Mardi Gras is 2 weeks from today.)
Torres slips away from McGee to follow a suspect through the French Quarter festivities and ends up with the suspect’s dead body in his arms and blood on his hands. Only a rescue from Pride can save Torres from local law enforcement.
Gregorio (Vanessa Ferlito) glams it up to go undercover, bumping heads with Torres who has been benched. There are sparks, but whether they stem from dissent or attraction remains to be seen. (Shout out to the writer, Christopher Silber, for the Harley Quinn reference.)
But the real sparks come from Sebastian’s (Rob Kerkovich) man crush on McGee. In McGee, Sebastian sees hope for what he would like to become. McGee, once the team techie, now rocks as his team’s senior field agent. Lund, who has been floundering to break out of his tech role, is emulating Tim to grow into the field agent that he would like to be.
With potential playbook purchasers dying all over town, former probie, McGee, takes new probie, Sebastian, under his wing and teaches him a few investigation tips. It is a great dynamic, and it is nice to see Murray have the chance to pass along the wisdom that his character has gained over the years.
Sweet like a box of chocolates without the calories, the NCIS and NCIS: NEW ORLEANS crossover will put a bow on Valentine’s Day.
NCIS also stars Mark Harmon, David McCallum, Brian Dietzen and Jennifer Esposito. Part 1 of “Pandora’s Box” was written by Christopher J. Waild and directed by Alrick Riley. NCIS: NEW ORLEANS also stars Lucas Black, Daryl “Chill” Mitchell, Shalita Grant and CCH Pounder. “Pandora’s Box, Part II” was written by Christopher Silber and directed by Burton.
Guest stars on tonight’s double scoop include SMALLVILLE’s Cassidy Freeman, Prince Hammond, Donald M. Krause, Elton LeBlanc, Jessy Leros and Joseph McRae.
NCIS airs tonight CBS in the U.S. and Global in Canada at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT and concludes with Part II on NCIS: NEW ORLEANS at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT.
