NCIS recap: Who is framing Torres and why do they do it?

Torres wakes up on a boat with no memory of the last 11 hours. Can NCIS help solve the mystery? Here’s a look at the events of NCIS Season 16, Episode 18.

NCIS Season 16, Episode 18 gave us two storylines happening at the same time. While Torres tried to figure out the events of the last 11 hours, Vance takes his relationship to the next level. It’s time to break down the episode.

Soon, it turns out that there’s more to Torres’ missing hours. We all knew he wasn’t responsible for the body that turned up behind the Dumpster by his bike, and there was no way NCIS would blame him. The question was why he would be framed.

Torres wakes up with no memory

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We quickly learn that Bishop and McGee haven’t heard from Torres all day. They finally trace his phone and find him on a fishing boat.

Sure enough, Torres wakes up there shirtless and confused. He has no memory of the last 11 hours, with the last thing he remembers being at his gym. His trainer hadn’t met him due to an incident and Torres wasn’t there when Jordan had finished up.

It doesn’t take too long for Kasie to figure out that Torres’ protein shake had been spiked with a cocktail of drugs. Torres’ bike was also missing from its gym parking spot (he didn’t take it to get to the fishing boat he was found) and it turns up behind a Dumpster where a young woman’s body has been hidden.

Torres says he doesn’t know her, but the gym security camera shows otherwise. Torres was the last (known) person to see the dead woman alive. Surprise, surprise; the blood on his t-shirt found at the fishing boat was also a match to the victim.

With all the information, the case needs to be turned over to internal affairs. Vance will do it the next morning, giving the team some time to figure things out and find the real suspect, because they’re all sure Torres didn’t do it.

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The mystery of the boat and case

While the case with the dead woman unfolds, so does the case involving the fishing boat Torres woke up on. That boat happened to have been a smuggler vessel, but it apparently sank nine years ago. What did it smuggle? A piece of saw blade proves that it was a diamond smuggling vessel.

That helps Torres figure a few things out. After finding out that the dead woman had paid trainer Jordan $10,000 to be late to the training session and the money came from a company called Breuger, Torres links it back to a case he once worked on. That case happened to be a joint case with the Coast Guard.

Off Gibbs and Torres go to the Coast Guard, where it turns out the case is still pending. All the evidence is in the on-location secure lockup. Well, not all the evidence. The diamonds are missing and the only person to have access to that room in the last week was…yes, you guessed it… Torres!

Palmer turns to Ducky for help

Ducky certainly isn’t getting to leave just yet! Palmer still needs him. One thing Palmer noticed during his exam of Torres — and that examine reminds Palmer why he prefers to work with dead people! — was that Torres’ pupils were constricted. Since he was drugged, they should have been dilated.

So, what happened? Palmer needs to run a few things by Ducky.

The constricted pupils links to why Torres was was drugged so heavily. Someone needed a high-res photo of his iris to get a copy of it. This would allow the copy to be put on a contact lens so someone could bypass all scanners.

Ducky and Palmer prove that it could work and the case can be cracked. If you guessed it was the Coast Guard commander’s secretary, you guessed right. Could you guess where the missing diamonds were? Of course, they were in the shark tank in the commander’s office!

Odds and ends:

Vance learns the truth about his girlfriend after giving her a gift that just so happened to be a recording device. I’m glad they didn’t drag that one out.

Clarke shares info of the Secretary of Defense holding $2.5m in an offshore account. Nobody cares but he does and he wants NCIS to now crack the case. Can we trust him?

Gibbs decides Bishop is the best one to clear out all of Ziva’s things from the off-the-books office she rented out.

Torres isn’t happy that Bishop never had faith in him. He wouldn’t have asked the same questions if the tables were turned. Is this it for

Bishop and Torres

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What did you think of NCIS Season 16, Episode 18? Can the team trust Clarke? Does Torres have a right to be upset with Bishop? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

NCIS continues Tuesdays at 8/7c on CBS.