NCIS Season 16 finale recap: Why is [Spoiler] back and is it for good?

Remember the time Gibbs saw his dead friend in the office and the show never touched on that again? It came up once more in the NCIS Season 16 finale.

Every TV show has a plotline or two that’s completely abandoned for a while. NCIS had one of those when Gibbs saw the ghost of his dead ex-Marine friend. Well, this was the clue to how Gibbs was seeing his dead ex-wife during the NCIS Season 16 finale.

However, that wasn’t the main focus of the episode. It was all about Fornell, whose daughter had been hospitalized after a drug overdose. However, Fornell’s daughter, Emily, doesn’t do drugs, smoke, or drink and it doesn’t take long for Gibbs to figure out she was drugged by someone else.

Kasie figures out more about the drug

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Fortunately, Emily is going to be okay. The doctors — despite Fornell pulling his gun out on them! — manage to balance out the drug to pull her out of the coma she’s put in. However, it’s not going to be simple to find the guy who spiked Emily’s drink. This isn’t even in NCIS jurisdiction but Gibbs manages to wangle his way onto the case.

Gibbs was going to avoid the case, but his dead ex-wife, who happens to be Fornell’s ex-wife and Emily’s mom, turns up in his head to get him to get himself on the case. Fornell does find out that she’s hanging around, which he finds hilarious. It’s good to see him laugh after his fear for his daughter’s life.

Kasie does manage to figure out more about the drugs after Emily’s friend hands over one that she found on the floor. After checking the makeup, Kasie figures out that it’s a bootleg drug. When another drug shows up on an unconnected bust, Gibbs and Bishop manage to track down the dealer.

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Emily isn’t telling the full truth

At the drug dealer’s house, Gibbs and Bishop find the dealer dead on the couch with a needle in his arm. In the bathroom, Bishop finds a very high Emily in the bathtub. Someone clearly isn’t telling the truth.

A few someones aren’t telling the truth. The dead dealer is actually a staged crime scene and it turns out one of Emily’s friends lives with the dealer, something he failed to mention.

If that wasn’t enough, Fornell starts to keep things from. When he sees a name on a credit card statement belonging to a pill-happy doctor, Fornell decides to pay the doctor a visit. NCIS does manage to get to the doctor’s office before anything serious can happen and there definitely seems to be a connection.

However, for Fornell, this isn’t just about getting the drug dealer’s supplier. It’s about getting Emily help and he’s still struggling without Emily’s mother around. With Gibbs speaking to Diane in his head, Fornell decides to turn to Gibbs for advice on how to deal with Emily — what would Diane do?

It all goes back to the hospital

At the very beginning of the episode, Fornell had tried to buy all the flowers in the hospital’s pharmacy. It turns out this guy was the one responsible for the drug dealer getting the supply. The dealer had stolen a prescription pad and was using the hospital pharmacy to get the drugs. And it was the pharmacist that had use the syringe to kill the dealer.

Gibbs knows things aren’t quite right. The pills have come across the border from Canada and Gibbs wants a name. However, the pharmacist doesn’t want to give up that name out of fear. Like Gibbs will take that as a reason.

Why was Diane really back?

Of course, the big question was why Gibbs was actually seeing his dead ex-wife. Is something wrong with Gibbs?

Absolutely not. She’s around to give him some advice and be there for him. She’s the part of his mind that is there when he needs help and advice. Now that Gibbs is starting to let people in, he’s scared and doesn’t know how to deal with it.

Diane shares that when Gibbs needs to talk, “we’re all” there to talk. This must be a hint at all the other ghosts in his head.

And at the very end of the NCIS Season 16 finale, we get a major surprise. Remember how the show confirmed that Ziva was actually alive? She turns up, running down the stairs. Gibbs is in danger and she’s there to help.

Say, what? Yes, that is exactly how the finale ends.

What did you think of the heartfelt messages throughout the episode? What is your take on the NCIS Season 16 finale surprise? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

NCIS Season 16 is now available in full on CBS All Access to stream to your heart’s content.