NCIS: Origins brought back the young Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard, who had just been made head medical examiner and who had become a dear phone friend to Dr. Temet Tangelkat. When Dr. Tango needed help following the discovery of bones that could belong to one of his ancestors, Ducky made the trek to Los Angeles to help his friend.
After discovering that Tango had been brought in due to stealing bones in a national park, Franks and Gibbs worked to get to the bottom of this. Tango told them he had been called out to the area after some youth rangers found the body. Tango discovered a necklace on the body that he recognized from his tribe and wanted to return it to his people.
However, a park ranger stopped him and arrested him, which put his job in jeopardy. But Franks was extremely protective of Tango, and while the team searched for evidence, he tried to help Tango show the park ranger that he was just trying to do right by his ancestors like his own father had before.
Everything got complicated, though, when they saw the location in the daylight, and Gibbs noticed a blood trail leading to another body, Marine veteran Dennis Moor. He had apparently been looking for the bones, likely to sell them off to a museum when he was killed. Because it was dark, Tango didn’t notice the trail or the body.
Ducky knew of a man named Edwin Wylde who may have information about a map that was found with the body, which was used to find the bones. However, the map’s location appeared to be wrong.
The case took another twist when a man named Eugene Cooper attempted to break into the lab to steal the bones. Phil was able to use some karate moves to stop him, and the team learned Cooper worked with Edwin Wylde.
When they went to confront him, Wylde claimed not to know anything about some “old bones,” leading Ducky to sock him in the eye. Of course due to this, he got in trouble when the TA in the room wanted to press charges since he got shoved in the fight.
With both Tango and Ducky now in custody, the team had to determine more about the bones and learned that the body had been buried with an obsidian blade, which Tango’s mother confirmed belonged to their tribe. If they can find the blade, they will not only determine who killed Moor but will also be able to verify that the body belonged to Tango’s ancestor.
In the meantime, Franks tried to appeal to the park ranger, and eventually we learned the man had a chip on his shoulder and felt disrespected by other agencies. Mary Jo was a huge help, going to the ranger’s secretary to smooth things over since they learned she had worked with the ranger for years.
Franks going to bat for Tango showed just how much he valued him as family, even if he had some eye-roll-worthy moments, such as telling Tango to act whiter, thinking it would work on the ranger. But despite his cringy moments, he had good intentions when it came to the man he considered family. He still has love for Tango’s niece, Tish, and while we know Franks’s eventual ending, we hope one day they will somehow be reunited at least for closure if anything.
They did find Moor’s partner, who had created things out of metal and had a metal detector they used that led to the discovery of the bones. She killed Moor herself and had been about to take the bones when youth rangers came by, leading to Tango discovering a lost ancestor.
Tango was able to give his ancestor a proper burial, with the team looking on. It was a moving look into his culture and how important it was to respect the remains of those who have long since passed.
The episode also showed Gibbs in the process of building his boat, and he wasn’t sure what he was building it for. But when he showed Lala, it appeared that he was building it because it was something solid and would stay in place. This was also confirmed when he missed a voicemail from Diane, who was in Los Angeles.
This episode was a moving look into Tango’s history while also bringing back a beloved original NCIS character. We’re looking forward to what we learn next from Gibbs’s origin story.
NCIS: Origins airs Tuesdays on CBS at 9/8c.