Recap / NCISS 10 E 09

Directed by Arvin Brown

Written by Steven D Binder

Season 10, Episode 9

Devil's Trifecta

Gibbs teams up with FBI Agent Fornell on a joint NCIS/FBI investigation after Fornell becomes the target of a shooting by a Navy Seaman. However, they face an unexpected twist in the case when their mutual ex-wife, Diane Sterling, gets involved. Meanwhile, rumors run wild among the team after Diane stays overnight at McGee's.

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• Actually a Good Idea: Fornell bridles when Diane rattles off a series of orders to him and Gibbs, to move their investigation forward:
  Fornell: Did she just give us orders?
  Gibbs: Yeah... but they're good ones.
  Fornell: (fuming) I know!
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: Despite the constant bickering, there's still an obvious lingering attraction between the eponymous trifecta.
• Bulletproof Vest: Fornell happened to be wearing one when the hitman attacked him, because he was at an FBI takedown earlier that day and was too tired to take it off when he went to grab some dinner at a fast-food drive-thru. This saved his life and allowed him the opportunity to grab his own gun and kill the shooter in self-defense.
• Call-Back: Several to the events of Diane's previous appearance in "Devil's Triangle", most notably when she converses with Gibbs in his basement and admits that she was being unfair when she said he never loved her at all (though he admits she was right when she said he never loved another woman as much as he loved Shannon).
• Captain Obvious: Thanks to Fornell's testimony and the obvious visual clues, Ducky's report on the shooter's cause of death doesn't say anything that everybody doesn't already know.
  Ducky: Jethro, I think we can safely say that cause of death in this case is—
  Fornell: One pissed-off FBI agent.
• Did Not See That Coming: Vance enters the interrogation room and is surprised to see Tony, not Gibbs, interrogating Diane. She points to the two-way mirror, and he ruefully acknowledges that he should have guessed.
• The Dog Was the Mastermind: Gordon Fremont, the check cashier, was running the entire identity theft/smuggling operation.
• I Know You're Watching Me: While being interrogated by DiNozzo, Diane knows damn well that Gibbs and Fornell are on the far side of the glass.
• Killing in Self-Defense: Fornell ends up doing this to the shooter that attacked him.
• Last-Second Word Swap: Upon seeing McGee and Diane sleeping on the couch together, Fornell reacts as such:
  Fornell: Holy f- Fourth of July weenie roast! WHAT THE HELL AM I LOOKING AT?!
• Lazy Alias: Diane used her old driver's licenses, identifying her as "Diane Gibbs" and "Diane Fornell" while she was undercover. She defends that she was "improvising" because there's no room in her department's budget to create a fake I.D. Fornell is understandably ticked off that her ruse led to her targets trying to kill him, thinking the FBI was involved.
• The Missus and the Ex: Gibbs and Fornell spends most of the episode together.
• Mrs. Robinson: Diane with McGee.
• Multi-Character Title: Referring to Gibbs, Fornell and Diane.
• Not What It Looks Like: McGee tells Gibbs this when he wakes up in front of them.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Gibbs and Fornell's reaction to learning that Diane carries a federal badge.
    Gibbs: Wow.
    Fornell: And the Lord wept.
  • McGee's reaction to waking up on the couch with Diane and seeing Gibbs and Fornell glaring at him.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: When Vance suggests an interagency task force to Gibbs, Fornell and Diane, they immediately stormed off (see Stealth Hi/Bye below).
• Stealth Hi/Bye: During the debriefing after the case, Vance tells Gibbs, Fornell and Diane that that the three of them worked so well together that he's been discussing a semi-permanent team-up with the FBI and IRS Directors... they all dash out of Vance's office while he's looking at his paperwork. He looks up and grins at seeing them gone.
• Take That!: In-Universe. Diane asks McGee to pull up her case file from the IRS mainframe: "Password: TobiasCheap."
• Tempting Fate: While Gibbs and Fornell are arguing about where Diane should stay while she's under NCIS protection, McGee tells Abby that she won't be staying at his place. Cue Gibbs and Fornell both looking at McGee. Cue Oh, Crap! face on McGee.
• Wacky Marriage Proposal: Gibbs fakes one to Diane. He did this to distract their enemies' guests in order for his team to complete the mission.
• Working with the Ex: The entire premise of the episode is Gibbs, Fornell and Diane all working together.