Directed by Dennis Smith
Written by Frank Cardea & George Schenck
A petty officer volunteers to be court-martialed in order to clear his own name if the NCIS team agrees to conduct its own investigation after his murder case is dismissed due to a mishandled warrant. Bishop and Jake discuss their marital problems before she finds out he has been cheating on her.
Examples:
- Big Brother Instinct: Upon learning about Jake’s affair, Tony and McGee prevent him from seeing her and then Gibbs escorts him out.
- Bittersweet Ending: Team Gibbs catch the true murderer, so the public stops condemning the Petty Officer, and he gets his job at the Navy back, but his marriage is in shambles because his wife believed he was guilty and threatened to keep his child from him (though Gibbs encourages him to repair his relationship with his wife and to be there for his child). Meanwhile, Ellie discovers that her husband has been cheating on her, so she takes a Leave of Absence at NCIS and returns to her family home in Oklahoma.
- Convicted by Public Opinion: The Petty Officer faces this after a murder charge laid against him falls apart when he gets Off on a Technicality. He goes to NCIS with his lawyer and asks them to formally charge him and do a retrial in order to clear his name.
- Derailing Love Interests: Within a year, Jake has gone from a loving husband to an adulterous one.
- The Un-Twist: Ellie sees Jake with another woman and is suspicious until she remembers that the woman is an IA officer and concludes that it's Not What It Looks Like, that he's in trouble at work. When she asks him about it, he confesses that he is indeed having an affair with the other woman.
- We Used to Be Friends: After the discovery of Jake's affair, Team Gibbs instantly loses respect for him since they're furious over what he had done.
- Wham Episode: Ellie discovers Jake's affair, and she decides to return to Oklahoma for an undetermined period of time.
