Directed by Allan Arkush
Written by Scott Williams
The death of a naval personnel in Philadelphia sees the return of MI6 Officer Clayton Reeves, whose partner has been surveiling an illegal arms shipment before disappearing. Bishop and Quinn head to Philly to join Reeves in solving the murder and catching the smugglers. Meanwhile, Torres is feeling stuck being cooped up in the office, taking his problems out on the technology; while Quinn has some personal demons of her own to deal with in Philly.
Tropes:
- Bottomless Bladder / Nobody Poops: A clue that Agent Reeves' partner wasn't being tortured "for days" in an abandoned building with no working toilets nor anything else being used as a toilet. Guess who's seen on surveillance with the smugglers at the only public toilet for several blocks?
- The Bus Came Back: Clayton Reeves returns as a Special Guest, last seen in Family First.
- Continuity Nod: In the first bullpen scene, Agent Francis (who heard about it from Bishop) congratulates McGee on sucessfully proposing to Delilah in the previous episode.
- Face–Heel Turn: Reeves' partner betrayed MI6 for money
- Good Cop/Bad Cop: McGee: "You think I'm the good cop?" *slams suspect's face to the table*
- Guns Akimbo: McGee dual wields handguns to help Torres shake down an informant.
- Manipulative Bastard: Quinn thinks Gibbs is this for "forcing" her to go back to Philadelphia and confront her past.
- Freudian Excuse: Gibbs thinks Quinn's been wanting to do this since she started sending him only "good" agents instead of great ones, "forcing" him to choose her and make her go back into the field.
- My Greatest Failure: Normally steady Agent Quinn gets nervous and antsy at the prospect of returning to Philadelphia. It turns out it was the site of her partner's death, an event so traumatic she stopped being a field agent. As if that wasn't bad enough the reason her partner — a new mother — died was because Quinn was having an argument with her fiance so her partner got out of the car to give Quinn some privacy... right in front of a gang of armed criminals. Gibbs, who oversaw the investigation of the incident, thinks the reason Quinn's partner died wasn't due to Quinn's actions (or lack thereof) but because of, y'know, the gang of armed criminals.
- Ripped from the Headlines: Reeves jokes about Brexit, the British Independence Referendum which caused the country to be the first to leave the European Union. His jokes include how with the country in meltdown funding has gone out the window.
- Shout-Out: Reeves' partner's nickname is Double-oh-nine and Reeves' is Double-oh-nothing, "It's a James Bond thing!"
- Too Dumb to Live: Quinn's partner died because she got out of their car right in front of the criminals they were staking out, while they were engaged in criminal activity only a few yards away.
