NCIS: ENGAGED

NCIS has been the most popular drama on television for several years. It’s also one of the very best, most positive dramas. The team there has outdone itself with its two-part episode this fall, titled “Engaged.” It is riveting, dramatic, exciting, uplifting, patriotic, and both heartbreaking and heartwarming. It even has some strong, overt positive references to Christianity, God, and the Bible, which is atypical for this TV series, or most TV series currently running for that matter, sadly.

The episode opens with a plane load of Marine coffins returning from the Afghanistan war crashing in the middle of the U.S. The NCIS team, led by Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (played by Mark Harmon in his best, most iconic role), goes to the plane site to identify the remains for burial. They discover that one of the bodies that was supposed to be there is missing, a female officer. Eventually, they also discover that the female officer can be seen by satellite leading two Afghani girls away from their compound when it was bombed by a terrorist group working with the Taliban. The satellite feed also shows the woman and the two girls taken prisoner.

The father of the missing servicewoman comes to Washington to meet with the NCIS team, along with a female chaplain assigned to the case. Through the father and other means, the team learns that his daughter was a passionate woman who wanted to help young Afghan girls get educated safely.

Gibbs goes to Afghanistan to lead the hostage rescue team, along with Special Agent Ziva David (“Daveed”), who just became a legal citizen in the last year. As they try to rescue the females, the remaining NCIS team members in Washington learn that the brother of one of the Muslim women working in the camp is in the United States and may be involved in a terrorist plot against the American homeland.

While all this is occurring, Gibbs recalls another young, committed servicewoman he met long ago when he was starting his career in the Marines and the Navy in the 1970s. They begin a friendship, which may lead to romance.

“Engaged” is one of the most patriotic, pro-American episodes ever made for a TV series. “Engaged” celebrates the freedom and compassion of America and those in her who serve their country. It also exposes the differences between the ruthless, violent evil of the Muslim terrorists in Afghanistan and elsewhere, including the Taliban, versus the dedicated, life-affirming professionalism, patriotism, and compassion of the NCIS officers and American soldiers. Best of all, it contains many spiritually uplifting references to Christianity and the value of faith, including positive references to God, the Bible, the Christian cross, and church. Also, the female chaplain who helps the servicewoman’s father and Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, the team’s humorous Lothario, with their faith is a very positive character. In that role, Jaime Ray Newman gives one of the year’s most inspiring, engaging performances.

“Engaged” contains some violence and brief foul language and one very slight worng reference to the Knights Templar, so caution is advised for younger children. Otherwise, however, this is a remarkable episode for what has become a very remarkable, entertaining TV series.