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"Secrets" is the 15th episode of the ninth season of the American
crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...
television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...
''
NCIS NCIS or N.C.I.S. may refer to: Law enforcement * National Criminal Intelligence Service, the predecessor to the Serious Organised Crime Agency of the United Kingdom * Naval Criminal Investigative Service, a United States law enforcement and intelli ...
'', and the 201st episode overall. It originally aired on
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
in the United States on February 14, 2012. The episode is written by
Steven D. Binder Steven D. Binder (born July 23, 1971) is an American screenwriter and film and television producer. He currently works on '' NCIS'' as a writer, executive producer, and showrunner. In addition, he is featured in the documentary, ''Journey to the F ...
and directed by
Leslie Libman Leslie Libman is an American television director. She also directed Television advertisement, commercials and music videos. Television work Since 1995 she works primarily as a TV director on a number of television series, most notably directing ...
, and was seen by 19.59 million viewers. In the episode, a Navy Captain is found dead with an unusual costume under his uniform, and
Tony DiNozzo Anthony D. "Tony" DiNozzo, Jr.Season 3, Episode 9 "Frame Up" is a fictional character from the CBS TV series '' NCIS'' portrayed by American actor Michael Weatherly. An original cast character created by producer Donald P. Bellisario, he is cr ...
(
Michael Weatherly Michael Manning Weatherly Jr. (born July 8, 1968) is an American actor, producer, director, and musician, known for playing the roles of Anthony DiNozzo in the television series '' NCIS'' (2003–2016) and Logan Cale in '' Dark Angel'' (2000–20 ...
) must work with his ex-fiancée to solve the case.


Plot

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...
Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
Jack Wallace and his friend Dexter Murphy are shot dead in Murphy's
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
flower shop. Both men had ornate costumes under their clothes, revealing them to be participants in the
real-life superhero A real-life superhero (RLSH) is a person who dresses up in a superhero costume or mask in order to perform community service such as neighborhood watch, or in some cases vigilantism. Early examples of this type of behaviour are reported from the ...
community (community activists whose activities sometimes extend into
vigilantism Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without Right, legal authority. A vigilante (from Spanish, Italian and Portuguese “vigilante”, which means "sentinel" or "watcher") is a pers ...
). Shortly before his death, Wallace called reporter Wendy Miller, who agrees not to publish a story that might embarrass the Navy, in exchange for access to NCIS' investigation. Gibbs, who is known for disliking reporters, intentionally makes a very reluctant
Tony Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...
the official liaison with Miller, who happens to be his ex-fiancée; they have not spoken since she broke off their engagement nine years earlier, and he rejected her invitation to Christmas brunch in the episode "
Newborn King "Newborn King" is the eleventh episode of the ninth season of the American crime drama television series '' NCIS'', and the 197th episode overall. It originally aired on CBS in the United States on December 13, 2011. The episode is written by Chr ...
". A failed assassination attempt on Wendy's life leads the team to believe that the case involves one of her stories. When Ducky confers with other medical examiners, they reveal that several other RLSHs were killed in neighboring districts, and Gibbs recognizes a pattern. The team arrests corrupt real estate developer Wayne Tobett and his ex-military security officer (assisted by Wayne's own son, Clarence, an enthusiastic RLSH). Tobett was concerned that the RLSHs' activities were discouraging crime, and thus increasing property values, in
slum A slum is a highly populated urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are primarily inh ...
areas where he wanted to buy cheap. One of Wendy's stories reported the increase in property values in the same areas where the RLSHs were killed, and Tobett feared she would make the connection. In private, Tony asks Wendy why she cancelled their engagement; she answers that she wasn't ready for commitment at the time, but she reached out to him after divorcing her previous husband, because she wants to explore the option of restarting their relationship.


Production

"Secrets" is written by
Steven D. Binder Steven D. Binder (born July 23, 1971) is an American screenwriter and film and television producer. He currently works on '' NCIS'' as a writer, executive producer, and showrunner. In addition, he is featured in the documentary, ''Journey to the F ...
and directed by
Leslie Libman Leslie Libman is an American television director. She also directed Television advertisement, commercials and music videos. Television work Since 1995 she works primarily as a TV director on a number of television series, most notably directing ...
. The story of the episode centers around Special agent Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) and his ex-fiancée Wendy Miller (Perrey Reeves). "We went into
his season His or HIS may refer to: Computing * Hightech Information System, a Hong Kong graphics card company * Honeywell Information Systems * Hybrid intelligent system * Microsoft Host Integration Server Education * Hangzhou International School, in ...
with the sense of talking about decisions in the team members' lives, and there have been elements of things Tony has been reflecting on all season, which is really why we wanted to do a story with Wendy", executive producer Gary Glasberg told
TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...
. According to Reeves, " onywas brokenhearted, and I think he sort of protected himself all this time. ... In this episode you see the soft side. He's super funny, but I think when you see the two of them interact, you realize that some of it is a little bit of a protective device". Aired on
Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, throu ...
, the episode also includes some romantic moments between Tony and Wendy. "Wendy carries a huge flame for Tony. I think she was afraid ack then I think she has been hurt in her past, and here was this person who brought out all these qualities in her and as much as she wanted to go down that road with him, she was too wounded", Reeves said to TV Guide. Wendy is mentioned in earlier episodes of ''NCIS'' as Tony's high school teacher, but is shown as a reporter in this episode. According to writer and co-executive producer Steven Binder, "she simply had left her teaching days behind her and had become a reporter".


Reception

"Secrets" was seen by 19.59 million live viewers following its broadcast on February 14, 2012, with an 11.7/19 share among all households, and 3.9/11 share among adults aged 18 to 49. A rating point represents one percent of the total number of television sets in American households, and a share means the percentage of television sets in use tuned to the program. In total viewers, "Secrets" easily won NCIS and CBS the night, while the spin-off NCIS: Los Angeles drew second and was seen by 16.15 million viewers. Compared to last week's episode "
Life Before His Eyes "Life Before His Eyes" is the 14th episode of the ninth season of the American crime drama television series '' NCIS'', and the 200th episode overall. It originally aired on CBS in the United States on February 7, 2012. The episode is written by ...
", "Secrets" was down a bit in both viewers and adults 18-49. Steve Marsi from TV Fanatic gave the episode 4.5 (out of 5) and stated that "it was a cheesy case at times, but it offered plenty of laughs, so it worked", and "overall, it was a fun hour that struck the perfect NCIS balance of action, comedy and surprisingly complex character development".


Trivia

*During his autopsy of the two victims, Ducky describes the activities of "the Fox", a real-life superhero of his youth who collected sewage and dumped it in the lobby of an industrial company that was polluting a local lake. This is closely similar to the activities of
James F. Phillips James F. Phillips (November 20, 1930 – October 3, 2001) was an American schoolteacher and environmental activist who became known in the Chicago area during the 1960s for his environmental direct action under the pseudonym The Fox. Biograph ...
, a science teacher and environmental activist who used the alias "The Fox" and is often seen as a precursor to the real-life superhero community.


References

{{NCIS episodes 2012 American television episodes NCIS (season 9) episodes