Truth or Consequences (NCIS)
| "Truth or Consequences" | |
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| NCIS episode | |
Saleem interrogates Tony in a prison camp
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| Episode no. | Season 7 Episode 1 |
| Directed by | Dennis Smith |
| Written by | Jesse Stern |
| Original air date | September 22, 2009 |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
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"Truth or Consequences" is the first episode of the seventh season of the American police procedural drama NCIS, and the 139th episode overall. It originally aired on CBS in the United States on September 22, 2009. The episode is written by Jesse Stern and directed by Dennis Smith, and was seen live by 20.61 million viewers.
"Truth or Consequences" follows "Aliyah", the sixth season finale, and carries the plot surrounding Ziva's captivity. In the closing moments of season 6, she was shown to be held hostage in a prison camp in Somalia and tortured nearly beyond recognition. The majority of the episode is told in a series of flashbacks that cover the four months in which Ziva was missing, and it focuses on Tony, Gibbs, and McGee's search for and eventual rescue of her.
The episode opens depicting terrorist Saleem Ulman (Omid Abtahi) interrogating a captive for information in the dusty room of a prison camp in Somalia. The camera angle shifts to show that the captive is NCIS Agent Tony DiNozzo, who brazenly refuses to give up any. Unfamiliar with NCIS and Tony's mission, Saleem administers a truth serum and questions Tony extensively about the inner workings of the agency, how he was able to find his base of operations and why he travelled so far in his quest. Unable to keep quiet due to the serum's effects, Tony begins to recap the three months at NCIS since Ziva disappeared.
It is shown through flashbacks that the NCIS team began working a drug case in May after Ziva's departure and that they had not received any word of her. After a few weeks, wishing to move on, Tony and McGee approach Gibbs about searching for a replacement on the team. Gibbs unenthusiastically tosses the task of selecting the replacement to them and again confronts Vance, still hoping that Ziva will return eventually. Vance admits that Ziva's father, Mossad Director Eli David, has not mentioned her to him and suggests that she has been put back in the field.
Tony and McGee interview several women as prospective replacements, none of which work out for various reasons. In present day, Tony concludes that they could not find a suitable candidate because "Ziva's not replaceable." Saleem questions why they are not looking for her, and Tony reveals that NCIS is under the impression that Ziva is dead.
He further relates that in the months prior, he, McGee, and Abby, concerned that something might have gone wrong, had tracked down her last known whereabouts. They discovered that, while on a mission to take out Saleem in Northern Africa, a ship she had boarded had gone down in a storm and that there were reportedly no survivors. Saleem again questions the reason for his presence in Somalia, and Tony replies that he travelled to Northern Africa to seek vengeance on the parties responsible.
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