Under the Radar (NCIS)
| "Under the Radar" | |
|---|---|
| NCIS episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 11 Episode 3 |
| Directed by | Dennis Smith |
| Written by | George Schenck and Frank Cardea |
| Original air date | October 8, 2013 |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
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"Under the Radar" is the third episode of the eleventh season of the American police procedural drama NCIS, and the 237th episode overall. It originally aired on CBS in the United States on October 8, 2013. The episode is written by George Schenck and Frank Cardea and directed by Dennis Smith, and was seen by 18.33 million viewers.
When an apartment landlord attempts to open a door to deliver mail, he is killed by a bomb wired to the door. Since the apartment belongs to a Navy lieutenant, Gibbs and his team are called in. However, they find that the Navy lieutenant, Terence Keith, is missing after taking leave. Further investigation reveals that Keith had wanted to be a fighter pilot but washed out of flight training. He had also purchased over 200 pounds of C4 explosive and rented a STOL plane. The team deduces that he is planning to use the explosives and the plane to bomb a target. However, because the STOL can fly below radar coverage, it would be next to impossible to find. Fortunately, McGee comes up with the idea to use Twitter to find the plane by asking Twitter users to send a tweet if they see it fly overhead. Using the data they collect, the team figures out that Keith is planning to bomb the U.S.S. Benjamin Franklin, an aircraft carrier that is also carrying several of Keith's classmates who graduated from flight training and that Keith is attacking it, purely because one of his classmates, Lieutenant Junior Grade Dana Robbins is on board which Gibbs realizes is the ultimate blow to Keith's ego as Robbins gets to fly airplanes and Keith doesn't. Gibbs manages to contact Keith and tells him his plan is doomed to fail, as the carrier has scrambled fighters and its anti-air defenses have locked onto him. Gibbs even attempts to encourage Keith to surrender, stating that Keith will be given safe passage to do so. Keith turns the plane away, but since he is holding a dead man switch and has nothing left to live for, remarks that it's too late before he commits suicide by detonating the bomb, destroying the aircraft and killing himself in the process.
There are two other sideplots in the episode: Agent Strickland and McGee losing his NCIS ID. Agent Strickland, Mike Franks' last partner, temporarily joins the team while she is waiting to retire in two weeks. However, she is allowed to retire early after she gets injured in the field with this causing her to develop a strong grudge against DiNozzo. Meanwhile, McGee loses his ID and tries to find it, knowing that he would face severe punishment if the loss is found out. He admits this to Gibbs, and later Vance gives him his ID, saying it was found at RFK Stadium where McGee had gone earlier. McGee manages to escape punishment, however, due to his idea to use Twitter to stop the bombing.
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