The black and white stills have become a staple of NCIS and are used quite effectively to build up suspense for what happens next. In "Moonlighting," Gibbs and Fornell are shown in the beginning of the episode with their guns out and flames behind them. I had nearly forgot about it until almost halfway into the episode when the Cooper offices were completely annihilated. My reaction probably would have been the same had I not seen the black and white stills, but the bigger issue, are the black and white stills necessary? Certainly, they portend what may happen, but they almost get forgotten sometimes.
The case this week was great as usual and foreshadowed a little of this season's endgame. A mobster turned informant named Stefano Delmar is found dead from a hit and a Marine passing by is also killed in the process. Fornell comes in as well as Susan, the polygraph technician who was all over McGee last time she was on the show. Susan is intended to be annoying, but I think Jackie Geary did a good enough job to make her somewhat likable. She was moonlighting for Cooper which was the common link. In the end, the judge was passing on information to the mob, so although she didn't directly kill anyone, she basically handed out death sentences to those informants who she believed got off easy.
At one point, Susan gives Gibbs a polygraph, and apparently no one has EVER given Gibbs a proper polygraph. She asks him if he ever committed a felony. He flashes back to his headshot of the cartel member and quickly stops the test. The issue isn't resolved which means later episodes will do that.
The episode did feel uneven at times with the disposal of Tony teasing McGee about the video games and Abby's animosity towards Susan in the second half the episode. The two weren't really revisited and didn't develop into anything. It's good for amusement, but the only other subplot was Susan finally recognizing that McGee isn't in to her, McGee's acceptance of her, and Susan spurning him in the end.
Score: 9.0/10
