With the bill repealing "don't ask, don't tell" passing the Senate exactly a month ago, "Recruited" comes at the perfect time. Unfortunately, NCIS never takes a stance on anything and is barely related to the military. The show agrees that gays shouldn't be killed (obviously), but there's no monologue that would indicate something deeper. It brushes the surface but so much more could have been done.
The emphasis on Dr. Magnus, played by the great Bob Newhart, and the potential hate crime gives the rest of the team,who usually receive the funny lines, less screen time. Then there is some random Vance stuff which was forgettable until the end of the episode. The result is that "Recruited" doesn't have the energy or focused plot of a typical episode.
Score: 8.0/10
