Call of Silence

Season 2, Episode 7, Aired

Episode Summary

EDIT
9.1
out of 10
EPISODE RATING: Superb
376 votes
  • Your Rating: 10
    "Perfect"
  • Your Rating: 9.5
    "Superb"
  • Your Rating: 9
    "Superb"
  • Your Rating: 8.5
    "Great"
  • Your Rating: 8
    "Great"
  • Your Rating: 7.5
    "Good"
  • Your Rating: 7
    "Good"
  • Your Rating: 6.5
    "Fair"
  • Your Rating: 6
    "Fair"
  • Your Rating: 5.5
    "Mediocre"
  • Your Rating: 5
    "Mediocre"
  • Your Rating: 4.5
    "Poor"
  • Your Rating: 4
    "Poor"
  • Your Rating: 3.5
    "Bad"
  • Your Rating: 3
    "Bad"
  • Your Rating: 2.5
    "Terrible"
  • Your Rating: 2
    "Terrible"
  • Your Rating: 1.5
    "Abysmal"
  • Your Rating: 1
    "Abysmal"
Rate Now!
Ernie Yost, an elderly Marine veteran and Medal of Honor receipent, shows up at NCIS headquarters, and calmly confesses to murdering his best friend during a WWII battle. It's up to NCIS to prove his guilt or innocence with little evidence or witnesses from that event from the 1940's.moreless
  • This Episode made me easier to watch NCIS.

    8.0
    "Great"
    I'm Post-war Japanese who have never lived in wartime-country.
    This Episode was aired as first Episode of season 2 here,
    I felt season 1 is made for American,and sometime I felt restless while watching.

    I don't write this kind of review for other Episode,but this was special for me.
    Politically fair and telling "WWII is over,even many people(both side) still have wounds in their body and minds.".
    And unlike them,most of people here don't know WWII in real time.(Unlike my parents who were starving little kids),It's time to give painful memories rest,not to forget.

    By the way,Mark Harmon's Japanese pronunciation was very good and Easy to understand.
    More than a person who acted former Japanese soldier. (I think He is second-generation japanese American,from his pronunciation and age)
    Motto sake kudasai :)moreless
  • A perfect way to honour a hero

    10
    "Perfect"
    I'm going back through previous seasons of NCIS and came upon this gem of an episode. I think this episode summed up what NCIS is about.

    Corporal Yost would have been suffering survivors guilt for the death of his friend, the NCIS team worked together to prove his innocence, even Coleman was reluctant to prosecute, but had no choice. For anyone to watch this and not get completely involved in the scenario or the story line really shouldn't be watching this in the first place. The ending was pure gold.moreless
  • An amazing bow to America's Greatest Generation...

    10
    "Perfect"
    I can't watch this episode without bawling. I'm appalled that Charles Durning was denied the Emmy for which he was nominated for his scene-stealing performance in this heartrending episode. Gibbs was awesome -- as always -- in his determination to prove that Yost wasn't a cold-blooded killer. Yost's dance with Kate was a touching combination of sweet and sad. And the final scene was pure gold.
  • An old man is stopped entering NCIS by the metal detector - it truns out he has a gun, and a Medal of Honor. He wants to confess to a murder - but he can't recall all the details.moreless

    10
    "Perfect"
    brilliant and touching. It demonstrates the respect accorded medal of honor recipients - and with good reason.
    it also delves into the ravages of age and personal loss with intelligence and tenderness. The series in general, and this episode in particular helps to remind the viewers of the sacrifices made, by people we don't even know, to safeguard or freedoms. As for some specifics - there is a scene where Sasha Alexander (who should never have been cut from the series) dances with Charles Durning. One of the most tender moments I've seen in network television. The character played by Michael Weatherly - normally unwatchable - demonstrates an understanding of the importance of the medal of honor - and the reverence due its holder. Once we get past the Golden age of Television, there is so little worth watching, and even less that is worth remembering. Robert Preston's "Rehearsal for Murder", Ed Asner's "The Gathering" - and this episode of NCIS.moreless
  • WOW. This episode brought tears to my eyes. It was a moving and respectful, heartfelt tribute to those who fought in WWII.

    10
    "Perfect"
    I have really only been watching NCIS since the middle of season three, but I have seen all the first season episodes from the DVDs and many of the second season ones as reruns.

    I guess there are several reasons this is a special episode for me. The first is personal, and that is that my dad served in the army in WWII. But the second has to do with the show. The reverence and deference with which the agents treated the Medal of Honor winner was very special, and in one stroke developed their collective character more than any other episode or plot development I have seen.

    Each of them had an unexpected emotional response to Mr. Yost, and I came away from the episode feeling, \"These are NICE people!\" We got to see a softer side of Kate and Gibbs, and a more serious side of Tony. The scene where Kate dances with Cpl. Yost was perfect. If you were not moved by it, you have a heart of stone. It is not a big surprise that Charles Durning was nominated for an Emmy for his portrayal of Ernie Yost.

    This was not like any other episode I have seen to date, but it certainly confirmed for me that NCIS has the range and depth to be way more than a formula drama where "good-looking-agents-investigate-the-crime-and-catch-the-bad-guy."

    I am looking forward to seeing the characters unfold in future episodes.moreless
WRITE A REVIEW

Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

See All

FILTER BY TYPE

  • TRIVIA (4)

    ADD TRIVIA
    • GOOF: After Corporal Yost's buddy is exhumed Kate notices with some disgust that the skeleton has a dog tag in between it's teeth, the dog tag in question is not of the proper time period being that it is rectangular. The Marine Corps unlike the Army during World War II used an oval shaped dog tag until the end of the war.

    • TRIVIA: Charles Durning (Ernie Yost) is a decorated World War II veteran. Though not a Marine nor a recipient of the Medal of Honor, Durning did receive the Silver Star and was one of the few survivors of the Malmedy massacre as stated by Mark Harmon during a featurette on the episode in question.

    • TRIVIA: Salute to the Medal of Honor: all other soldiers, sailors, and airmen - even higher-ranking officers up to the President of the United States - initiate the salute, which is to the Medal itself, not the recipient.

    • TRIVIA: It appears that the business with the notched dog tag in the teeth is urban legend that has been around for years. I first heard it from my drill sergeant in basic training over 40 years ago.

  • QUOTES (24)

    ADD QUOTES
    • Gibbs: I found a witness. Coleman: Witness to what? Gibbs: What happened the night Corporal Kean died. McGee: You couldn't have. I mean, you could have. Obviously, you did. What? Did I miss someone in his unit? Gibbs: No, all Marines are deceased. Yost: They look alive. (referring to the Marines there to arrest him)

    • (To McGee, on battle reconstruction) Gibbs: I want it so real, I can smell the sulphur! McGee: Yeah!

    • Henry: Gibbs. Gibbs: Hey, morning Henry. Henry: That sushi place you sent me to. Gibbs: What? You didn't like it? Henry: Liked it fine. Only you didn't tell me I had to speak Japanese to order. Gibbs: You don't order. You eat what you're served with a smile. Just like being married.

    • Ernie: I don't think he believes me kid. Tony: Me either. Ernie: What do you know? You weren't even a gleam in your old man's eye.

    • Tony: So what's it feel like. Ernie: Smooth. Tony: No I mean being a hero. Ernie: I'm no hero. Tony: The medal says you are. Ernie: The real heroes didn't come back. They deserve that (looks at medal). Not me. Not me. I was scared to death. I don't even remember doing what they said I did.

    • Yost: You, uh, got any use for a Metro ticket? Got ten rides left. Don't want to waste 'em. Tony: Ah... no, thanks. Yost: Come on, too much waste in this world. Everything's disposable now. Disposable cameras, disposable razors.

    • Abby: What do we have here, Gibbs? Gibbs: Murder weapon. Abby: Cold case? Gibbs: Icicles.

    • Coleman: Oh, yes, you will. You see this seal, Special Agent Gibbs? You recognize the signature? Gibbs: Yeah. Coleman: Your eyesight isn't as bad as they say.

    • Yost: It's not a water cooler, it's called a scuttlebutt. How long you been in the Corps, kid? Tony: Since I met Gibbs.

    • Kate: Since when are you interested in the ballet? Tony: Since about an hour ago. Kate: Let me guess the cashier at the bakery was wearing leg warmers. Tony: How do you know that? Kate: Must be the profiler in me.

    • Tony: Oh, boss, I got tickets to the National Ballet tonight. Gibbs: The National Ballet? Tony: Yeah. An-And the tickets are really hard to get. Tell him, McGee. McGee: Um... well... Gibbs: What nation? Tony: It starts with an "S."

    • Kate: So how am I supposed to get his SRB without a serial number? Gibbs: Well, Kate, you could ask him. Kate: Gibbs, I doubt that he could remember his shoe size. Gibbs: Corporal Yost. Yost: Yo. Gibbs: Serial number. Yost: 330090, sir.

    • Kate: Good news... I think. Gibbs: It's not good if you have to think about it.

    • Gibbs: You're not in custody, Mr. Yost. Yost: Now don't say that, Agent Gibbs. I didn't get anything for dinner tonight. Kate: I'd love to buy you dinner, Mr. Yost. Yost: You would? McGee: Me too. Yost: She asked first.

    • Kate: Commander Coleman is going to use this to put Yost away for the rest of his life. Tony: Do we have to tell her? Gibbs: Well, no, Special Agent DiNozzo, here at NCIS, we just report evidence we like.

    • Gibbs: Trace its origin. Abby: Don't I always? Hey, Gibbs, you gonna tell me what this is about? Gibbs: A marine who doesn't clean his weapon after firing it. Abby: Wow. Things must be really slow upstairs.

    • McGee: Oh, hey, there's another ballet in town, DiNozzo. I can get you two front row easy. Tony: Really? What ballet? McGee: The National. Tony: The National Ballet? Bravo, McGee. McGee: Oh. Only... Tony: Only what? McGee: The nation... Kate: Is not ours. McGee: Surinam. Tony: Surinam? The National Ballet of Surinam. How good can that be? Kate: Depends on how much you like her buns, Tony.

    • Gibbs: I found him downstairs. He claims to have murdered a marine with this .45. Kate: You believe him? Gibbs: He's a little foggy on the where and when, but pretty adamant he did it. Kate: Gibbs, we're not going to investigate this? Gibbs: No... Kate: Good. Gibbs: We're just going to humor him. McGee. Says he's been reporting this too, can't get anybody to believe him. McGee: Gee, what a surprise.

    • Gibbs: Ducky, what do you think he smelled in there? Ducky: I hesitate to ask.

    • McGee: The Washington Ballet is totally sold out. Tony: You're kidding. McGee: People were backed up trying to hack into the box office.

    • Gibbs: Come on Corporal. Let a Gunny buy you dinner. Yost: You -- you were never an officer? Gibbs: Oh HELL no! Yost: I knew there was something I liked about you.

    • Gibbs: DiNozzo. Make Mr. Yost here comfortable. Yost: You want me to be comfortable, slap a pair of handcuffs on me. Tony: How about something else? Yost: Any good at foot massages?

    • Yost: Oh. They took my license away. Tony: How come? Yost: Got old. It's a fatal mistake. But I can fly anywhere. For free. But I, uh... I don't have anybody to visit anymore.

    • Coleman: Please don't insult me by telling me he escaped. Kate: The older they are, the sneakier they are. Yost complained of a weak bladder. He had to use the restroom every ten minutes. We gave up escorting him and one time he just didn't come back. McGee: We found a window open. He must have shimmied down a drain pipe. Coleman: Oh, I'd like to have seen that. Gibbs: We think the weak bladder was a trick to get us to let down our guard. Kate: We're sick about it, Commander. Coleman: Yes, I can see that. You all look absolutely devastated.

  • NOTES (3)

    ADD NOTES
    • Original International Airdates: Croatia: October 13, 2005 on NOVA TV Finland: March 24, 2007 on Nelonen France: December 12, 2005 on M6 Germany: October 13, 2005 on SAT.1 Sweden: June 05, 2005 on TV3 Denmark: November 23, 2004 on TV3

    • This episode was actually the first episode produced for this season, and that seems to be the reason why in some countries, this episode was aired as the first one. In See No Evil, the first episode aired for this season, McGee becomes a full-time agent. But if Call of Silence airs before it, don't be surprised if McGee is already an agent, and you didn't see it happen.

    • Charles Durning was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.

  • ALLUSIONS (1)

    ADD ALLUSIONS
    • Tony: What's with the Olsen Twins? This is a reference to famous actresses, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, who are fraternal twins.

More
Less