Endgame

Season 7, Episode 7, Aired
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8.6
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Vance's family is once again put into danger when an assassin from his past returns to threaten their safety, and the team works on helping Vance face his troubled past.
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Fan Episode Reviews (10)

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  • Brilliant conclusion to a brilliant storyline acarried over from the spin-ff!

    10
    "Perfect"
    By amazing_race, Jul 15, 2011
    The Lee wuan Kai storyline was a very interesting episode over on NCIS: Los Angeles, asnd I thoroughly enjoyed the case carrying over to NCIS, as it was a very interesting episode.

    The director, Vance, is by far my least favorite character, but I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed this Vance-cetnred episode. There was a lot to like, ranging from suspense to an excellent ending, and I found the entirety of the episode to be very interesting!

    All up, a terrific episode! I highly recommend it, and as I said in my review of the previous episode, Season Seven is going greeat so far, and that continues with this episode!moreless

  • Really cheap "shot" at ex governor Palin at beginning of show. Story was mudelled. Too much time at the Directors house - not enough time at NCIS headquarters.

    1.0
    "Abysmal"
    By cocogigi, Jun 18, 2011
    Really cheap "shot" at ex governor Palin at beginning of show. I thought the writers and cast of NCIS were above this - obviously CBS is not. NCIS has lost this viewer, family and Friends. IN this episode, there was too much time spent at the directors house and with his problems and not enough time at NCIS headquarters. I was waiting to see the regular characters involved more. That did not happen. This particular show became so boring I nodded off - I think gratefully so. Story was muddled and not up to the standrad of other epidsodes. It doesn't matter. I won't watch NCIS again.moreless

  • The show just started and the fact that Tim met a woman is a good thin about time he was featured more (he is my fav)

    10
    "Perfect"
    By CatherineLaMoth, Jun 12, 2011
    I am new to this review, but here goes, so far so good, I have yet to find an episode that I didn't enjoy, I am always watching repeats on ion television, usa and a&e. I am not sure about vance, I think they could have chosen better, now I also think Abby needs more air time, as does Ducky would be nice to get to know more about Abby's life outside the lab. I also think Tony needs a reality check, or something. I like it when Gibbs cuffs him in the back of the head...ha ha Overall, it is a great show.moreless

  • Very clever episode about Vance and his past, but it was clever in the fact that the story revealed far more about another team member, and no, not McGee.

    9.5
    "Superb"
    By Tortuga8604, Apr 28, 2011
    For the sake of time and not wanting to possibly repeat others thoughts, I am going to focus on the underlying story, the story that snuck in under the radar. This could almost be titled "The Tale of Two Assassins", if it were not for the fact that the main focus was on one assassin and on one Director. While that was a good story, and revealed a little bit more about the character of Vance, and allowed for a great scene between Vance and Gibbs, the story that caught my attention was the one of another assassin.

    What struck me about this episode was that it plays perfectly with the Ziva storyline.

    The writers gave us an episode about a cold-hearted, beautiful assassin, and a voice over from McGee from his motivational CD: Anyone can achieve their fullest potential. Who we are might be predetermined but the path we follow is always of our own choosing. We should never allow our fears or expectations of others to set the frontiers of our destiny. Your destiny can't be changed but it can be challenged. Every man is born as many men but dies as a single one.

    Kai was in the process of transforming she saved McGee and didn't kill the NCIS agents but was perhaps too far-gone to know what to do with it and how to handle it. Ziva's advantage was that she had the previous four years to start the process of turning over a new leaf it wasn't an immediate 180 we got to witness the gradual evolution.

    The final stage for Ziva was far more successful she went into a mission with death in her heart, but had people who cared enough about her to pull her out. She came out on the other side and chose a new path for herself, one that was not predetermined she is challenging her own destiny.

    Next week's episode has Ziva stuck in an elevator with someone and my thoughts are that it is either Ducky or Vance. Originally I was hoping for Ducky, but after this episode, I would rather see her in there with Vance. It would allow a nice follow-through from this one. Vance was too late to help Kai, but it was through his direct action -- he alone had the authority to allow the rescue mission -- that saved another assassin in his life with a more successful ending (or new beginning).

    The book has been closed on assassin Ziva -- Viva Ziva!moreless

  • Episode starts off very well, then sinks with preposterous and pretentious developments

    7.5
    "Good"
    By chipee, Jan 27, 2011
    I like to pen a review where my opinion is different than the other reviews. I am a big NCIS fan and enjoy the great preponderance of the episodes. Interesting that, at this point in time, the 259 fans who voted here seem to be down on this one (8.6 vote average, which is poor, for NCIS anyway), while the 6 published reviews are all extremely favorable (one 9.0, and the rest 9.5 or 10). I side with the 259 fans. **** Spoilers galore. ****

    The episode starts out in great form -- comradely humor; an interesting murder case; and McGee meeting a sweet, pretty young woman at the coffee shop. Then things get even better: more humor; we learn that the murder was a professional hit by a beautiful, exotic North Korean assassin woman (Kai) who is a long-time nemesis of Director Vance; and the pretty lustful girl intensely wants McGee!

    Kai, who was trained from birth to be a remorseless assassin for the North Korean government, has turned on her masters and is bent on killing those who molded her. Boy, I was getting ready to really enjoy this episode.

    Then it gets ridiculous and fails:
     Kai and Vance have for some 20 years been trying to kill each other, but now she appreciates Vance's interest in her, which she interprets as fatherly interest/love. (You see, she was taken as an orphan to be reared by the government.) After killing her former handlers and molders, she wants Vance to kill her! Vance's wife obliges!
     McGee's new girlfriend turns out to be similar to Kai -- she is a beautiful South African assassin hired by the North Koreans to infiltrate NCIS to learn where Kai is so she can kill Kai. (Poor McGee.)
     At the conclusion of the episode we have to hear some drivel from McGee's motivational tapes. Here is just one line (which, of course, refers to Kai's life story): "Who we are might be predetermined, but the path we follow is always of our own choosing." Nice words and balanced sentences, but the thoughts are trivial and contradict themselves -- we are predetermined, and we are free to choose. Very helpful!moreless
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  • TRIVIA (3)

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  • QUOTES (9)

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    • Tony: Look at those come-hither eyes, those perfect kiss-me-now lips. No wonder Vance is obsessed. Kai's killing me and I'm just looking at her. You and Kai are probably a lot more alike than you think. Ziva: I do not follow. Tony: Really? A couple of pretty ladies, both trained assassins. Ziva: You annoy me sometimes. Tony: Sometimes? Ziva: Most of the time!

    • (watching Linda DeMarco through the glass in the interrogation room) Gibbs: It's not her. McGee: Boss, she shot at us, with a very big gun. Gibbs: It happens. McGee: What happens? Gibbs: People. They react. Tony: Irrationally. Gibbs: Sometimes. Call Metro, fine her, take away her toys. McGee: That's it? Gibbs: Yeah. She didn't do it.

    • Ziva: Maybe you're the one who needs a little self-help. Tony: Well... see, that's where you're wrong, Ziva. I'm already enlightened. I know exactly who I am. It may not be pretty, but I am DiNozzo, hear me roar. Ziva: Like an elephant?

    • Tony: (to McGee) Think I don't see that little glint in your eye, spring in your step? Spill, probilicious. What's her name? Spill.

    • Vance: You chase somebody for almost twenty years, you start to think like 'em.

    • Jackie: I'm not going anywhere without you. You know, Leon, when you took this job, I knew that there was risk involved. I knew I'd be watching over my shoulder every day, but I always felt safe. Until now. And, yeah, [Kai] may have killed your partner. But you're my partner now. And I'm not going anywhere.

    • McGee: So where's the pilot? Gibbs: Dead, most likely. Tony: He was Kai-jacked! McGee: Did you really just say that? Tony: I regret it already.

    • McGee: (V/O) Anyone can achieve their fullest potential, who we are might be predetermined, but the path we follow is always of our own choosing. We should never allow our fears or the expectations of others to set the frontiers of our destiny. Your destiny can't be changed but, it can be challenged. Every man is born as many men and dies as a single one.

    • Tony (after a nurse fires a shotgun at the door): Who do you think you are; Sarah Palin?

  • NOTES (2)

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    • Kelly Hu originated the role of Lee Wuan Kai in the NCIS: Los Angeles episode "Killshot."

    • Original International Airdates: Australia: November 17, 2009 on Channel Ten United Kingdom: November 20, 2009 on FX UK Norway: December 15, 2009 on TV3 Sweden: January 26, 2010 on TV3 Germany: April 11, 2010 on SAT 1 Spain: April 23, 2010 on LaSexta Slovakia: July 8, 2010 on Markiza Finland: October 26, 2010 on Nelonen Czech Republic: January 3, 2011 on TV Nova

  • ALLUSIONS (6)

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    • Tony: It's almost as thought Kai's dangling it in his face, like she's saying, 'here I am, Director, I shot another one. Look at me, Ma, Top of the world!' McGee: Who was that? Tony: Cagney! In White Heat. McGee: Oh, that's the one with the ballet dancers? Tony: That's White Nights, with Gregory Hines and Mikhail Baryshnikov. First reference is to the 1949 gangster movie classic White Heat, starring James Cagney as a psycho crime lord who is too attached to his overbearing mother. The finale of the movie is Cagney's character standing on top of a gas tank as it explodes in a fiery pyre, as he screams, "Made it, Ma! Top of the world!" The second reference is to the 1985 movie White Nights, with Mikhail Baryshnikov as the Russian dancer who has defected to the West, but finds himself accidentally re-patriated to Russia, and plans an escape with the help of Gregory Hines, an American-turned-Russian, and his Russian wife, Isabella Rosselini.

    • Tony: (referring to McGee) Look at him – he's oozing a musky, caveman-esque grin of satisfaction --- it's like Heston in Planet of the Apes -- and it didn't matter that that world was ruled by orangutans, Heston went straight for the mute chick in the loin cloth. You pulled a total Heston, didn't you? Allusion to the 1968 science fiction film Planet of the Apes, staring Charlton Heston. In the film, astronauts wake up from hibernation after crashing on a planet ruled by intelligent apes. By the end of the movie, the astronauts realize that the planet is Earth in the year 3978 A.D. The "mute chick" was Nova, who became Heston's love interest in the movie.

    • Tony: Stop drinking the motivational Kool-Aid! Reference to the followers of Jim Jones, the charismatic founder of the People's Temple, 900 of which committed suicide on November 18, 1978 by drinking cyanide-laced Kool-Aid at Jones' command. The suicide is considered one of the largest mass suicides in history.

    • Tony: Look at you, McDigit, I'm having a Kreskin-like intuition, here: Is she a red-head? "The Amazing Kreskin" is the stage name for mentalist/magician George Joseph Kresge, Jr., who hosted a popular TV show in the 1970s where he would "read minds" and make predictions.

    • Tony: That's where you're wrong, Ziva. I'm already enlightened. I know exactly who I am. It may not be pretty, but I am DiNozzo: hear me roar! Passing reference to a 1972 Helen Reddy song, "I Am Woman." The first line of the song, "I am woman, hear me roar" became a touchstone phrase for the early 70's women's liberation movement, and the phrase has become a iconic catch-phrase for empowerment, and believing in oneself.

    • Tony: (Listening to McGee's self-help CD) I love this guy -- he's like a poor man's Shatner! Allusion to William Shatner, a Canadian-born actor famous for his role as Captain Kirk on the 1960s TV series Star Trek, and more recently for his work on Boston Legal. His deep, distinctive voice has lent itself towards a variety of dramatic readings, most recently a send-up of Sarah Palin's farewell address on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien.

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