NCIS

Ex-File

Season 5, Episode 3, Aired 10/9/07

Episode Summary

Lt. Colonel Mann joins Gibbs in an investigation of the murder of a Marine Captain who had access to highly classified information. Things get very personal for Gibbs when one of the witnesses in the case turns out to be one of his ex-wives.

8.9

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Cast & Crew

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Lauren Holly

Director Jenny Shepard
Cote de Pablo

Mossad Agent Ziva David
Sean Murray (I)

Special Agent Tim McGee

Fan Episode Reviews (27)

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deplorable constant sexual innuendo

6.0

"Fair"

By chipee, Dec 01, 2011 Report Abuse

I'll probably get a lot of thumbs down with this review, but I can live with it. It was deplorable that every scene in the first half of the episode, and in most of the second half, was filled ENTIRELY with sexual innuendo between Gibbs and his current girlfriend, Colonel Mann. I got tired of the smirks, juvenile simpering and raised eyebrows, and the conversation of who was on top as they had to share the criminal investigation. Director Shepard, Gibb's old girlfriend, had to smirk and get jealous in EVERY scene she was in. Tony and Ziva were relatively civilized as they had to witness these antics. And then most of the Tim and Abby scenes reeked of simmering jealousy too as a security guy had to watch and flirt over Abby's handling of the evidence. Gibbs ex-wife was thrown in too. To keep the soap opera going, at the end of the episode Gibbs' ex-wife had to intrude on Gibbs and Mann, and then to end things Mann had to play Gibbs' tear jerker recording of his daughter as Gibbs sadly listened too. The writers and producers should be ashamed of themselves as they laid this on so heavily. Thank God most of the episodes are not like this. Let me add that I enjoy sexual content in stories, it's just that here it seemed so tiresome, juvenile, all involving and repetitious.

Another thing that bothered me was the lengthy computer discussions that went too fast and over my head. I wish they could simplify the explanations. Idea: they could simply just say what the computer can do/show, and leave it at that without an explanation.moreless

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2 5
An above-average episode.

8.5

"Great"

By tvownsLEXIE, Sep 29, 2011 Report Abuse

This was a great episode for Gibbs fans, but it was also great for Abby fans.

The guy in Abby's lab was extremely sketchy from the start, and I didn't like Abby's totally disregard for McGee's jealousy in the beginning of the episode. Thankfully, he got what was coming to him, and the threat McGee feared was destroyed. (Gibbs should have allowed Abby to hit him the first time she asked!) It was still great when she finally did hit him as McGee smiled and said, "Sweet."

Still, I thought the ex-wife could have revealed more about Gibbs' character than she did, especially since she was taking screen time from Tony and Ziva, who didn't get much screen time in this episode. The tape at the end of the episode served as enough of a reveal though, so it wasn't as though all insight to his character was lost.moreless

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2 1
An ex-wife is just what the doctor ordered!

9.5

"Superb"

By amazing_race, Sep 29, 2011 Report Abuse

I absolutely salivated at the thought of having one of Gibbs' ex-wives appearing in this episode, and I really enjoyed seeing her and Colonel Mann in the same room together, but it didn't quite become as awkward as I expected it to be.

It wasn't the most interesting case, however, but I did enjoy the opening scene to the episode, which was remarkably done, in my opinion.

Abby and her assistant was an interesting concept, and seeing McGee very jealous was just terrific!

I also, once again, loved the ending, when Colonel Mann listens to the tape. Very emotional!

A terrific episode, but I felt it lacked that little something for me to give it a ten. However, I still highly recommend this one!moreless

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Ex File

7.5

"Good"

By thefanof, Sep 29, 2011 Report Abuse

A nice side storyline with Leroy Jethro Gibbs' ex wife, current girlfriend and work wife all being in the same place, at the same time on the same case. I am fine with things like this from time to time, it's refreshing to take a step away from the case at hand every now and again to get a few cheap laughs. But let's not forget this is a procedural, and tonight's episode ended with a twist that I doubt anyone saw coming. You should always expect the unexpected when watching NCIS, and without giving too much away, that is particularly true here.moreless

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1 1
A great Gibbs episode !

10

"Perfect"

By vicky24c, Aug 27, 2011 Report Abuse

This episode opens with a woman returning home with her friend and discovering her husband has been murdered. Abby buys everyone in the team an iPod player. The team are called into investigate the murder, and when they arrive at the army base, they learn that the person in charge of the crime scene is, the Coronal, who just happens to be Gibbs girlfriend. A man from the army office is sent in to keep an eye on Abby as she has to do work on the victim's laptop, who was working on top secret ops. We soon discover that the friend who was with the wife when she discovered her husband used to be married to Gibbs. The team learn that the victim was file-sharing "The Element Song" and the team think that it seems odd. The coronal goes to see Ducky and asks him about his relationship with his ex-wife. She learns about his first wife and Kelly. Ducky discovers that the Caption was crying when he died. The team's prime suspect is the Captions wife. When Tony & Ziva head back to the crime scene, it has already been realised and the wife is cleaning the evidence away. We learn that the wife was having an affair with one of her husband's colleagues. When they check CCTV footage from the night in question, they discover that her alibi checks out. She's clean, and innocent. The focus of the investigation turns to Gibbs's ex-wife Stefanie. When the team run prints they discover that it's the agent sent to keep an eye on Abby and what she did with the laptop. When they return to the lab, he wipes the laptop clean. He was the person who murdered the Caption. They discover a code on the laptop and McGee cracks it to be a code for a bank account which was cleaned out 2 hours after the Captions death. When Gibbs & the coronal return home from their date they are greeted by his ex-wife Stefanie who is in his boat in his basement. As he walks her out, the Coronal listens to one of his tapes, which is his daughter, Kelly playing the piano and saying that she loves him. We then see Gibbs sitting on the stairs listening.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
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- TRIVIA: A recurring theme is apparent in Bellisario-created programs, NCIS included. The tapes that Gibbs' wife and daughter sent to him while he was abroad serving in the Marine Corps, are similar to aspects of both JAG and Magnum P.I.. In these Bellisario-created programs the respective main characters Harmon Rabb and Thomas Magnum both received tapes from their fathers who were serving overseas and, like Gibbs, the main characters would listen to the tapes even after their loved ones had passed. The only difference in that NCIS' case is that it was Shannon and Kelly who sent tapes rather than Gibbs and this was simply done to reveal more about Gibbs' character. Edit
- GOOF: When Lt. Col. Mann is questioning Flynn and Flynn is shown through the glass we can hear Flynn saying "well that was then this is now" but her mouth is not moving. Edit
- TRIVIA: The Hebrew rap song Ziva listens to at the beginning of the episode is "Bela Belisima" by the Hadag Nachash. The song praises Bela Froind, an orthodox woman who stopped a public lynching of a terrorist on May 12th 1992. The Palestinian terrorist, Adnan Al-Afandi stabbed two Israeli teenagers in a market in Jerusalem, then the public attacked him. Froind laid on the body of the terrorist to prevent his murder until the police arrived. Edit
Notes
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- Original International Air Dates: Denmark: November 13, 2007 on TV3 Germany: March 16, 2008 on SAT 1 The Netherlands: March 26, 2008 on Veronica Sweden: March 30, 2008 on TV3 Australia: April 8, 2008 on TEN United Kingdom: June 1, 2008 on FX UK Italy: September 21, 2008 on RAI2 Spain: October 17, 2008 on La Sexta The Middle East: October 29, 2008 on MBC Action Hungary: December 8, 2008 on TV2 Finland: April 14, 2009 on Nelonen Slovakia: July 16, 2009 on Markiza Czech Republic: January 18, 2010 on TV Nova Edit
- The Elements Song from this episode is performed by comedian-musician Tom Lehrer. Edit
- The song Kelly played on the piano is Hush Little Baby Don't You Cry. Edit
Quotes
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- Tony: Crash and burn - only a matter of time. Ziva: What? Tony: Not a what, a whom. Colonel Mann, Gibbs, Army-Navy joint operation. Ziva: It could last a lifetime. Tony: Behind the torture techniques and the contract killing Ziva, you're really just a... (hesitates) Ziva: A whom? Tony: What? Whom? Not a whom, it's a... more... it's a what. Ziva: A what then? Tony: What then... aah, what? What then? Ziva: I'm still just a what? Rinnert: A girl. Edit
- Gibbs: (referring to a picture of Maj Sweigart with a spear gun, the murder weapon) You look pretty handy with that spear gun. Col Mann: Well, picture's worth a thousand words to a jury. Gibbs: Yeah. Or just one: guilty. Edit
- Tony: (to Rinnert) My acting boss says you're not going anywhere! Edit
Allusions
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- The title is a reference to the long running science fiction show, X-Files. Furthermore, Susanna Thompson (Lt. Col. Hollis Mann) was in the 1993 episode of the show, "Space," about the sabotage of NASA spacecraft by an alien entity. Edit
- Stephanie Flynn: We'll always have Moscow. This is an illusion to the famous line "We'll always have Paris" from the movie Casablanca. Edit
- Abby: ...Flesh-eating Foundation... Flesh-eating Foundation is an industrial goth band out of the UK that came together in the mid-90s. However, their debut album was just released in the summer of 2007. Edit