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NCIS Season 9 Episode 5

Safe Harbor

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AIRED: Oct 18, 2011

8.2

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Episode Summary

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While investigating the murder of a coast guard officer aboard an abandoned cargo vessel, the NCIS team finds a Lebanese family seeking refuge in the US. Meanwhile, Tony and McGee attempt to find the perfect woman for Gibbs.

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Fan Episode Reviews (10)

Safe Harbor

9.0

By anthonyshekell, Jul 17, 2012

This episode was very different. I havent seen anything like this on NCIS ever. The storyline was great, I loved Ziva, and how the Mother and her had something in common. It was nice to see Agent Borin again, I really like her character and hope we'll be seeing more of her. The hinting of how her and Gibbs should date was a good touch to this episode. NCIS has never done an episode with immigration, and I thought that was something cool about this episode. I couldnt even predict how it would end. I gave this episode a 9.0. It got an 8.2, thats okay. But I feel NCIS did better.moreless
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Liked this episode.

10

By MissJess, May 26, 2012

It was interesting to see Ziva talking to the mother. And the bit with Ziva and Gibbs was so sweet. "You're never alone when you have kids. Night kid" :)
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Safe Harbor

6.0

By thefanof, Feb 08, 2012

NCIS tried to do a Flashpoint style episode here with a crisis at the end, and a talk needed to get the guy to not utilize the bomb. I'm fine with that, I like this show, and I like that show, but this was just not a particularly strong show. Didn't care about the woman for Gibbs, or even the case tonight. Mediocre at best is what "Safe Harbor" was.
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This mediocre by-the-book episode is another sign that my favorite show is imploding. Of the five episodes so far shown of season #9, the only one I liked was ep. #4 "Enemy on the Hill."moreless

5.0

By chipee, Nov 25, 2011

About "Safe harbor," nice touches were (1) the presence of CGIS Special Agent Abigail Borin (though she wasn't given much to do), (2) the search for a woman for Gibbs, but nothing much came of it; and (3) Gibbs' telling Ziva he wasn't lonely because he had a family in the NCIS team and kissed Ziva's forehead as his "kid".I didn't like these tired by-the-numbers things, which are repeated in too many episodes, and give new meaning to the word "procedural:"(1) I like the characters of Abby and Ducky, but I am getting tired of their making bizarre forensic discoveries that solve the cases in practically every episode. Why not a simple killing that needs no scientist to understand? Here, Abby smells ancient gun powder.(2) We get another spectacular/monstrous or high-level threat or breach. Here, they are planning to blow up half of Norfolk Harbor (in a really convoluted plan). We need more simple personal crimes.(3) Of the four suspects, it always ends up being the most unlikely one as the culprit. Always red herrings.(4) In too many to count episodes, the team saves the day by conveniently descending on the culprits at the last second before they can do their dastardly deed, like shooting someone. Here, the culprit is about to put two wires together to blow up the harbor. And why not kill him when they get the chance; instead they rely on the mother convincing the guy to relent!But the worst part of the ep was the maudlin, politically correct dialogue between Ziva and Mariam, every word accompanied by ponderous loud music (if you could call it that) -- conversations about mothers' duty, family, freedom, maternal instinct, proud parents, murdered cherished relatives, etc. I wouldn't have been surprised if Mariam had adopted Ziva at the end.As mentioned in another review, it is so unbelievable that that family of 4 could alone navigate that huge ship through the Mediterranean Sea and the Strait of Gibraltar, and across the Atlantic Ocean to Norfolk Harbor.Finally, I was turned off the way they handled the interaction between Gibbs, Vance and the Secretary of the Navy. I had trouble following the dialogue between them, and felt Gibbs was too insubordinate to the SecNav.The funniest line in the episode was when the snarly "lady" lawyer referred to the SecNav as Vance's subordinate.moreless
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Not one of the better episodes.

4.0

By oregonview, Nov 25, 2011

The premise of this episode was a Lebanese Muslim family that was seeking refugee asylum in the USA because of persecution in Lebanon. This is a politically correct distortion of the reality in Lebanon, where Muslims are in the majority, Hezbollah is in control, and Christians are the ones in most danger. It follows the politically correct episode a few seasons ago in which Ducky refused to perform a standard autopsy on a Muslim out of respect for the religious beliefs of the family (so he performed a "virtual" autopsy).

The episode ends (SPOILER ALERT) with the bad guy turning out to be, predictably, the youngest son who had appeared to be the most reasonable one in the family. And (SPOILER ALERT) the CSI agents stand there, guns in hand pointed at the youngest son, with the son having two lead wires one inch apart. If the son touches the wires together, the ship, several other ships in the harbor, and hundreds/thousands of innocents would be killed. But the agents stand there while Mom talks calmly to the boy. There's no way the agents could have stopped him if he had decided to touch the wires together. They should have shot him but Mom talks the kid out of killing thousands and everyone lives happily ever after. I'm a big fan, but this this was one of the worst episodes ever for NCIS.

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Cast & Crew: STARS

EDIT

Mark Harmon	Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs
Michael Weatherly	Special Agent Tony DiNozzo
Cote de Pablo	Special Agent Ziva David
Pauley Perrette	Forensics Specialist Abby Sciuto
Sean Murray (I)	Special Agent Tim McGee
Rocky Carroll	Director Leon Vance

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

EDIT

Shohreh Aghdashloo	Mariam Bawali	Guest Star
Diane Neal	CGIS Special Agent Abigail Borin	Guest Star
David Diaan	Farid Bawali	Guest Star
Matt Craven	Secretary of the Navy Clayton Jarvis	Recurring Role

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Episode Photos

Cote de Pablo and Shohreh Aghdashloo on ...

© 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc
Mark Harmon on NCIS from "Safe Harbor"

© 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc
Michael Weatherly on NCIS from "Safe Har...

© 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc
Michael Weatherly, Cote de Pablo and Dia...

© 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (0)
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QUOTES (5)
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- Gibbs: Ziva... Sometimes people do the wrong things for the right reasons.
  Ziva: People always think their own reasons are right. Especially parents.
  Gibbs: Yeah, they got perspective.
  Ziva: Parents still make mistakes.
  Gibbs: Yeah.
  Ziva: My... mother... never told me what kind of a... man my father was. Perhaps she thought I was not strong enough to handle it.
  Gibbs: Nah, she was just being a mom.
  Ziva: How do you know?
  Gibbs: Perspective.
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- Ziva: Are you lonely, Gibbs?
  Gibbs: You're never alone when you have kids. (kisses her on the forehead) Night, kid.
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- Farid Bawali: I realize Muslim refugees do not get a great deal of sympathy in your country.
  Gibbs: That's not true. We take everybody. We just have rules about how they get here.
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- Tony: Ducky, what do you think? Gibbs and Borin? Date mate material?
  Ducky: Well, given their combined work ethics, they'd probably never see each other. Which could be a recipe for the world's shortest courtship, or extreme longevity.
  Tony: So nobody's with me on team Bibbs?
  Agent Borin: No.
  Tony: We can change the name.
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- Tony: I think Gibbs and Borin would make a great couple. Just think of all the fun they'd have giving each other head slaps.
  Ziva: Well, head slaps are not very romantic, Tony.
  Tony: They can be. In the right context.
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NOTES (1)
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- Original International Air Dates:
  Canada: October 18, 2011 on Global
  Australia: October 25, 2011 on Channel Ten
  Sweden: November 14, 2011 on TV3
  Finland: January 31, 2012 on Nelonen
  United Kingdom: February 10, 2012 on FX/FX HD
  Germany: February 19, 2012 on SAT 1
  Slovakia: August 15, 2012 on Markiza
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