TV.com

NCIS Season 5 Episode 12

Stakeout

Favorite

Watched It I've Watched This 4

Next
Episode Previous
Episode

9.0

User Rating

301 votes

Your Rating: 10
Your Rating: 9.5
Your Rating: 9
Your Rating: 8.5
Your Rating: 8
Your Rating: 7.5
Your Rating: 7
Your Rating: 6.5
Your Rating: 6
Your Rating: 5.5
Your Rating: 5
Your Rating: 4.5
Your Rating: 4
Your Rating: 3.5
Your Rating: 3
Your Rating: 2.5
Your Rating: 2
Your Rating: 1.5
Your Rating: 1

Rate Now

EPISODE REVIEWS
By TV.com Users

Write A Review

Episode Summary

EDIT

AIRED: 4/8/08

The NCIS team goes on a stakeout in a warehouse to catch a suspected thief of a high-tech naval radar, but they accidentally end up witnessing a murder. Meanwhile, Ducky hides a secret from the rest of the team.

Fan Episode Reviews (19)

Funny Episode

10

By soonerlo, Feb 05, 2012

I really liked the beginning of this one. I was really hoping for a knockdown drag out match between DiNozzo and McGee, but they just froze the scene. grrrr that would have been cool to see. The prank gag throughout the episode is what stands in my mind. DiNozzos black eyes and then Ziva's fear of repercussions. Having Jardin in this episode was cool too because I really liked her, and Tony using her to scare Ziva was hilarious.

I usually don't try to figure out who dun it, but this one was kind of obvious from the beginning. I didn't really like the bad guy in this one, but I guess your not supposed to. I did like the drug addict though cuz he seemed to want to get away from it. I thought he was gonna shoot Tony there for a second. *whew* I like this new girl in Metro PD, I hope we see her again. Dinozzo's facination with her case was interesting though, He's never really shown interest in outside cases before, but I guess he explained it well enough with the whole "feeling guilty cuz I could have done something" bit. Then the part at the end with Ducky. . . . Hmmmm whats going on there? Is the Director sick, or did she find her Father and now he is sick? I am glad to hear that it wasn't Ducky, cuz I couldn't have handled that. I guess I'll have to wait and find out.moreless
DO YOU AGREE?
3 0

Flag
Share Hide
One of my favorite episodes, and I am hard to please.

9.5

By chipee, Aug 04, 2011

One of my favorite episodes, and I am hard to please.

***spoilers***

A good episode and done in typical NCIS fashion. I liked the way the plot moved along, adding new details as it progressed: First we have McGee walking down the street amidst drug dealers and hookers. Then we learn that he is part of a stakeout observing the storage place across the street. Then we learn that NCIS received an an anonymous tip that the stolen radar was there. It becomes more ominous when we learn that the radar is vital for national defense. Meanwhile, NCIS is trying to trace the cellphone that gave the tip and the fudged fingerprints on the storage rental agreement. Meanwhile, Rowe is killed near the storage place in what looks like an unrelated drug deal gone bad. But, by chance, the young girl, whose borrowed cellphone was used to forward the tip, recognizes the picture of Rowe on an NCIS monitor as the one who used her cellphone. Rowe's financial transactions lead to his selling short the stock in the radar company, and his connection to the head of the radar company is established, which is the next to last nail in the case! Wow!

It is also a typical NCIS episode in that what starts out looking like foreign espionage or high-level stealing of defense secrets, turns out to be a fairly low-level personal crime -- here, manipulating a stock price when selling short.

It might have been easy to GUESS that the radar-manufacturer was a bad guy, but it was impossible to guess that the main crime was done by Rowe, a man hired by the manufacturer to steal his own radar machine because it was defective and thus he couldn't fulfill a Navy contract on time, and then Rowe double-crosses the manufacturer by anonymously emailing NCIS that the defective "stolen" radar is in a particular storage place and --at the same time-- selling short the stock in the radar manufacturing company. Wow!

Inter-spaced in the story is wonderful banter and practical jokes between Tony, Ziva and McGee. It is interesting that Ziva had nothing to do with solving the crime, but her magnetic presence shines throughout the episode. I loved the scene when she calls a "John" (slang for the customer of a prostitute) a "Jack" by mistake. Tony, correcting her slang, says "John." Ziva replies, wide-eyed, "Oh, you know him?" ... There is also a good interaction between Tony and the female detective on the murder case.

One small criticism is that throughout the episode Gibbs remains remarkably relaxed and casual after the radar, which he has been treating as bait, is stolen -- radar that is crucial to our naval defenses. This is something that could ruin his career. (The one exception is that he is angry/upset right after McGee announces that the storage space is found empty.)moreless
DO YOU AGREE?
0 0

Flag
Share Hide
Minor improvement over the previous episode, but still a very uninteresting one, in my opinion. They could've done much more with this concept.

9.0

By amazing_race, Feb 14, 2010

I did enjoy some of the 'stakeout' episodes from previous seasons, such as the one where Tony ends up dating a male disguised as a female, but this one was quite mediocre, when comparing it to that episode.

There were some good moments in the episode, and it had a fairly unpredictable outcome, but it was quite soft, overall.

I also thought that this episode improved in terms of the humour, with some interesting moments, such as DiNozzo with black eyes!

The end is superb though, and it is a great suspenseful ending. I can't wait to watch the next one!

Overall, I would recommend this episode fairly highly. I don't find it to be great, but it had some interesting aspects, and the ending may be critical in future episodes, so for that reason, I think it is a must see.moreless
DO YOU AGREE?
2 0

Flag
Share Hide
i dont remember much about the episode, but i remember video replaying on a loop and gibbs headslapping. lol

10

By AdelinaDucky, Mar 07, 2009

i love this episode b/c it is the very first episode of ncis that i ever watched. it was a while ago, i remember something about a security video being replayed on a loop, tony and ziva playing pratical jokes on each other, my sister being sad b/c abby, her favorite character wasn't in it much, liking ducky on as soon as i saw him, lets see... oh! i remember recognizing mark harmon from another movie i saw, and i remember falling in love with this show. anyways, NCIS rocks my fluffy socks, best show ever, hope they have many many many seasons to come.moreless
DO YOU AGREE?
3 1

Flag
Share Hide
They are working a tag-team stakeout and inadvertently witness a murder. Ducky keeps a secret.

8.0

By bondgirl42, Mar 03, 2009

I liked this episode. I especially like all the references to the Richard Dreyfuss and Emilio Estevez 1987 movie of the same name. The stakeout at the beginning. They are cold and complaining just like the cops were in the movie. The black stuff on the binoculars is a direct pull from the movie. And just all the practical jokes in general. When Ziva's chair fell apart, we laughed out loud. It was an unexpected very funny moment. I'm surprised they didn't have Tony make a reference to the movie. That was a big oversight by the writes, wasn't it?moreless
DO YOU AGREE?
1 0

Flag
Share Hide

See All Fan Reviews

Cast & Crew: STARS

EDIT

Mark Harmon	Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs
Michael Weatherly	Special Agent Tony DiNozzo
Cote de Pablo	Mossad Agent Ziva David
Pauley Perrette	Forensics Specialist Abby Sciuto
Sean Murray (I)	Special Agent Tim McGee
David McCallum	Chief M.E. Ducky Mallard

See All Cast & Crew

Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

EDIT

Susan Kelechi Watson	NCIS Intel Analyst Nikki Jardin	Guest Star
Gretchen Egolf	Det. Andrea Sparr	Guest Star
Reggie Lee	Jonathan Chow	Guest Star
Brian Dietzen	Asst. M.E. Jimmy Palmer	Recurring Role

See All Cast & Crew

Watch Online

Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

FILTER BY TYPE

TRIVIA (4)
ADD TRIVIA
- GOOF: At the beginning we see Palmer pull the collar away to show the bullet hole which is touching the base of the next. However, when we see the body entering the MRI later in the show on the computer monitor, the bullet hole appears to be MUCH lower closer to the chest.
  EDIT SHARE
- TRIVIA: Capt. Pullman said that the Zumwalt-class destroyer was scheduled to begin sea trials in a month. However, the contract for building the two ships in the class were awarded on Feb. 14, 2008. They are not scheduled for delivery until June 2013.
  EDIT SHARE
- GOOF: During a routine blood check a technician can identify whether the blood came from male or female patient. When Abby came back to Ducky with the results she asked where was the body of John Doe, but she already had to know that it was a female's blood. So why didn't she ask where was the Jane Doe?
  EDIT SHARE
- TRIVIA: The Jane Doe blood test that Abby did was positive for Creatine Kinase and it was alluded that the blood was actually Jenny's. Ducky was also looking at mystery brain scans. There are three types of CK tests- elevation of CK-I is seen in stroke, extreme shock, and brain tumor patients. Elevated CK-II is seen after heart attacks. And, elevated CK-III indicates muscle/skeletal damage.
  EDIT SHARE
QUOTES (14)
ADD QUOTES
- (Tony discovers that he is all black around the eyes after looking through the binoculars)
  Tony: You're a dead man, McGee.
  McGee: Don't look at me, Raccoon Boy - it was Ziva.
  EDIT SHARE
- Cpt. Pullman: I'd like to help you here, Gibbs. That ship is due to start sea trials next month.
  Gibbs: It gets delayed, SecNav will have my ass.
  Cpt. Pullman: They'll want a much higher price than that.
  EDIT SHARE
- Gibbs: Where is DiNozzo?
  Ziva: He is... um... He is... He is running an errand.
  Gibbs: Never cover for me, David.
  EDIT SHARE
- Jardin (To Ziva): Would Tony really do something to your food?
  Gibbs: Oh yes.
  EDIT SHARE
- Jardin: Ziva.
  Ziva: Yeah.
  Jardin: I don't know if I should say anything or not but I saw Tony putting something under your car.
  Ziva: What? When?
  Jardin: What, I don't know. When, this morning.
  Ziva: Hah, I told you... I told you he could not be trusted!
  (Ziva runs to her car)
  McGee: Was Tony really messing with her car?
  Jardin: No. Tony just told me to tell Ziva that when I saw her.
  EDIT SHARE
- Ziva: Do you trust DiNozzo?
  McGee: Point well taken.
  EDIT SHARE
- Tony: This is crazy. I'm taking photos of an empty room.
  EDIT SHARE
- Tony: (talking about Gibbs) I've seen him make a 300 pound drill instructor cry.
  EDIT SHARE
- Ziva: The jack she is with is gross.
  Tony: You mean John.
  Ziva: You know him?
  Tony: Oh my God...
  EDIT SHARE
- Ziva (looking at Gibbs): I wouldn't want to be Gibbs right now.
  Tony (starring at McGee): I wouldn't want to be McGee any day.
  EDIT SHARE
- Ducky: Is the stakeout over?
  Tony: I wish. It's worse than watching five day cricket match.
  Ducky: Careful, young man.
  EDIT SHARE
- Ziva: Your goose is fried.
  Tony: Cooked. And no it's not. Only a minute late.
  EDIT SHARE
- Ziva: Do you think prostitutes get bored... I mean, the same work day in, day out, day in, day out?
  EDIT SHARE
- Tony: What did I miss?
  Ziva: Goldilocks hooked up with Papa Bear, and they found a bed that is just right. Personally, I think she could do better.
  EDIT SHARE
NOTES (3)
ADD NOTES
- Paramore's song "Crushcrushcrush" played as Chow walked in to meet Dennis in the bar.
  EDIT SHARE
- Original International Airdates:
  Denmark: April 15, 2008 on TV3
  The Netherlands: May 28 on Veronica
  Sweden: June 8, 2008 on TV3
  Australia: June 10, 2008 on TEN
  United Kingdom: August 3, 2008 on FX UK
  New Zealand: August 31, 2008 on TV 3
  Germany: August 31, 2008 on SAT 1
  Italy: November 09, 2008 on RAI 2
  Spain: December 5, 2008 on La Sexta
  Norway: January 6, 2009 on TV3
  Hungary: March 16, 2009 on TV2
  Slovakia: September 17, 2009 on Markiza
  Finland: November 17, 2009 on Nelonen
  Czech Republic: March 22, 2010 on TV Nova
  EDIT SHARE
- Lauren Holly is credited but doesn't appear.
  EDIT SHARE
ALLUSIONS (2)
ADD ALLUSIONS
- In the opening stake out scene DiNozzo says "It feels like we've been stuck here for months doing nothing." This is the first NCIS episode following the US writers strike which halted production of new episodes of shows for several months.
  EDIT SHARE
- Ziva: Goldilocks hooked up with Papa Bear, and they found a bed that is just right. Personally, I think she could do better.
  
  This is an allusion to the children's bedtime story Goldilocks and the Three Bears written by Robert Southey in 1837.
  EDIT SHARE