On the last episode of NCIS, there appeared to be a switch up in the episode order since it seemed like Clayton Reeves had just joined the team. Confusion aside, there was a lot happening in this episode so let’s get to it!
Congresswoman Jenna Fleming is seen duck hunting with two possible donors for her campaign. Her aide, Max Sanders, informs her they have a meeting to go to and as they go to the car, they are stunned to find a dead rat in her vehicle with threatening words on a note.
In the bullpen, Ellie is complaining about her broken refrigerator, much to Torres and Alex’s annoyance. When she mentions being hungry, Clayton Reeves pops up to give her a box of chips. He has arrived to work at the International desk of NCIS.
The team is called to the scene where they are investigating the threat on the congresswoman. However, she has already left but Max tells them she has been getting threatening messages. He gives Tim a list of names of individuals who have repeatedly threatened her.
Jenna tells Vance she can take care of herself and does not want protection. However, he overrides her as Gibbs arrives.
The team discusses Jenna’s politics but as it gets further, Tim reminds them to keep politics out of the workplace. They discuss possible leads, including one online individual who called Jenna a “gutless rat.”
Down in autopsy, Jimmy and Ducky discuss their rat before looking at it for autopsy. But instead, they find the rat has already had its internal organs removed.
Tim tells Torres about how he was able to find the user, Amy Barrett, by tracking her avatar. He then talks to Torres about his alpha male competition with Reeves before they spot Amy with her driving instructor. When she sees them, she tries to back away but the instructor stops the car as Tim identifies himself.
In interrogation with her mother, Amy is defiant about her use in fighting opposing political views but tells the team she did not threaten the congresswoman.
Vance goes to talk to Jenna about protection again but she is still adamant, even when he gives her a photo that was found online of her front door. He gets a phone call and they go to a motel where her aide, Max Sanders, is found dead in the pool.
Tim and Ellie look over the body as they gather evidence. Ellie finds questionable items that were in the pool, including the victim’s cell phone. Torres and Gibbs find a woman who tells them she heard arguing before she noticed a red car peel out of the parking lot.
Back at work, Alex spots a case file on Clayton’s desk called Willoughby. When he arrives, they discuss the case as she is waiting for the victim’s girlfriend, Laurie, to arrive.
Laurie comes to the office and Alex questions her about Max. He was working on a project for Jenna before he died.
Jenna tells Vance the project was about the possible closure of Brighton Naval Base. She was leaning toward closure based on research he did. His source for his work was Jed Hamilton, Brighton’s mayor. Gibbs later learns from Ellie that he drives a red Cadillac.
Having finished the autopsy, Ducky and Jimmy tell Gibbs that Max suffered a head injury one hour before he drowned in the pool. Meanwhile, Alex and Ellie search Hamilton’s garage and find bags of dead rats in a cooler.
Clayton is visiting with Abby as she talks to him about the case. He and Torres both have Caf-Pows for her. Abby informs them the rats came from a testing lab in Brighton.
Gibbs and Torres go to the lab to meet with Carlton Layner. They learn that Jed discovered the base would likely be closed, which he was angry about since Brighton wasn’t suffering issues with growth. He had asked for the rats but Layner says he did not know anything about the murder.
Tim tells the team that the research found there was growth in Brighton. Alex then asks Gibbs about Clayton having the Operation Willoughby case file since agents stopped recruiting for it when no on signed up. He doesn’t say much.
After having mentioned to Vance he knew nothing about personal loss, Jenna apologizes since she had forgotten about his wife being killed. Vance accepts her apology and she tells him that he is well liked by people on the Hill. She tells him she doesn’t mind the protection but she would like different agents.
Torres and Reeves discuss having a fight to determine who is the strongest when Vance interrupts with Jenna. They take her home where they end up spotting Hamilton outside her door. He is taken back to NCIS where he admits to the threats and having talked to Max, but he did not kill him. Ellie confirms that he was at a strip club at the time of the murder.
Hamilton is being prepared to be charged with the threats, but he is not the killer. The team finds that Drax Commercial Properties has billions on housing in Brighton that could crumble if the base closes. However, no deals have been finalized so they wouldn’t lose anything. However, the realtor for the properties would lose commission. They discover the realtor is Laurie, Max’s girlfriend.
Jenna confronts Laurie about being involved in Max’s death, which ends up overplaying the only card Vance had in getting a confession.
Abby and Tim work in the lab to find a connection to tie Laurie to the murder. Having finally been able to analyze the waterlogged cell phone, Abby finds data on an app on Self Love, a program Max used for health bars he would eat and take photos of.
Max took a photo of one of the wrappers near the time of his death and in the photo, Laurie’s distinctive nail polish is visible. They deduce she had confronted him about the base closure. Laurie claims that while she did hit him, she didn’t mean to kill him.
Reeves arrives to work later wearing Torres’ shirt since his own clothes have not arrived yet. Everoyne teases him about a bromance with Torres. Alex asks him about the Willoughby Operation, to which he claims to have his reasons for signing up.
In his office, Jenna and Vance discuss the domestic violence organization his wife ran that still did not have a chair. While she can’t personally sit on the chair, she knows friends who would work. They end up agreeing to have a dinner date.