For the past two episodes NCIS, while always superb, has felt like it's delaying the inevitable. Ziva was there, yet only in body, not in spirit. Her mind was somewhere else.

This disconnect was even more pronounced by the fact that she was applying for a position as an NCIS agent, but stuck at a desk. She's at NCIS HQ, but she is not one of them.

That all changed last night.

The 20,000-ton elephant in the room - the cargo ship that brought Ziva to (and went down off) the Horn of Africa, was recovered, as was a dead marine who was on board.

How was Ziva connected to the marine's death? What really happened on board the ill-fated vessel? How will her Mossad team leader's arrival impact the investigation?

Will the real story help her earn the trust NCIS needs - or doom her application?

Find out in our full episode recap of "Good Cop, Bad Cop."

Here are some of our favorite NCIS quotes from last night ...

Tony: What's with the sushi bar?
Ducky: Staff Sargeant Cryer's body was not alone on its considerable time adrift.
Tony: Yum.
Ducky: That's probably what they said when they were feeding on his flesh. | permalink

Tony: Why do you find it so hard to believe that I could hack that sucker out?
Ziva: You cannot even work your email properly! You always reply to "ALL" - it drives me absolutely nuts! You know, when it comes to computers, you are almost as incompetent as Gibbs... (She freezes)
Tony: Ha! You thought Gibbs was behind you! You know why? Because sneaky people expect sneakiness - it's a vicious circle. | permalink

Tony: It's like Alien. The Ridley Scott classic, the creepy one.
McGee: As opposed to the non-creepy ones? | permalink

Ziva: I never intended to live through it.
Gibbs: You didn't. That part of you died out there. | permalink

Vance: Bad cop?
Gibbs: You've been playing good cop all this time? | permalink

Gibbs: You're superstitious?
Vance: I'm a little stitious. | permalink

Steve Marsi is the Managing Editor of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Google+ or email him here.