Would you support taking part of the United States Defense Department budget and allocating it to education?

At face value, that sounds like a plausible and harmless cause to believe in. In "Purity," that was one of the fundamental platforms of the group, Designing a New America (DNA). They supported better education and a safer America for their children. That would be a noble cause if they weren't attempting to pursue it through killing innocent people with cyanide. 

NCIS was called to investigate when a navy lieutenant was killed by cyanide in his water at a strip club. The investigation went through many twists, some better than others. One aspect that didn't link well for me was the connection between Lieutenant Gordon and Dominic Fryman. They had a beef with each other before Fryman left the Navy, but how did he know that the cyanide would kill Gordon? Was that just coincidence? Or, did I miss the connection both times I watched?

It was too obvious from Fryman's commitment to education and his statement that "my son was my calling" that he was involved with the DNA once they were revealed. Callen should have realized that. Plus, it was surprising that Nell and Eric didn't make a connection between Fryman and the rental guy, Cam. They were either brothers or brothers-in law, since Alex called Cam "Uncle." Though, I guess that Alex could have called him that because he was a close family friend too.

While some of the investigation seemed unusually sloppy for NCIS, there were some good leads generated too. They made the connection from the strip club poisoning to that at a neighborhood porno house. And, found out that a full barrel (and then five barrels) of cyanide were missing. They weren't dealing with small isolated kills, instead those were preparation for a larger terror attack.

The DNA set up the strip club janitor to take the fall for the poisoning there and at the vacant neighborhood house. If it wasn't for the handy traffic cams, the DNA may have gotten away with their plot. Nell and Eric are very skilled at finding and using surveillance cameras in their investigations. It's kinda scary to think about how many cameras are out there even if it's exaggerated for the show.

Callen infiltrated DNA by going undercover as a protester and setting up a fight with Sam the Naval Officer. His plan would have worked except Fryman knew he was an NCIS agent. To protect the plan, Fryman forced Callen to drink cyanide and locked him up so they could escape and continue with their plan. Since Callen had an antidote with him, he didn't die.

The saddest part of the DNA's plan and Fryman's involvement was that he was using his son to trigger the attack. If he truly wanted to protect his son and give him a better life, why would he have put the deaths of all those innocent people on his conscience? Even if the young Alex believed the rhetoric that only criminals would be killed, Fryman had to know better than that.

Callen was able to talk Alex out of releasing the cyanide into the water supply. And, the poor boy was not without a father or an uncle. He was now all alone. It was touching to see Callen stop by to play catch with Alex after his first night in foster care. If anyone could help Alex through this difficult time, it's Callen.

Odds and Ends

• Oh, right. I need to do my taxes still. I'm a Kensi. A tax filing procrastinator. Though, Deeks had some good points about deductions. Don't fill out an EZ, just because it's easier. Take all legal deductions. Stress "legal" or Hetty may send a fake IRS man to scare you with $100,000 in fines.
• Deeks' explanations for his deductions were hilarious. Jump in a dumpster, get clothes dirty, deductible. Rent a heist movie for research, deductible.
• Deeks: I was attacked by a hell hound. | permalink And, then he called his pants ... pantaloons!
• The janitor had a valid point. Deeks doesn't look like a law enforcement officer. After being subjected to multiple hate crimes, I'd probably run too. 
• The old neighbor talking about the porn house was pretty funny.
• Nice fight between Sam and Callen. Who got the better shot in?
• "Drastic problems require drastic solutions." -- What a horrible lesson that Fryman taught his son.

Carla Day is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter and on Google+.