The upshot of this episode was that the military shouldn't discriminate against potential deaf personnel.

One such Marine was at the heart of NCIS Season 17 Episode 13.

And it was pretty clear where Gibbs and those around him came down on the subject.

Marine Staff Sergeant Diana Murphy had been serving her country despite having gone through a difficult few months.

First, Diana was robbed of her hearing after an experimental sonic weapon that misfired. The blast hit her while she working for the companyn that was experimenting with the weapon..

Even worse, the weapon was being handled by her then-boyfriend Daniel Backer.

Then she and Danny had to find ways for her to hide her disability, including her learning to read lips.

Finally, Danny's body was found amid an aerial-vehicle test site, right after the building he was in was reduced to rubble by a missile Diana fired because she couldn't hear the command to abort.

Because they had fought and broken up recently, Diana became the prime suspect in Danny's death, especially after she chose to run right after it happened.

So, yeah, she was having a bad stretch for sure.

Diana hadn't did herself any favors by disappearing. But it was clear pretty early on that she wasn't the guilty party.

Danny's cause of death was a gunshot wound, and his body was moved to where it was eventually found. So the missile didn't kill him.

But during Bishop's interrogation of Diana, it quickly became clear that something was off about her. She appeared to hesitate every time before answering Bishop's questions, which was throwing off Bishop's rhythm in a big way.

Of course, Gibbs figured out what was going on first, not getting a response from Diana until he was right in front of her, so she could read his lips.

Unfortunately, that also meant that Diana's time of military service was about to end with a medical discharge, which was a shame because she was proud to serve as a Marine.

She wasn't letting her disability slow her down. Her coworkers had been unaware that she had gone deaf. She could even read lips from a reflection on a metallic surface.

Diana could have continued to do the work she was doing with only the slightest accommodation, with anyone issuing a command to her moving into her line of sight.

As Bishop and Kasie discussed, other nations allow deaf people to serve in their militaries. Kasie was right to get angry about this waste of talent.

Anyway, with Kasie being ruled out as a suspect, the team had to start over by determining who else had cause to want Danny dead.

Diana vaguely remembered a stepbrother with a grudge against Danny. But, as Torres and McGee discovered, rocker Ronald didn't have the brains to pull off the sophisticated murder, plus he had an alibi, playing for seven people at a bar that night.

But he did let slip that Danny wouldn't let him use the recording studio at Danny's house any longer.

Going to Danny's house, McGee and Torres drive off an intruder that had been ransacking the place and found a couple of the sonic weapons that Danny had stolen inside the locked studio.

While Danny had been toted as a good guy, suspicion then fell over him.

Danny must be selling these prototypes, right?

Wrong. Instead, he was having one of his former professors test the weapon, to see if it's safe for military personnel to use in the field.

This meant Danny was a whistleblower whose reports about the weapon's deficiencies were being ignored.

The obvious candidate was Edison Geary, LANWAR's president, who had been bugging Vance to clear his company so that its military contracts could resume.

But while Geary was a corporate swine, he had an alibi and he was also selling his shares in the company to pay off his ex-wife.

This pointed back to the real murderer, the chief developer who suspiciously was participating in the testing on the day the missile incident occurred.

It was satisfying to watch Diana kick the crap out of him before NCIS could turn up to rescue her. Once again proving that she shouldn't have been given a medical discharge.

Gibbs and Vance did the right thing getting Diana a civilian position at another weapons developer essentially doing the same thing that Danny had been doing at LANWAR.

Now on to the Jimmy's-assistant storyline.

What was the point, other than comic relief?

How did the first two candidates, the indifferent millennial and the Criminal Minds unsub, ever get past HR? Being the kind soul that he is, Jimmy gave each the benefit of the doubt until finally dismissing them.

I did so want Christopher Crane, aka Ducky Jr., to work out. He was a natural fit.