Let me kick this review off by stating that as I’m typing it, a ladybug is resting on the wall across from me.
How’s that for signs? Thanks to NCIS: Origins Season 2 Episode 4 and Mama Franks’ pearls of wisdom, I’ll choose to believe it’s someone special and dearly departed saying hello.
However, the hour was special because it reunited the Franks brothers, and they were able to resolve some of their issues after being estranged for nearly two decades. Philip Winchester as Mason Franks? Sign us up!
Can Wanda Fight? If You Come for Mary Jo, You BEST Not Miss
But first, let’s get into FBI Wanda because who is this woman, and how dare she spread anything other than high praise for our girl Mary Jo?
Can you even imagine ANYONE having smoke for Mary Jo? She’s the glue that keeps NCIS: Origins together, the work wife, mother hen, an absolute queen among queens. And as far as hosting the unwelcome feds, she did a fine job.
Clearly, Wanda is just a hater, but she’ll get her comeuppance when that one annoying federal agent returns to his office and keeps talking about how Mary Jo provides the best cheese danishes in town. He recognized that Mary Jo is the best of the best.
I love the NCIS: Origins family because, as much as they bicker and tease each other, they also don’t play about one another and will go to war for each other.
Everyone also had beef with Wanda because she came at Mary Jo, which made me smile, including Gibbs, who offered to crack heads with all the earnestness of a Labrador puppy. Bless his heart.
It was a nice, amusing, yet heartwarming moment to emerge from this hour amid the case and the Franks family drama. But what can I say? I’m a sucker for any nods at found families, and for a series that is often mistaken for being “too dark,” I love when Origins reminds people of its humorous side as well.
Mary Jo Just Became the Keeper of Wheeler’s Secret — My Heart!
It’s a great follow-up to the incredible NCIS: Origins Season 2 Episode 3, which featured young Ducky bringing his particular brand of light to the office.
But as protective as everyone was about Mary Jo, it was her moment with Wheeler that made me smile the most. He’s not a natural when it comes to providing comfort or words of encouragement, but he took a moment to be truly vulnerable with Mary Jo and pour into her the way that she does with everyone else.
It mattered a bit more coming from him since he relies on her the most and often takes her for granted. I loved that he took a beat to grant her the recognition and truly “see” her for a change. And his story about his date seemed so out of place.
But, naturally, Origins circled back around to it by the end of the hour when Oakley heard Mary Jo singing Elton John’s “Daniel” and recited the same first date story verbatim. If anyone was the perfect person to learn Wheeler’s secret, it’s Mary Jo.
She’s a vault, and she’s such a compassionate, easygoing person — she has a way of seeing right through people and giving them what they need when they require it most.
The fact that Oakley inadvertently “outed” Wheeler and their relationship as he did is an interesting turn of events, and I wonder in what way the series will revisit that.
It has to, right?
After all, Origins does a spectacular job of reweaving in parts of its lore and stories in ways we never anticipate. For example, the bank robbery connected to Wade, the same man who didn’t save the poor young soldier during NCIS: Origins Season 2 Episode 2.
Leaving Men Behind
The case was an interesting one because, instead of the usual murderers, we had a bank robbery where a soldier’s wife sustained some gnarly head injury.
And one of the robbers kept calling Mike at home — in a move that reminds us again of the time period during which people had to endure such hardships.
Can you imagine someone contacting a federal agent at home now? It’s such a non-factor — and Mike having to stay there and wait for Wade to call him back was the real kicker.
It was a genuine surprise when the case fell into place and we learned that the reason the robber was reaching out to Mike was because it was Wade, and he still had Mike’s words echoing in his mind about leaving a man behind. They haunted him.
Despite the nature of the case and the FBI’s largely ineffective handling of it, what made things more interesting was how it impacted the characters’ experiences.
Mike’s Connection with the Case Works for His Personal Arc
Mike would live by the mantra — the very moral core of being a Marine — of “Leave no man behind.” Because in many ways, he knows what it feels like to be left behind.
Sadly, many Vietnam veterans know that feeling when they returned from war to a less than warm reception and were often left fending for themselves and struggling.
Mike was a prime example of that — someone who couldn’t necessarily cope with the ugliness of war, thus resulting in him becoming a full-blown addict.
It was actually shocking to see that he was in the middle of the Vietnam jungle, blitzed out of his mind. Mason’s frustrations with his brother were palpable, and it was easy to understand why he struggled to deal with Mike, to the point where he even kicked his brother off the family ranch until he got clean.
Terrible wigs aside, that particular moment between the Franks brothers was heartbreaking. Mike was not in good shape, and understandably, Mason didn’t want his mother dealing with the specific pain that comes with trying to help an addict when they’re not in a position to receive any help.
But we had the extra context when Mason shared that their mother was already sick at the time. It had been nearly 20 years since the brothers had last seen each other.
Mason showing up at Mike’s doorstep unannounced was tense, and we all were bracing for when they would have their real hashing out of things.
The Franks Brothers Reunion is Understated but Fitting
In true Mike fashion, he was already on the defensive from the moment Mason walked through the door. All he could think about was his brother kicking him out and not seeing him for who he is NOW as an accomplished crime fighter who kicked his habit years ago.
To Mike, Mason only hung on to how he was after he returned from war. The pain of letting his mother and brother down still lingered.
Still, once he finally had it out with Mason and broke down a bit (Kyle Schmid — I’m obsessed with his performance as Mike Franks and the layers he brings to such a prickly character), he exposed what was at the root of his anger toward his brother.
Mike was still hurting over the fact that Mason never told him their mother was sick and dying, and he never had the chance to say goodbye to her. And to his credit, it’s such a crappy thing for him to have experienced.
It didn’t matter if he was an addict at the time or a recovering one — he had a right to know. And no, I don’t think the onus falls on him to have noticed she was sick while he was still high.
The Franks Brothers’ Amends Suits Both of Their Natures
In Mason’s mind, Mike should’ve seen the signs then, and he maybe would have if he weren’t doing drugs.
The hour touches on the nuances of this situation, particularly during a time period where there wasn’t as much sympathy extended toward addicts, let alone acknowledgment that addiction is a disease rather than a personal, moral failing.
And they leave it dangling in a way that feels painfully realistic. Neither brother can change the past, but they can choose to move forward, and that’s what they do.
Sometimes, Olive Branches and forgiveness look like Mason acknowledging how proud he is of Mike now and giving him that special grace of stating that their mother would be proud too.
It’s not the goodbye Mike needed or wanted, but it’s some solace coming from the only other person who knew and loved their mother the same way. And that ladybug landing on one of the boots his brother gave him — it’s the sign he needed to solidify what his brother said.
As for Mason, Mike’s olive branch was setting him up with a new place to live, The Range, which fittingly gives him the lifestyle he needs after losing the family ranch for good. Mason is closer now, and he gets to be in an environment that suits his needs.
They don’t have to delve any further into him for us to know that he’s scarred and struggling as a veteran himself, battling his own demons. But he’s in a place that suits him, and the brothers are in the place they need to be regarding their relationship.
Lala’s TBI and PTSD Struggles Are Realistic
The running gag of no one else knowing Mike even had a brother was amusing, but I was surprised they didn’t make a bigger deal out of it when Lala and Gibbs actually met him in person.
Of course, Lala and Gibbs had their own issues as well.
For one, I love how Origins is handling Lala’s recuperation and PTSD. It’s quiet and ever-present, and it’s not just this one-off storyline. No, Lala is fundamentally changed after this incident, and they showcase that in big and small ways.
I love that she hasn’t gotten back to driving yet because it’s very realistic that after a traumatic accident like that, she’s afraid to get behind the wheel, even if she doesn’t voice that. And her freakout during the car chase was raw and realistic, too.
And Mike? I love that he outright told her she has to get back on the horse, but he didn’t judge her, nor did he expose her as the reason he didn’t catch Wade.
Lala and Mike have always had a fascinating dynamic. They’re often so contentious, but they’re also cut from a similar cloth — and while Mike doesn’t say it, you can sense that he feels closer to Lala than before the accident. He values her more, too.
Her taking the steps to get a new truck for herself was great, and then they used that as a means to explore the place of uncertainty that lies between her and Gibbs.
She still has strong feelings for him, but she has to keep them at bay. And he still cares deeply for her, but now, he’s retreated, too afraid of losing her. They both know this, but they can’t quite bring themselves to acknowledge it out loud.
Gibbs & Lala’s Dynamic is Forever Changed, But a Compelling Dance
It places them in fascinating territory as partners, friends, and maybe even each other’s “person,” but it’s hard to navigate the latter now because of what almost was and could have been, and Diane.
Their interactions are so charged sometimes because there is so much unsaid between the words that they actually do say to each other.
Diane is lovely. Lala knows it.
And Gibbs’ awkwardness in having these two women in the same place, combined with his uncertainty about how to introduce them to each other, as these two worlds collide, is fascinating. I love that in her own way, Lala calls him out on that.
The reality is that these two women in Gibbs’ life must coexist somehow. He can’t avoid it. But how will they move forward? That’s the question.
Over to you, NCIS: Origins Fanatics.
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