SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers for NCIS: Origins Season 2, Episode 7.

Even when NCIS: Origins tries to do predictable, it stands out amongst other procedurals. The CBS show seems like it’s going down a few very familiar routes in “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” and then it delivers a much deeper result. There are some flaws in Season 2, Episode 7, but the creative team gets the most important things right.

This is primarily a Cliff Wheeler episode—and it’s the episode viewers have been waiting for. Wheeler is often used for comic relief, but when the series uses him dramatically, he’s a surprisingly deep character. It’s a credit to actor Patrick Fischler, who can easily switch off the anxious bureaucrat character type to reveal Wheeler’s vulnerabilities. And this episode makes those very clear up front through Gibbs’ narration. It’s so painful to watch Wheeler being invisible in his own life—because it’s a feeling that so many people can relate to. Viewers understand, even if only in a brief montage, why Wheeler began his affair with Noah Oakley in the first place. (Which in turn makes the end of this episode even more bittersweet, but we’ll get to that.)

The case of the week is designed to support Wheeler’s personal leap across the chasm, as his wife Shelly officially files for divorce, which he takes understandably hard. One of the great scenes in the episode is a brief conversation between Wheeler and Shelly, in which she tries to tell him that their split is “not the end of the world.” Another show could have made this a fight full of vitriol for dramatic purposes, or made it all about the infidelity. In NCIS: Origins, neither of those things happen; it’s just an honest moment between two people going through one of the hardest things two people can do.

What appears to be a prototypical murder investigation—surely the young female officer was having an affair with and/or killed by her male superior—turns out to hold a mirror up to Wheeler’s life. The truth is that Lance Corporal Natasha Horvat was killed by another man after she rejected his advances, and her supervisor, Lieutenant Colonel Casey Montgomery, is also in the closet. Wheeler brashly decides to report Montgomery, and then backs away from the idea after a very stern talking-to from Mary Jo Hayes. In facing Montgomery, Wheeler also has to face himself. The final few minutes of the episode pull hard at the heartstrings, from Wheeler recommending Oakley for a major position in Washington—pushing away the person he truly loves—to apologizing to Mary Jo and finding his safe place in her.

NCIS: Origins isn’t perfect in its handling of the story. Natasha’s killer offers up a full confession off-camera, which feels like a too-neat way to finish the plot, but that’s understandable as it gives the writers more time to focus on the conclusion of Wheeler’s arc. The side characters of the “cougar crazies” add very little to the story, even when one of them shows up at the NIS office and has a psychiatric break. What stands out the most is that aside from Mary Jo and Mike Franks, nobody expresses a ton of concern about Wheeler, even after his own public outburst. He may not be Mr. Congeniality, but that’s a huge red flag.

Particularly, it’s a big missed opportunity that Franks opens up to Wheeler about his breakup with Tish, only for that moment to end on a joke (that Wheeler didn’t even know Tish had left). That scene could have been so much more, especially given that Franks doesn’t open up often, and all of that potential gets wasted. The flip side of that is that if everyone tried to support Wheeler, then the moments he has with Mary Jo would not stand out as much. So the mistakes NCIS: Origins makes are largely forgiveable.

And the bottom line is that this episode features incredible work from both Fischler and Tyla Abercrumbie. The dynamic between Wheeler and Mary Jo doesn’t get as much love as it deserves; these two actors play so well off each other. In “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” they go from arguing vehemently to a quiet bar scene in which Wheeler apologizes and Mary Jo says everything he needs to hear. The relationship between them is so equal, if not in title than certainly in how they see each other. If the writers have to make a few tweaks in order to allow this friendship to have the major moments both of those characters deserve, that’s a perfectly fine trade-off.

NCIS: Origins Season 2, Episode 7 also features subplots about the friendship between Lala Dominguez and Vera Strickland, and a budding one between Diane Sterling and Junie Randolf. Both of those stories are fine and get their proper resolution. But this is and should be a Cliff Wheeler hour; what he’s going through is too important for both him and the series as a whole to not be an A-story. Viewers have known for weeks that Wheeler’s personal life was going to become public, and the NCIS: Origins creative team handles that almost perfectly, treating it with dignity—even as Wheeler’s heart breaks and the audience’s hearts break for him.

NCIS: Origins airs Tuesdays at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on CBS. Photo Credit: Courtesy of CBS.

Article content is (c)2020-2025 Brittany Frederick and may not be excerpted or reproduced without express written permission by the author. Follow me on Twitter at @BFTVTwtr and on Instagram at @BFTVGram. For story pitches, contact me at tvbrittanyf@yahoo.com.