NCIS: Origins answered the long-standing question of who the real Sandman was after the death of Bugs, their original suspect, who was killed after it was revealed he was innocent of the murders that put him behind bars. Who was the sniper and how was Gibbs connected to him?
In addition to the episode, we also learned more about Wheeler, who was having family problems involving his son, Jack. After getting upset with his dad for not allowing him to get concert tickets after desecrating a cemetery, Jack got mad and hit the television with a fire poker before hitting his dad in the hand.
Wheeler had a hand injury the whole time while also dealing with work. He was in trouble with his command for shutting down the Sandman case too early. Plus, with Gibbs having seen information about Operation Sundown in the shredded documents pile, it was clear something important got misplaced.
Gibbs manages to put the pieces together
Plus, the Regional Director was angry over the fact that someone bugged the NIS office without being caught.
Through the investigation, they learned Bugs and his partner had original been assigned to protect the family of Ahmad Safar, who was an asset for the CIA. They received this information from Agent Noah Oakley, whom Wheeler trusted. Operation Sundown was the name of the pp and the protection detail came from Flintpoint Security, which is where Bugs worked.
Safar had information to give the Americans in regards to the Gulf War, but insurgents murdered the family after one of the men on the detail, Rayburn, pulled out in order to stop oil fields from being destroyed. This meant the family was no longer protected and this led to their deaths. Sandman was going after those he felt responsible for the murders.
Gibbs had been going over the interviews Bugs did with Vera when he heard a phrase he learned from Luke Fletcher, who led his veteran’s support group meetings. He realized Fletcher was Sandman and went to confront him. He had come to see Gibbs at NIS and Gibbs figured this was when he planted the listening devices.
Wheeler was put on indefinite suspension
In a battle against Fletcher after confronting him, Gibbs stabbed him in order to defend himself. Afterwards, LaLa stayed with him to make sure he didn’t have a bad concussion and was okay to sleep through the night.
This entire ordeal led Wheeler to admit to the Regional Director the mistakes he made in an effort to be a better man, not just for himself, but for his family. This did mean he was put on indefinite suspension.
There was also a hint that his relationship with FBI Agent Oakley was more than it seemed, but it was only hinted at. There’s so much more to learn about Wheeler in addition to the rest of the team, but with the season finale coming up, we may have to wait for season 2.
Being the penultimate episode until the season finale, this was a great episode of NCIS: Origins that allowed us to get a look into another new character we got to meet from Gibbs’s previous team. The next episode to air will be the season finale on Monday, April 28 at 10/9c.