NCIS season 23, episode 4 dove into the disappearance of Sergeant Molly Delgado, who was abducted after going on a run. During the investigation, they found an interesting piece of evidence that linked back to a pivotal moment in history.
After searching Delgado’s car, McGee and Torres found a pistol that looked like an antique. After using an app to figure out what it’s worth, McGee finds out it is the actual dueling pistol used to kill Alexander Hamilton.
Kasie runs forensics on the weapon, and the match comes back to Deputy Attorney General Brett Gaines, whose blood is found on the pistol. However, McGee and Parker ran into a roadblock when the FBI took over the case. Then, there’s a new twist as they learn that Delgado was the one who broke into his home, stole thousands in cash, the antique pistol, and abducted his wife.
NCIS season 23 episode 4 was full of twists and turns during a kidnapping investigation
Claire Gaines had met Molly at a yoga class and they became friends. It appeared that Molly had financial issues and may have abducted Claire because of the money she and her husband have in crypto.
What they thought was a kidnapping was actually Molly holding Claire captive in her vehicle. They are having trouble figuring out why she would abduct Claire when their suspect shows up on her own.
However, Delgado refuses to talk to Knight when she questions her. They figure out Molly got onto the base by driving there, and she parked in Director Vance’s parking space. As it turns out, she was not alone, and they found a body in the trunk of her car.
Neil Oken is a former FBI agent who was fired when Gaines discovered he was embezzling. Unfortunately, they can’t find a connection between Oken and Delgado. Just when Knight is getting closer to an answer, the FBI comes in to take custody of their suspect.
After convincing Parker to let them go to the FBI to distract them, so Knight can see Molly, she tells Molly she can still trust her. Kasie had figured out that there was paint from Molly’s car on Oken’s car’s bumper, meaning he had hit her. Knight realized Molly had been trying to rescue Claire from someone and never actually hurt her.
It turns out that Molly was part of a book club that was actually an underground railroad that rescued women from abusive situations. Claire’s husband was dangerous and had hired Oken to look for Claire. Molly killed Oken to defend Claire and had turned herself in to try to buy time for the other women to get Claire to safety.
The FBI secretly worked with NCIS to catch Brett, and when he tried to go after Claire again, Knight punched him to prevent him from attacking her. This episode was full of twists and turns, showing that not everything was what it seemed.
There was also a subplot where the team was invited to a colleague’s, Barbara specifically, special evening at the theater where she was doing a solo performance. She was excited for her work family to show up, but the case and other obligations kept them from going. Nick apologized, but she took it in stride.
Nick, however, decided to create a stage with help from Kasie and Barbara’s theater group so she could perform for the team. It was a sweet way to end the episode while showing the team coming together for one of their own.
NCIS will air its crossover episode with NCIS: Origins on Tuesday, November 11. Because the case starts in the past, the episode of NCIS: Origins will air at the 8/7c timeslot while NCIS takes the 9/8c timeslot.
You can find previous episodes of NCIS on Paramount+.