NCIS: Origins Season 1, Episode 12, “Touchstones” is the show’s most moving episode since “Blue Bayou,” and gives that installment a run for its money. The NCIS prequel has settled into a rhythm of framing each case of the week around a different character’s personal history, and the concept is particularly effective when applied to Kowalski. A character who could have been purely a supporting figure is afforded real depth as Harney’s performance pushes the episode to new heights.
“Touchstones” is about investigating who broke into the team’s evidence room and made off with over $40,000. There is a whodunit and there are even some great callbacks to prior events. But the true heart of the episode, its purpose for existing, is to tell Kowalski’s story — and it’s one that feels different from the usual procedural character histories.
NCIS: Origins Season 1, Episode 12 Is One of Michael Harney’s Best Performances, Ever
The Veteran Actor Makes Kowalski a Powerful Figure
It would have been easy to just make Kowalski a fun supporting character. Almost every TV crime drama has the quirky and/or gruff person who helps the investigators with their specialized expertise, usually a technology expert or a medical examiner. Kowalski could have simply been the guy who worked the evidence desk and tossed out snarky one-liners to provide some comic relief. Even when he got a bit more of the spotlight in Episode 8, “Sick as Our Secrets,” that didn’t feel like a full exploration of his character. “Touchstones” is a real look at Kowalski — and it’s a great one.
The audience learns that while serving in the Army, Kowalski spent two years in a prisoner of war camp. That in and of itself is not necessarily remarkable; it’s common for TV procedural heroes to have some form of a difficult or tragic backstory. Just among the NCIS: Origins team, the fans already know about Gibbs’ losses and Mike Franks’ service in Vietnam, to name but two. But it’s how that experience in captivity reframes Kowalski’s worldview that makes “Touchstones” so resonant. The evidence room becomes a stand-in for that tiny corner of the prison camp that was his, and the audience catches on to that parallel well before it’s spelled out.
Kowalski (to Herman): My whole life was that room. And you can tear it down and build it up in one day. I was supposed to be more than that.
And because Kowalski’s identity is connected to the evidence room, that in turn gives the room its own identity. It’s no longer just a place that fans watch people get files out of. It has real importance and meaning within the world of NCIS: Origins, in a way that specific locations often don’t in this genre. There are cool laboratories, every show has some kind of central workplace, but the evidence room here is a place with purpose for both Kowalski and Herman. In fact, the best scenes in the entire hour are the ones between Herman and Kowalski; all of the other characters are simply fitting into their world narrative for once, instead of the other way around.
It’s also wonderful to see Michael Harney get so much more screen time. Audiences know his work, even if they may not know his name. Harney is best recalled as Sam Healy in the cast of Orange Is the New Black, but he’s one of those actors who’s been on so many major TV shows, including two episodes of JAG and Michael Moriarty’s final episode of Law & Order. He makes sure the desperation, fear and anger that Kowalski is feeling gets off the page and into the hearts of the audience. “Touchstones” has a great concept, yet it wouldn’t work if Harney didn’t push his character as far as he does.
NCIS: Origins Episode 12 Calls Back to the Past – Sort Of
The Story Wisely Doesn’t Go Too Far in Making Connections
The rest of the NIS agents are tasked with fulfilling the “case of the week” mandate and revealing who broke into the evidence room. As far as investigation plots go, this is much less suspenseful than the show wants it to be. It doesn’t take much effort to realize the so-called robbery is actually an inside job, and that therefore the culprit will be one of the many interchangeable other people in the office (since those characters can be easily written out). Where this half of Season 1, Episode 12 gets interesting is in bringing up the events of NCIS: Origins Season 1, Episode 4, “All’s Not Lost,” as it’s established that the crime has a connection to that case. Finally getting an answer about who gave up Millie’s location to the hitman is appreciated.
Where “Touchstones” falls short is that, because of that reveal, it has the opportunity to also spotlight Mary Jo Hayes — but it doesn’t. Mary Jo is understandably infuriated to learn that one of her colleagues put both Millie’s life and her life at risk. Once Roger is identified as the real perpetrator, Mary Jo asks Franks for a minute alone with him. Audiences are expecting a well-deserved confrontation… but instead, NCIS: Origins cuts away so viewers can see Lala Dominguez nervously phoning her ex-boyfriend Eddie. Lala’s personal tumult has its place, yet in the grand scheme of things, Mary Jo standing up for Millie and herself is far more important than whether or not Lala takes Gibbs’ advice. And Tyla Abercrumbie is denied the chance to do more than glare.
There are quite a few references to prior events in “Touchstones,” but the writers deserve credit for not making the plot into an overly complex conspiracy. It’s tempting to create some sort of ongoing mystery, or an overarching Big Bad for the heroes to chase. Yet NCIS: Origins only uses its other, non-Millie references for context, trusting that it’s already got enough of an ongoing mystery with Gibbs. It tells a relatively basic story in order to devote screen time where it’s most deserved: with Kowalski. There should be more drama in the case than just Gibbs and Lala having some tense interviews, but it would be even more of a problem to overdo it and lose sight of the real story.
NCIS: Origins Season 1, Episode 12, “Touchstones” is an encouraging sign for the prequel. It’s continuing to take steps forward in building up the characters other than young Gibbs, and giving them equal value in the show’s narrative. The series still veers into predictability more often than not, but there’s no denying how much emotion Michael Harney brings to the table — and how refreshing it is to see Kowalski given such importance when characters in his general position don’t normally get center stage. The heroes of the story don’t always have to be the ones who make the arrest, or the young, cool characters. Sometimes, heroism comes in different ways, and “Touchstones” brings that point home with dignity and grace. Audiences will never look at Kowalski or the evidence room the same way again.