NCIS Season 22, Episode 13, “Bad Blood” is not for the faint of heart — yet it does include the return of one of the show’s villains. The episode centers around a blood drive that goes horribly wrong and claims the life of a Navy lieutenant, but eventually pivots to a story involving a very familiar face and a health and wellness company. In some ways, it resembles more of an episode of Midsomer Murders than NCIS.
“Bad Blood” starts with the shooting death of Lieutenant Barbara Jellison, but she’s quickly forgotten about because her murder happens in the commission of a larger crime. That crime leads audiences through a gross murder and lots of details about blood before circling back to events from one of NCIS’ landmark episodes. And while this one won’t go down in history, it does find a way to justify its strange premise and suggests someone’s had a change of heart.
NCIS Season 22, Episode 13 Gets Mileage Out of Its Odd Premise
The Script Has Plenty of Cringe-Worthy Moments
A common flaw across many TV crime dramas, especially those that have been airing for several years, is that there are occasionally episodes where the case of the week really has little to do with the bigger premise of the show. One recent example is FBI: International Season 4, Episode 12, “Blood Doesn’t Become Water,” which was only “international” in the sense that the suspects fled the United States to avoid arrest. At its heart, it was a standard story of domestic abuse. NCIS Season 22, Episode 13 is somewhat like that — the only reason it’s under NCIS jurisdiction is because of Lieutenant Jellison being shot while trying to be a good samaritan. The real connection emerges later, when the case gets connected to Fletcher Voss.
What makes the investigation work is that the script delves into all kinds of scientific facts about blood and DNA, so it’s not just getting by on how gross the crime scene is (though there are a few obvious jokes about that, and some cringe-worthy moments, most notably another body being found immersed in acid inside a barrel). The audience will have to jump through a few hoops to follow along with all the specifics, but there is an actual mystery to be decoded. Once it pivots to the inner workings of health startup Life Sequence, things get a lot less interesting and the reveal of the actual mastermind leaves something to be desired — that character has very little screen time and ultimately makes an off-screen confession, which feels like NCIS just trying to wrap the episode up quickly.
In contrast, the writing for Dr. Jimmy Palmer is one of the episode’s most interesting parts. Palmer is genuinely upset that the person who shot Lieutenant Jellison destroyed several units of donated blood simply to cover their tracks, since those donations could have helped save lives. It’s an important point that other TV procedurals might not have thought to include — and a nice touch that CBS ends the episode with the NCIS cast making a public service announcement encouraging viewers to donate blood.
NCIS Goes Back Into Its History to Find Its Villain
But Fletcher Voss’ Story Takes an Interesting Turn
The woman in the barrel is revealed to be Lauren Hawthorn, an employee of Life Sequence — a company which creates personalized health plans based on customers’ DNA. When Alden Parker and Timothy McGee visit the office to ask questions, they discover that the CEO is none other than Fletcher Voss, once again played by TJ Thyne. Numerous references are made to the events of NCIS’ 1,000th episode “A Thousand Yards,” in which NCIS Director Leon Vance was shot by one of Voss’ associates. At this point, Thyne has got Voss’ smarminess down pat. The character is actually more interesting when it’s revealed that he was dating Lauren… and didn’t know that she was pregnant with his child. That display of genuine shock and emotion from Thyne does so much for his character, but it’s almost a “blink and you miss it” scene because Voss collapses moments later.
Fletcher Voss: I’m a changed man, and it is because of NCIS, so thank you.
Of course, the question is why NCIS felt the need to bring him back in the first place. What does utilizing him instead of any other bad guy add to the story? The answer is that “Bad Blood” gives him somewhat of a redemption arc. He claims to have found direction during his admittedly brief prison stay, and has genuine feelings for Lauren. In fact, the last scene of the episode is Fletcher talking to McGee about parenthood, as McGee has just donated blood to him. The concept of a villain becoming a hero, or at least an ally, is common in movies and TV. The way that NCIS handles it, it feels real enough for the audience to believe in Voss… but leaves just enough wiggle room for him to come back in the future if the writers change their mind.
The actual antagonists are nothing to write home about. After Voss suffers a stroke, the team confronts his assistant Holly about his smoothies being poisoned. She turns out to have been the actual founder of the company, which she admits is peddling flawed technology. Her testimony then brings Jessica Knight and Nick Torres to Life Sequence’s in-house physician, Dr. Donovan, who poisoned Voss to keep the company secrets fron being exposed and avoid his own humiliation. Lauren was killed because she drank some of Voss’ smoothies and the warfarin that was in them interacted with her own medication. But Donovan barely has enough screen time to register as a character, let alone a killer. And Holly is a pretty stock assistant character… although NCIS deserves credit for not going with the basic “vengeful assistant killed the girlfriend out of jealousy” idea.
NCIS Season 22, Episode 13 Goes for Broke Comedically
This Comic Relief Subplot Is Obvious, but True
There are times when NCIS has struggled with its need to have a comic relief subplot in nearly every episode. Season 22, Episode 12, “Fun and Games” is one example, although that entire episode was stilted since it was meant to be a lighter story overall. “Bad Blood” fares better. The humor is still pretty obvious and occasionally corny, but it comes from believable places. McGee is determined to win his kids’ school fundraiser and beat out his rival Brendan Banks, which almost everyone is familiar with either school fundraisers and/or having a school rival. And because the fundraising product is coffee, there are a ton of jokes about people being wired on too much caffeine.
Plus, there are a few references to the other shows in the NCIS universe that fans will love. Kasie is on the phone with Michelle Mackey from NCIS: Sydney (although actor Olivia Swann isn’t heard), and later viewers get a glimpse of her fundraising white board that lists all of the other NCIS field offices, with the names listed including NCIS: New Orleans’ Dwayne Pride and Jane Tennant from NCIS: Hawai’i. Anyone who still misses either of those shows will get a kick out of that scene.
Watching Kasie hyped up on coffee isn’t nearly as funny as Futurama’s Philip J. Fry after 100 cups, but “Bad Blood” elicits enough laughs to make its comedy successful. And that’s also a good way to look at the episode as a whole: the story may be kind of gross and awkward, but it does enough to entertain the fans. The presence of TJ Thyne as Fletcher Voss is like the glue that holds it together. It’s worth the time, even if viewers have to look away from all the blood.
NCIS airs Mondays at 9:00 p.m. on CBS.