NCIS: Origins Season 1, Episode 15, “From the Ashes” gives closure to one of the CBS show’s most important storylines. It also strengthens how emotional the NCIS prequel is. The first season isn’t even over, and there has been a half-dozen episodes designed to be gut-wrenching. Not all of them have worked, but most of them — including this one — have an impact that most TV series only have once or twice a season, if that.
“From the Ashes” revolves around a murder case that matches the modus operandi of Tish Kwa’la’s attack. Her now ex-boyfriend Mike Franks is enraged by this, and renews his quest to capture the man who assaulted the love of his life. That leaves everyone else having to try and wrangle him. Picking up where Season 1, Episode 13, “Monsoon” left off, this is a hard episode to watch, but an incredibly rewarding one all the same.
NCIS: Origins Season 1, Episode 16 Gives Franks & Tish Terrible Closure
The Ex-Couple Get to Move On, but It’s Devastating to See
Tish’s assault, Franks’ determination to catch her attacker, and the strain that’s put on their relationship has been a major plot thread in NCIS: Origins. It’s not the first time a TV crime drama has done a “someone close to a hero becomes a victim, and the hero goes off the deep end” type of story, but it’s certainly one of the best executions of that premise. Franks’ behavior isn’t simplified or idolized; instead, the prequel has shown both the good and bad sides of his devotion to Tish. And Tish has continued to be a major part of the storyline, because the writers have never forgotten that it’s her story first and foremost.
“From the Ashes” is the painful period on the end of that sentence. Franks is convinced that Tish’s attacker has struck again, and thanks to a well-placed call to the FBI, gets the name of the suspect whom Tish and other victims had identified. He’s a one-man wrecking crew for most of the episode — even when it’s revealed that Tish’s case actually has nothing to do with Sergeant Joan Lewis’ murder. That doesn’t stop from the NIS team from pursuing Anthony Cook, and they find enough evidence to put Anthony Cook in handcuffs. However, it doesn’t magically make Tish and Franks’ relationship okay again. Near the end of the episode, Franks goes to Doc Tango’s house, only to be told that Tish is gone, and viewers see her driving away.
There have already been a few Franks-centric installments, all of them personal in nature, but this is miles ahead of Season 1, Episode 5, “Last Rites.” Both episodes featured Franks on the edge and having to be reined in, yet this one has so much more character development, and so much more depth of pain. Actors Kyle Schmid, Tonantzin Carmelo and Austin Stowell all rise to the occasion; there’s a raw quality to each one of their performances that seals the deal. This is where Franks and Tish’s relationship was always headed, but fans can’t help but desperately wish it wasn’t.
NCIS: Origins Successfully Turns the Tables on Gibbs
Episode 16 Shows How Far Young Gibbs Has Come
A quietly fascinating aspect of Season 1, Episode 15 is how the relationship between Franks and Gibbs becomes reversed — and what that says about Gibbs. The early episodes of NCIS: Origins were about Gibbs coping (or not coping) with tragedy, and how he found himself again through NIS. It was the Gibbs episode “Blue Bayou” that first set the standard for Origins’ emotional exploration of its characters. Now just five episodes later, Gibbs is putting what he’s learned into action. It makes sense for “From the Ashes” to acknowledge the parallel between Gibbs after his family’s deaths and Franks after Tish’s assault; the fans would draw that conclusion anyway. But it’s very smart for the creative team to make that a significant part of the script. That aspect helps separate this episode from a typical lone wolf revenge tale.
It’s also a barometer to check in on Gibbs, too. The critical scene happens when Franks is sitting in his car outside Cook’s apartment, ready to go upstairs and shoot him. Gibbs and Lala Dominguez have tracked him there, and Lala sends Gibbs to speak to Franks. Lala is Franks’ right-hand woman and the person he trusted enough to run point on the most important case of his life, but she knows Gibbs is the right person for this part of the job, that has nothing to do with the investigation. Gibbs not only talks Franks down but also opens up to him about how therapy isn’t helping him — and how much Franks has helped him. His plea to Franks is that Gibbs still needs his help.
Leroy Jethro Gibbs (to Franks): It’s like a freight train busting through your head, looking at him. I know what that’s like.
So much is said about these two characters with relatively minimal dialogue. There’s a mutual respect between actors Schmid and Stowell that comes out in the scene, reinforcing an unspoken mutual respect between Franks and Gibbs. With every episode, NCIS: Origins has done such a great job illustrating why Mike Franks was such a pivotal figure in Leroy Jethro Gibbs’ life — and what Gibbs meant to him, too. Scenes like these are why doing an NCIS prequel has turned out to be a great decision.
NCIS: Origins Episode 16 Leaves a Few Loose Ends
Will Viewers Ever Get to See Tish Again?
The criticisms of “From the Ashes” are relatively minor, and mostly understandable given the tight focus on the emotional storyline. This is yet another NCIS franchise episode where the guilty party confesses to the crime off-camera, so that the characters can neatly wrap up that part of the script. This is also not a great episode to introduce the joke that Vera Strickland gives Gibbs an unprompted nickname. The comic relief isn’t needed, aside from just not being funny.
But the biggest quibble is more of a big-picture question. With Tish driving out of town and her relationship with Franks over, one wonders if this episode marks her final appearance on NCIS: Origins. That would be an absolute shame, because Carmelo has been wonderful in the role, and she and Schmid bring out the best in one another. Plus, while Doc Tango is still very much a part of the series, losing Tish would also mean less representation on the show. It’s very true that what is best for Tish as a character is to focus on herself, so this arc needs to play itself out, but NCIS: Origins is a better series with her on it. Like “To Have and to Hold” and “Touchstones” before it, NCIS: Origins Season 1, Episode 15 is an installment that hits viewers directly in the heart.
NCIS: Origins airs Mondays at 10:00 p.m. on CBS.