Mystery story fans love the classic "locked room" mystery gambit, where Miss Marple or Hercule Poirot has to solve a murder which occurred in a locked room with seemingly no way in or out.
This unusual "NCIS" episode adapted the ploy to suspenseful effect by having all three suspects locked (necessarily) in a divers' decompression chamber with the dead victim for days, which had me guessing and was resolved satisfyingly with a topical and credible deus ex machina explanation of both motive and whodunit. On the basis of this assignment, TV writer Brendan Fehily strikes me as ready to script a feature film, perhaps in the heightened suspense and/or paranoia genre associated with Larry Cohen in such films as "Phone Booth" and "God Told Me To".
The lawyer character who effectively blocked our hero Mark Harmon's vaunted interrogation techniques was well written and made for a wonderful gotcha when Harmon eventually puts the pieces together.
Another interesting aspect of this offbeat episode was its willful failure to hand out crumbs in order to get every team member involved. Both Rocky Carroll and Brian Dietzen were given the week off and I much prefer this policy rather than the often artificial "let's give everyone exposure" mode that dilutes the power of so many TV episodes. Let's face it: sometimes Kobe needs to keep the ball and do all the scoring for the team to win. Also, the "St. Valentine's Day" tie-in to the show's air date was handled as fun diversions without getting in the way of the story as so often happens with Christmas or Thanksgiving cornball television salutes.
Now the big issue remains: how will the writers deal with the finale for Michael Weatherly's beloved (and integral to the series' success) character Tony DiNozzo? I'm hoping Robert Wagner will be involved one last time in some capacity in the send-off, certainly a challenge to maintain the proper tone. As far as successor, I wouldn't be surprised if they merely promote an actor from one of the farm teams, either L.A. or New Orleans. Ted Danson is unavailable. Or how about reviving good old Meg Ryan's career with her becoming the go-to agent on the team, in honor of her co-starring so long ago in Harmon's one big shot at movie stardom: "The Presidio".
