5.16 RecoilThis is a featured page

◄ Previous Episode Season #: 5 Episode #: 16 Air Date: May 6, 2008 Next Episode ►
Recoil
Synopsis:
Ziva's undercover assignment takes a shocking and deadly turn when the serial killer she has been tracking becomes suspicious of her.

Episode Recap:
The episode opens by showing a man washing his hands in a bloody sink. He wipes the blood off his face. His phone rings and he says he'll be right there. He puts a shirt on and grabs his coat. The camera shows a wide angle of the living room and there is a young dead woman on a large sheet of plastic on the floor. Her stomach has been cut open. The man walks out the door and gets into the waiting blue car. He says " Hi gorgeous" and leans over to kiss a woman. It is Ziva.

As the car turns onto the next street we see a parked brown maintanence van. DiNozzo is inside. He tells Gibbs that they have left and Gibbs tells him to get inside. We then see Gibbs and McGee in a sedan and they are tracking the GPS in Ziva's car. DiNozzo sneaks into the mans house. It cuts to Ziva smiling and asking the man where they are going on their mystery date. He says "It woudn't be a mystery if I told you Gina" (We now know she is working undercover.) He asks her about leaving the bar early the night before. She says her husband was calling from Fallujah (Iraq). She asks what he did when she left, and he says he just went home and went to bed. She asks if she should get on the expressway. He says no. She says " I like a man who keeps secrets."

Cut to Gibbs and McGee. They are trailing Ziva by two blocks. Gibbs speeds up to close the gap. Cut to Tony. He is in the house. He has gone in to plant bugs. He sees the dead woman on the floor. He calls Gibbs. He tells him they don't need the bugs, the have Hoffman's latest victim; number five. Gibbs asks about her finger and Tony tells him that her ring finger has been removed. Gibbs hands McGee the phone and tells him to call Ziva and give her the distress code, they are going to take Hoffman down. Ziva answers her phone and McGee says "Bernard?" She realizes the signal and says "No, sorry, wrong number". She hangs up and sits the phone down. She tells him that if he isn't going to say where they are going, that she needs a ladies room. ( Probably so they can arrest him.) Hoffman picks up the phone and checks the call. He asks "Who's Gibbs?" She says it's a wrong number. He says it's second on her speed dial. She says he's an ex-boyfreind and asks for her phone. He hands the phone back and pulls out a revolver and says "Drive."




Major points:
  • Ziva is attacked by the man she in undercover dating. He nearly shoots/stabs her. Ziva recovers his gun when he drops it and shoots him multiple times in the chest. His dead body falls on top her. His open, blank eyes then seem to haunt her the rest of the episode.
  • Ziva is troubled by what happened. She lashes out to Tony every time he offers to cheer her up. Such as when he tries to muss her hair and invites her out for a drink.
  • Gibbs reaches out to Ziva and seems to help her a little.
  • Ziva goes to the bar where the killer frequented and meets Michael. They go home together, assuming have sex. Ziva tells him this is not like her at all.
  • Ziva is angered that the team thinks Michael is the killer's accomplice. But she obviously had doubts herself and gives them her gun to lift a print off of when Michael touched it. (After Ziva pulled it on him when he woke her up after sleeping together. She tells him she is Mossad).
  • Michael had a girlfriend named Devon who is feared to be the sixth victim.
  • Turns out it is the husband of the 4th victim who is the second killer. But he only killed his wife.
  • Ziva finds Devon for Michael and gives him Devon's number. Ziva finally does not look like crap. Ziva leaves the bar and Michael is seen calling Devon.

In this Episode Ziva seems out of character. After all she is a trained assassin and it's not like she has formed an emotional attachment to this guy, as she was working undercover to catch him. Her moodiness & seemingly sad demeanor are not Ziva's strong in control exterior. And this train of thought was anti-climactic as her feelings were never resolved and it was never revealed exactly why she felt the way she did about killing this man.

And then there was the ending where Ziva gave Michael Devon's phone number. And he just allowed her to just walk away. I was hoping him to say I decided there are better things than her and wad the paper up throw it down and then plant a big sloppy one on Ziva.

It wasn't so much that Ziva formed an attachment to the man she was targeting, but how close she came to dying because she had waited too long to react and take control.

New Character Development / Insights:
  • Ziva is badly shaken by her close brush with death and spends some time doubting her judgment.
  • Tony expresses concern for Ziva, and gets jealous of Michael Locke.
  • At a certain point of the episode, Ziva is standing in Autopsy, looking at Hoffman's body the same way Kate did in Heart Break, after she shot an innocent civilian.
    Funny Moments:
    • Tony reaches over to Ziva's hair. Ziva slaps him away.
    • Tony: "I was just going to tussel your hair. Sometimes it makes you smile."
    • Tony sings to Ziva "Come to me, My love..."
    • Abby on her rollerblades during entire episode
      Trivia:
      • The song playing at the end, when Ziva gives Michael Devon's phone number is "Where I Stood" by Australian artist Missy Higgins.
      • At the beginning of the episode, when McGee and Gibbs are following in the car, McGee says "They just turned west", it shows his computer and the image is correct. But when he says "Alright, the car's stopped, two blocks ahead", the image on his computer is backwards, or mirrored.
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      Recurring Cast:
        Guest Starring:
            • Brian Dietzen (Jimmy Palmer)
            • Steve Kazee (Michael Locke)
            • Nick Chinlund (Detective Steve Rosetti)
            • Scott Holroyd (Navy PO Kevin Massey)
            • Michael Hagerty (Andy Hoffman)
            • Ella Thomas (Heidi)
            • Mia Lee (Newscaster)
            Written By: Directed By:
            • George Schenck
            • Frank Cardea
            • James Whitmore Jr.




            Add Episode Photos Below: (No blurry or duplicate photos please)
            Episode 5.16 Recoil Episode 5.16 Recoil
            Episode 5.16 Recoil Episode 5.16 Recoil
            Abby on rollarblades Gibbs, Ziva and McGee
            Ziva and Michael in bar Tony and Massey



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            Keyword tags: Episode 5.16 Recoil episode guide NCIS episode guides NCIS episodes NCIS recap NCIS Season 5 Season 5
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            TimmyTron OT- reminds me of a joke 6 Aug 26 2009, 10:23 AM EDT by Sorgiña
            Thread started: Aug 25 2009, 11:23 AM EDT  Watch
            Never well told by myself, but it goes to the effect of, when a sniper is asked what he is feeling after a shooting, he says, Recoil.
            Do you find this valuable?    
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            limmenel Not OOC, just evolving. 0 Aug 16 2009, 3:52 PM EDT by limmenel
            Thread started: Aug 16 2009, 3:52 PM EDT  Watch
            I noticed that someone wrote that Ziva was out of character. Watching this episode over again, I do find that to be somewhat true, but at the same time, not true at all.

            Ziva has, to this point, been with NCIS for two years. Living in the US, there is less of a threat against her life all the time. I, personally, believe that she is not out of character but really showing how she has changed in the US. Not having to always have her guard up now and not being purely a killer, she's developed more feeling towards those she does kill.

            I dunno if this has been mentioned before but what do you think?
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            Linda666 Recoil 1 Apr 20 2009, 12:15 PM EDT by rkent36
            Thread started: Apr 20 2009, 8:05 AM EDT  Watch
            The episode Recoil is my favourite. It reveals Ziva's dark side.
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