Warning: SPOILERS for the NCIS episode “In From the Chilly” are forward!
NCIS is a kind of procedurals the place though the crux of every episode is the very-serious investigation into somebody’s homicide or one other sort of crime, there are a whole lot of lighthearted moments sprinkled all through every story. However once in a while, the long-running CBS procedural, which is now airing its twenty second season on the 2024 TV schedule, leans extra strongly into goofy territory. “In From the Chilly” was a kind of episodes, because it delivered a wild ‘70s throwback essential to unravel one of many group’s extra uncommon instances. Within the midst of that, I used to be psyched to see one of many solid members from the beloved ‘90s sitcom Boy Meets World alongside for the experience.
NCIS Went ‘70s For This Week’s Case
This week’s episode of NCIS revolved round Thomas Butler, who was a captain within the U.S. Navy and now affected by dementia. Throughout a go to on the Naval Medical Heart in Virginia along with his caregiver son (extra on him later), Thomas began out of the blue talking one other language and took the physician hostage. Thankfully she wasn’t harm, and when Alden Parker and the opposite protagonist’s confirmed up, Thomas had no thought what had occurred. They quickly found the language was Finnish, and that he’d been talking a set of numbers. Nevertheless, when McGee tried to lookup these numbers, it bricked his cellphone, and when he tried to repeat the method on one of many hospital’s computer systems, energy was knocked in all of that metropolis block.
It seems this unusual prevalence was because of a digital tripwire set by the CIA, as an officer from the company named Conrad stopped by Director Vance’s workplace to loop him and Alden Parker on what was occurring. He instructed them that Thomas Butler had as soon as been an intelligence asset for the Soviet Union through the Chilly Struggle, and whereas the CIA caught wind of this early on, they needed the Soviets to suppose they’d a high-level mole within the Pentagon. In a while, Conrad admitted that what he’d stated wasn’t completely true, because the CIA didn’t really know Thomas was the spy.
In the meantime, Thomas Butler suffered one other dementia episode and escaped the hospital and was accused of killing an orderly. The group found that the numbers had been a part of an previous code utilized in his Chilly Struggle days that used Struggle and Peace and different books as ciphers. However Thomas occurring the run turned extra sophisticated when he broke into Navy Archives, stole one thing referred to as Venture Laurel, then hid it for safekeeping. The group apprehended him, however Parker had no luck convincing the person it was the current day, not 1979.
The one means they may discover out the place Venture Laurel was positioned was by taking part in into Thomas Butler’s 1979 actuality. So Timothy McGee disguised himself as Brian Banaszak, a.ok.a. “Sparrow,” a grimy CIA agent whom Thomas knew and had been useless since 1980; Jessica Knight was close by additionally wearing ‘70s apparel; and Nick Torres even frolicked in a “shaggin’ wagon,” in Parker’s phrases. The steps they took to make it appear to be it was 1979 was wild and considerably amusing, though it ended up not understanding, as Thomas acquired spooked and seemingly shot McGee.
Then the largest twist in “In From the Chilly arrived: this was all a sting to seize the episode’s true villain, Conrad, and it was solely completed as a result of Parker was really in a position to coax Thomas Butler again to actuality. It seems Venture Laurel was a laundry record of CIA crimes, and Conrad’s title was written throughout it. So when he discovered Thomas was having reminiscence points, Conrad tried to get rid of him, and he was the one who actually killed the orderly. Thankfully, Thomas regained his reminiscence simply in time and clued everybody in on Conrad’s true nature, in order that they had been in a position to apprehend him. Then there was one ultimate shock to take pleasure in on this NCIS episode, however earlier than I speak about that, let’s loop again to that Boy Meets World alum.
Boy Meets World’s Matthew Lawrence Visitor-Starred
When “In From the Chilly” began taking part in, I instantly knew I acknowledge the actor taking part in Danny Butler from someplace. Then I noticed his title flash throughout the display screen: Matthew Lawrence. Whereas some could know him finest from his earliest appearances in motion pictures like Planes, Trains and Vehicles and Mrs. Doubtfire, I’d argue Lawrence is finest recognized from his time as a collection common on the ultimate three seasons of Boy Meets World, which aired from 1993 to 2000 on ABC. Lawrence performed Jack Hunter, the half-brother of Rider Robust’s Shawn Hunter and finest pal of Will Friedle’s Eric Matthews.
To be clear, there’s completely nothing nodding to Matthew Lawrence’s Boy Meets World previous on this NCIS episode. Nonetheless, as somebody who loved the sitcom after I was youthful and hasn’t seen the actor carry out in something since he reprised Jack Hunter in an episode of Woman Meets World virtually a decade in the past (though I did hear him speak about his uncomfortable encounter with Justin Timberlake), I used to be delighted to see him seem. Danny Butler’s major goal in “In From the Chilly” was to look shocked and harm about his dad’s secret previous, and understandably so. However the episode ends on a contented notice for the daddy and son, because it revealed that Thomas had really been working as a double agent for the CIA and passing disinformation for the Russians to guide them on wild goose chases.
Now that Matthew Lawrence has stopped by NCIS, hopefully I’ll see him pop up in different primetime programming I take pleasure in… or actually any of the Boy Meets World crew. And hey, at the least I can stream the sitcom with my Disney+ subscription or hearken to the Pod Meets World podcast if I ever really feel a hankering to dip again into that comedy house. For these of you who’re strictly NCIS followers, the subsequent new episode will air on November 25, however you’re welcome to interrupt out your Paramount+ subscription to stream your entire catalog of this procedural franchise.