This episode reminded me why I love NCIS so much. There was a solid blend of humor and deadly seriousness that is unprecedented in any crime procedural out there. I also liked how the formula can be shifted a bit to created a great episode.

After Ziva's capture, we all expected her to be the prisoner in the opening, but no, it's Tony! The narrative is told by Tony to the same terrorist that interrogated Ziva. He uses a truth serum on Tony was recaps the past few months. I liked how there was still a backdrop crime to be solved albeit the simplest thing ever. Gibbs lets Tony look for replacements, most of which don't work out.

Tony, McGee, and Abby track down the terrorists through an unlikely source: Caf-Pow. The plan is for Tony and McGee to go to the region. When they get there, they get captured inexplicably by the same person who captured Ziva. The big kicker is when the terrorist tries to get Tony to spill secrets by bringing out Ziva who everyone thinks is dead. She wants to sacrifice herself, so Tony and McGee won't die, but everyone lives after Gibbs and a special forces team saves them.

Excellent acting by Cote de Pablo and Michael Weatherly and the dialogue between them felt very real. Hopefully we'll learn more of what happened to Ziva as the season progresses, and from the promo for next week, all is not well at NCIS.

Score: 9.5/10