NCIS (2003–…): Season 8, Episode 23 - Swan Song - full transcript

[thunder rumbles]

Boss, I found some
other shell casings.

Looks like the
blood trail was...

washed away
by the rain.

McGEE:
Tony!

All right, Mr. Palmer,
on "three."

DUCKY:
One... two...

DUCKY & PALMER:
...three.

I'll secure
and you drive.
Yes, Doc.

Better catch
me up, probie.

I'm lost.

So am I.

I don't understand.

[sighs]:
Makes no sense.

Tell me.

Start at the beginning.

GIBBS:
Yesterday was beautiful.

Were you preparing
for a monsoon?

Forecast calls for rain.

Spring rain?

Heavyrain.

What's your source?

It's that weather app
that you told me to download.

It's awesome.

Wait-- is that a trick?
Did you put a fake app

on my phone?It is pretty clever.

It is. And I think a little
too clever for you.

Then again, I do operate
on a higher plane.

Well, you definitely operate
with your head in the clouds.

Storm clouds?

We'll see.

Yes.

See? Are you going
to believe what you read?

Or what's rightin
front of your eyes?

Morning, boss.

Yeah. Real good morning.

TONY:
Gonna rain later.

No, it's not.

Well...

Ain't this usually
when you tell 'em

where the body is
and off you go?

No case?

No. There's a case.

Just not ours.

Gear up.

Damn! Where'd they
come from?

Mmm, Spain, Australia.

Most recently, Hawaii.

Where we goin', E.J.?Virginia.

Body. Dead at least
several weeks.

Who?Identified to be
an NCIS agent.

You're not gonna just
let that go, are you?

[sighs]

What are you waiting for?
It's an NCIS Special Agent.

It's going to rain.

LEVIN: A white male, mid-30s,
throat cleanly slashed.

No wallet,
no keys,

nothing on
the body.

Fingerprint scan confirms
Virginia PD's I.D.

It is NCIS Special Agent
Earl Stark.

On annual leave from Norfolk.

No plastic wrap?
No ties?

No souvenir?

How can we help?

Canvass.

Got it.

FRANKS:
Who's the chippy?

Vance's new golden girl.

Her and DiNozzo
making sheet music?

Mm-hmm.

Please.

He's taking a page
outta your songbook.
[laughs]

FRANKS:
Like you'd pass up a duet
with a lady like that.

Who outranks him, to boot.

Well, she outranks me, too.

Got lead in the hunt
for a serial killer.

This body his?

BARRETT:
Seems the Port-to-Port
Killer's M.O.

has been evolving.

TONY:
Based on what you found
in Hawaii?

Think that
was a miss.

Wow. You guys
came up empty, huh?

No, he did.

We suspect his target was
Sergeant Kevin Jericho.

We met him at
the hospital.

A survivor.

Well, it's better
than the morgue.

Jericho had just
been transferred from
Norfolk to Pearl Harbor.

So we tracked him down
and failed to kill him?

Someone
intervened.

Saved Sergeant
Jericho's life,

but lost his own
eyeball for the trouble.

Did you tell
the good Samaritan

we're holding onto
his eyeball for him?

Would if I could,
but only Jericho

was there when we
got to the hospital.

A failure for P2P.

First sign this
guy's human.

He's not human, Tony.

Look at the
blade work.

He may as well be
signing his victims.

The Port-to-Port Killer
is back in town.

And he's targeting our own.

What's on your mind?

You're awfully quiet
over there, Duck.

A mute swan, actually...

believe it
or not.

I believe it.
Legend has it

that Cygnus olor
is silent

for most of its life,

until the moment of its death,
when it sings only once.

[heavy sigh]

When's a swan know
he's about to die?

Ooh, some animals just know.

When the endis near.

True.

This rangy mutt came by
my shack several years ago.

Decided he was
gonna live with me.

Barely a tooth
left in his mug,

but he could still crunch
a soup bone to nothing.

[whispers]:
Yeah.

One mornin'...

this plug-ugly beast

staggers onto the beach,

takes himself for a walk.

I could see him
from the porch,

barking out at the ocean.

He turns around,
digs a hole in the sand,

curls up in it and went off
to meet his maker.

I know that you and Palmer
gotta get to work.

We can wait.

When you're ready.

FRANKS:
We're all animals, probie.

Where was I?

...so, you understand me?

You send everything
you got, okay?

Special Agent Stark's
supervisor in Norfolk.

E.J.'s team is
trying to sort out

a discrepancy in
the security logs.

Dr. Mallard estimates
Stark's death

around 20 days ago.

That's during
his annual leave.But our internals

show him accessing the building
on multiple occasions

in the past
couple of weeks.

This building.

Here.

His I.D., at least.

He's authorized because he was
assigned here briefly last year.

Director Vance, I know that
Special Agent Barrett

is leading this investigation...

I'd like you to
support, Gibbs.

Of course.

Yes, sir, any way I can.

Barrett's report from
the incident in Pearl.

Follow up.

BARRETT: Every single one
of P2P's prior victims

were connected to the Navy.
Until Stark.

The "N" in "NCIS"
does stand for "Naval."

Maybe he's unaware
that we're civilian.

No, if we assume he's stupid,
makes us look like imbeciles.

If he killed Special Agent Stark
for his I.D.,

he may be trying to get
very familiar with us.

You're thinking
the discrepancies

in the security log
are P2P himself

accessing NCIS?
Yeah.

Cade, pull up all
security-camera footage

corresponding to Stark's
postmortem access times.

Okay.

If that's true, I wanna know
how he got through unnoticed.

Levin...
I'm in the field
interviewing friends

and associates.

FRANKS:
They're reading.

Barrett's report.

You just wait for
them to finish?

Yeah. Excruciating.

Skip this part.

Sergeant Kevin Jericho was
walking to his quarters

at Pearl when a strange noise
drew him to an alleyway.

It was a wind-up
teddy bear playing a drum.

When Jericho examined it,
he was attacked from behind.

He struggled,
suffered lacerations

to his hands and neck.

As he lost consciousness, he saw
a bald man drop into the alley.

Much better.

TONY: Crowd responded
to the screams.

Must have scared off
the attacker.

The bald man was admitted to
the hospital minus an eyeball.

ZIVA:
Admission forms
give his name

as Gavin O'Ryan.

He disappeared
without being discharged.

McGEE:
There are no records

of a Gavin O'Ryan
residing in Hawaii.

There are also no records
of a Gavin O'Ryan

on any flight
in or out of Hawaii,

surrounding the date
in question.

I will go
enlist Abby's help

to pursue
this further.

TONY: I will pursue
the same mystery

using "archaic"
and "old school" techniques.

ZIVA: While pretending to have
a question for Ducky,

I will follow Agent Barrett

and accidentally
overhear

details on her investigation.

If only, huh?

And what did you find
so interesting in all that?

The teddy bear.

That one's new.

Seaman Derek Balfour.

Sweet merciful crap, man.

Am I really supposed to
remember all these names?

Balfour was
the fifth victim overall.

Believed ambushed
outside a D.C. nightclub.

This is all garbage.

GIBBS:
Yeah, mostly.

Your team having
any better luck?

Hard to operate
from second position.

ZIVA: Gavin O'Ryan disappeared
without being discharged.

McGEE: There's no record
of a Gavin O'Ryan

on any flight out of Hawaii.

Got some good news and
some bad news, boss.

I checked every

commercial, private,
military flight log there is.

There's no way a Gavin
O'Ryan flew that day.

But what if he used
multiple passports?

Then who's got those?

Don't speak.

Spies.

I see the wheels turning,
and you're thinking

the same thing I'm thinking:

the bald guy.

Tony put a call in
to the hospital at Pearl.

Sweet-talked the duty
nurse into giving me

a detailed description of
the Cyclops Gavin O'Ryan.

He had an accent.

He barely spoke,

and no one else
could confirm it, but...

British.I knew your wheels
were turning.

We already know his alias.

I made a few calls.

He's in town.

Gavin.

Long time, no see.

Hello, DiNozzo.

Oof.

No coincidence
you were in Hawaii

with the Port-to-Port Killer?

I wasn't with him.

I was pursuing him.

Bang-up job you
did there, Kort.

Can you walk
on this side, DiNozzo?

Still getting used to
the limited peripheral vision.

You know, flounders only have
eyes on one side of their head.

Halibut, too.

Think that's typical of most
bottom-feeding mud-suckers.

Out of curiosity,
your eyeball--

we're holding onto your
eyeball for you, by the way--

how come it opens up
restricted areas at NCIS?

If I recall,
you once slammed

one of those doors in my face.

I always hoped
for the opportunity to show you

how nothing is off-limits

to the Agency.

CIA has been aware
we were on this case?

Are you personally?

[chuckles]

Of course we know.

We maintain a pipeline
of information

within all our sister agencies.

You referring
to Ray Cruz?

Great. Another name.

The CIA agent who's
been dating Ziva.

Is he your pipeline?

The Port-to-Port
Killer,

as you've dubbed him,
has a name--

Lieutenant Jonas Cobb.

Navy.

He was.

How do you know that?

I'll gladly answer all
your questions, Gibbs,

if you'd answer
one of mine.

How come Director Vance
has the new girl

leading the charge,
instead of you?

Case originated
in her jurisdiction.

I'm well acquainted
with Cobb's origins,

but since he
entered your purview--

well, I'm surprised is all.

Special Agent Barrett's
a qualified agent.

Hmm.

As far as I know,
seems her primary qualification

is that she's not you.

No history of questioning
her superiors.

You ever read that file

I gave you on Vance,
once upon a time?

Just the tip
of the iceberg,

you know?

I am much more
interested

in everything you have on Cobb.

DiNozzo will drive you.Sure.

What with your lack
of depth perception and all.

That slippery weasel
is the reason you called?

Hola,probie.

¿Como está?

Hey, Mike.

How quickly can you get to DC?

How fast you need me?

[thunder crashing]

GIBBS: Got something
I need you to bring.

Gibbs, check it out.

Someone caught Stark's murder
on their phone.

His boss at
Norfolk received

several e-mails from
an anonymous source.

They're afraid to come forward.

[toy cymbals crashing]

[toy monkey chittering]

Matches the profile.

Hard confirmation
it's our guy.

With a little Abby magic, we
might be able to pull a face.

Well, it's early still,
but we also got these frames

off of NCIS
security cameras.

Same height and build.

P2P killed Stark
to get inside the building.

E.J.: We're going
to get his face,

then his name, then him.

That's good work.

Director's tearing security
a new one.

It's creepy.

I mean, the guy was here.

What was he doing?

Where are my glasses?

Studying.

Studying us?

Gotta know your enemy.

Did you think about
keeping your mouth shut?

Hey, Barrett.

I have information
pertaining to your case.

The CIA?

Kort claims to be the man
who intervened in Hawaii.

Well, I'm reluctant
to take anything

Kort has to say
at face value.

[chuckles]

Would you care to share,
Agent Gibbs?

Well, as far as confirmation,
his face has some value.

It's no glass slipper.

You proposing we stuff the eye

back in the socket,
see if it fits?

If you're looking
for volunteers.

Agent Gibbs and I
have a bit of history

with this particular operative.

Oh. Then, that should
make it easier

to initiate
some interagency cooperation.

[Vance chuckles]

Nothing's ever easy
with Trent Kort.

[knock at door]

Excuse me, sir.

We've hit a bit of a snag.

CIA says they won't release
what they've got on P2P.

Uh, Jonas Cobb.

They claim
it's classified.

FRANKS:
I'm already on the plane.

Didn't take too long to pack.

Just checked the box
and my piece.

Gonna run a razor
across that scraggly mug,

or you just measuring
the weight of your conscience?

[knocking on door]

Well, ain't you
gonna let me in?

[knocking harder]I said let me in, probie!

Glad you could come, Mike.

[Franks coughing]

Me, too.

[clears throat]
Offer me a drink.

It's 6:00 in the morning.

Float a Cheerio in it.

I'm going to work.
You can come with me.

All right.
A working vacation.

But at least tell me
what brought all this on.

You don't want to know.

I wouldn't ask
if I didn't want to...

I'll tell you later.

I'm going to hold you
to that, you hear?

I was going to leave you

old Decker's insurance policy
when I go away.

That box of goodies has kept me
in Vance's good standing

for almost three years.

I hope it does the same for you.

I hope I don't need it.

You already know
what comes next, Mike.

Think it through again.

That's why you're
staring at a body bag

looking for answers.

Think it through.

Just how it happened.

ABBY:
Mike!

I didn't know you
were in town.

Spur-of-the-moment thing.

Had some frequent flier miles
set to expire.

Yay.
What's all
the excitement?

Um, Cade and I
isolated an image

of this really big serial killer
that we've been calling P2P.

We now know that his real name
is Lieutenant Jonas Cobb.

He went UA last year.
We think he's using

a bunch of different
identities

because the CIA
is involved somehow,

but the name Cobb isn't
getting us anywhere.

He's the same guy
on the video that Levin got

after Agent Stark was killed.
So these guys are going to go

back out to the scene
and try to determine

the angle of the video
and I.D. the source.

Who the hell
are all these people?

Oh. These are
the new guys.

Gibbs didn't tell you?

Man of few words.

I've noticed.
McGee.

I'm trying to back-trace
the e-mails

Agent Stark's field office
received.

So far, no luck.Hey. Mike.

How are you,
Mr. Franks?

Ooh.

That's a little weird, huh?

Nub kinda tickles
a bit, don't it?

Just a little.

TONY [quietly]:
Nasty.

Uh, boss, anonymous tipster's
gone to a lot of trouble

to remain anonymous.

Only detail she's let
slip is she's a woman.And she claims

she knows the man caught on
video and can help us find him.

TONY: If we can get her
to come out of hiding.

She probably thinks the killer's

gonna turn on her,
just like...

Jimmy Stewart,
in Rear Window.

That's a sort of obvious and
rudimentary film reference.

Yet accurate.

Well...

Accurate. Maybe.

But lacking precision.

Although that close-up of
Grace Kelly, you know...

GIBBS:
Hey, speaking of blonde girls.

Agent Barrett? She's in MTAC
with Kort and Vance.

TONY:
Vance cut through
the CIA red tape.

Can I borrow him, Abbs?
No.

What do you want me for, probie?
I'm not involved in this mess.

That's not what I
need you for, Mike.

Oh, you're betting Vance
won't give me a hug,

a handshake, or a wave.

Well, let's just see
how he reacts.
Okay.

Barrett. Kort.

Meet NCIS legend
Mike Franks.

Director.

All right if I
stay for this

educational briefing?

This is, uh, sensitive
agency information.

And this is my agency.

I can't think of a better
reason for him to stay,

other than that it makes
you so uncomfortable.

I'll take this to my grave.

Operation Frankenstein began

with dozens of
potential candidates.

Their numbers were whittled down
through a series of tests--

written examinations,

followed by
psychological evaluations,

and of course, a physical.

The qualifications
were intense.

Each candidate was pushed
to the point of exhaustion

under extreme circumstances--

heat, cold--

the point was to gauge
their emotional parameters,

their ability to maintain
composure under the most

arduous situations.

Borders on the inhumane.

KORT:
Frankenstein is an updated

version of
a Cold War memorandum,

suggesting the potential
of intersecting

intelligence missions with
U.S. military serving abroad.

FRANKS: Sounds like
a lot of mumbo jumbo

from military men
doubling as spies.

Not exactly spies.

Assassins.

You were training
U.S. servicemen

to carry out
CIA wet work?

Lieutenant Jonas Cobb
was the prototype.

A fair to average
service record.

He was anxious for advancement
that rarely came.

Physically, emotionally,
he met all the parameters.

The only question was...

Could he kill?

This footage is of
Cobb's first assignment:

the execution of an al-Qaeda
operative working in...

Well, that's still classified.

It's cut together
with lipstick cameras

placed in the designated
kill zone.

The mission
was deemed a success.

Unfortunately,

when Cobb returned
to the program,

he was far less responsive
to training and handling.

Thing like that changes a man.

Yeah.

He failed to rejoin his unit
and his cover as a sailor.

Equipped with a dozen CIA-made
passports and identities,

Cobb went off the radar.

And then...

And then bodies
started popping up

all over the globe.

And you didn't think to say
anything to us until now.

It's our mess.

We've been trying
to clean it up.

Surely, you can respect that.

Got it!

Traced the e-mails?

Yep. Traced to a commercial
high-rise property.

Must be the witness's
work address.

Did I hear you say you got it?

I'm gonna pick
up my team,

then I'm gonna
pick up this witness.

She's our best shot
at finding Cobb.

Bring an umbrella;
it's gonna rain.

You said that
yesterday.

Did Kort spill?

Yeah.

Study this.

Get Ducky to build
a new psych profile.

Still don't know
why the M.O. changed on Stark.

Where will you be?

Research.

KORT:
Frankenstein is
an updated version

of a Cold War memorandum.

Probably not a good idea
to light up down here, huh?

Nothing but sawdust
and bourbon.

Truth to tell...

...I got sick of reading

all this crap
about two folders in.

Never really pegged you

for the kind to dredge through
the covert operations history

of NCIS.

No, I'm not.

You trusted Vance.

I still do.

But it hasn't been right
between you.

Well, not lately.

Can't just be something you did.

Pushing you away,

pulling this Barrett close.

Even him and Kort seem to have
something cooking.

It's tough to miss.

Well, I hope these old ghosts
will tell you

what you need to hear.

You do hear ghosts, probie?

[sighs]:
Yeah.

Yeah, I see them, too.

I believe we make them.

We've made our share.

Not just with this.

With the memories we make.

We fill the spaces
we live in with them.

That's why I've always tried

to make sure
that wherever I live,

the longer I live there,

the spaces become filled
with memories

of naked women.

[both laugh]

To more good memories.

Yeah.

Fewer bad ones.

[coughing]

How about fewer altogether?

FRANKS:
Is that all we talked about?

You didn't say,
"Have a nice walk"?

"Bye" or something?

[thunder crashes, rumbles]

Ain't you smart enough
to get out of the rain?

Me neither... Jonas.

My name is Mike Franks.

I figure I got
one more fight left in me.

You want it?

[grunts]

[grunting]

Oh, Mike.

Bye, Mike.

Um, we-we can call you

when we're finished
with the autopsy, if you...

Leave him be, Mr. Palmer.

Prints on the murder weapon?

Yeah. Abby matched them
to Jonas Cobb.

We canvassed a
20-block radius

around the crime scene;
no trace of him.

Or Mike's firearm.

How many shots did you hear?

Five.

We recovered
five shell casings.

McGee's dropping a net
on the city.

Red-flagged every one of
Cobb's possible identities.

Mike kept eight in the
mag, one in the chamber.

Assume Cobb's armed.

We did pull a slug
embedded in a parked car.

Traces of blood on it;
through and through.

We can assume Cobb
got hit at least once.

Mike's swan song.

Excuse me.

Hey, Duck...

it's a myth, isn't it?

About the mute swan?

Yes. They do
make a sound.

They hiss, don't they?

Yes.

And they do not sing
before they die.

Perfect.

[sighs]

There is always
another monster.

Yep.

I mean, we
pursue them,

but we just keep making
targets of ourselves.

Better us than someone
who didn't sign up for it.

I don't think I
can take anymore.

Hey.

We're gonna get him.

Okay?

Bring it in.

Did you update
your psych profile?

Well, Cobb spent years within

the rigid structure
of the military.

These kills make a mockery
of rank and promotion.

Changing uniforms after
cleansing the bodies.

As if they
were reborn.

His frequent use of ice

might express how
he himself felt frozen.

And bound.

Constricting ropes.

Tightly-wrapped
in plastic.

Yes. Well, I'm sure
that his first kill,

as an operative of the CIA,
liberated him from those rules--

freedom from right and wrong.

He became a beast, an animal.

Yeah. I saw that in
his eyes on the video.

In a moment, name, rank,
title meant nothing.

It's primal.

What dominates is instinct
and the will to survive.

But I also believe that in
a face-to-face confrontation,

Cobb feels insecure.

He doesn't know if he can win.

So he becomes a hunter.

He picks his targets,
lays traps, dresses his kill.

But why the change
in his M.O. now?

His focus changed.

He drew the attention
of predators

further up the food chain in the
form of Kort and NCIS agents--

predators he had to study.

Duck, he was at my house.

How does that fit in?

I was deliberately
not chasing him.

There's nothing to suggest that
he was there to commit violence.

Mike Franks would
disagree with that.

Mike Franks might have
picked the fight.

You and I both know that.

Each time Cobb has killed,
he baited the trap.

That's never changed...

prior to tonight.

So he wasn't in your
neighborhood hunting; he was...

He was doing research.

Yeah.

[door opens]

I study you, Leon.

I know you do.

I study you back, Gibbs.

It feels wrong...

dig into your
life like that.

But I do it.

Because sometimes I
can't understand why

you make the god-awful
decisions that you do.

I feel the same way.

The only difference is,

you're not responsible
for my actions, Gibbs.

But I am for yours.

I should've been on this
case from the beginning.

I'm sorry about
Mike Franks.

Thank you.

But you called him in.

Figured I'd see him
and I'd bend.

You always do.

Whatever he's
got on you...

There's nothing on me!

I'm your boss, Gibbs.

And we've been tight.

Sometimes tight
like a damn noose.

So if I backed off
on our friendship,

maybe I had to step back,
take a deep breath

and do my job.

I have other people
I have to answer to.

Maybe, maybe when bodies
were showing up in Europe.

But when it's in
my own backyard,

and you promote that...

rookie over me?

That wasn't my decision.

Promotions.

He hates them.

Who? Cobb or you?

He thinks we have
that in common.

He-He stole a souvenir
from my desk.

He was at my house.

But he uses bait
to attract his targets.

He's never baited you.

No, not me.

He feels a
kinship with me,

because I got
skipped over.

In favor of Barrett.

There is no witness.

He videoed himself.

He's using it.

Yeah, to bait the trap.

Barrett.

VANCE:
E.J., where are you?

We've been scouring the building
the e-mails originated from,

floor by floor, Director.

Still haven't found anything.

VANCE:
Be on high alert.

Cobb is armed and likely
anticipates your arrival.

You go high.

Really?

LEVIN:
Oh, my God...

That is disturbing.

[gunshot][groans]

Gibbs.

[gunfire]

VANCE: Agent Barrett,
what's your status?

[gunfire]

Cade and Levin
are down.

[grunting]

I'm going after Cobb.

No! Wait for backup!

E.J., that's an order.

[whirring]

[both grunting]