Patrick Fischler as Cliff Walker and Tyla Abercrumbie as Mary Jo Hayes in NCIS: ORIGINS Season 2 Episode 7Image via Paramount+
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Jasneet Singh
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Jasneet Singh is a writer who finally has a platform to indulge in long rants about small moments on TV and film in overwhelming detail. With a literature background, she is drawn to the narrative aspect of cinema and will happily rave about her favorite characters. She is also waiting for the Ranger's Apprentice novels to be adapted... but the cycle of hope and disappointment every two years is getting too painful to bear.
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Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for NCIS: Origins Season 2, Episode 7.NCIS: Origins returns after its one-week break with a case that hits a little bit too close to home for Cliff Wheeler (Patrick Fischler), the cranky supervisor of our favorite NIS team. While he doesn't have so much of a major role in the first season, Origins Season 2 gives Fischler a meatier role from the jump. In the premiere, he was demoted and became an infuriating on-field agent, before Franks (Kyle Schmid) finally convinced their boss to re-instate Wheeler. He pops up throughout the episodes, but overall is that antagonistic, bureaucratic leader we love to roll our eyes at.
Season 2, Episode 7, "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," gives us a deeper look behind this grumpy leader's facade. Mark Harmon's narration kicks us off with a monologue about loneliness, something we can definitely associate with Wheeler since his attitude can be alienating. But on top of that, Wheeler's leadership position means everyone is asking him for signatures and giving him complaints rather than talking to him like a regular human. At home, things are even worse as he is going through a divorce. The only time Wheeler smiles is during his affair with Noah Oakley (DaJuan Johnson), but even that feels isolating because it is a secret.
'NCIS: Origins' Exposes a More Vulnerable Side to Wheeler
Caleb Foote as Bernard “Randy” Randolf, and Mariel Molino as Cecilia “Lala” Dominguez in NCIS: Origins Season 2 Episode 7Image via Paramount+
Everything, especially murder, is creepier during a blackout. Origins drags us into the candlelit darkness during this week's case, where secrets are unraveled, the first of which is Vera Strickland's (Diany Rodriguez). She tells the crew that she applied for a joint task force located in DC, much to Lala's (Mariel Molino) surprise and chagrin. It causes friction between them as Lala is annoyed Vera didn't tell her sooner, while Vera is irritated about Lala not being happy for her. What somehow makes it worse is the friendship forming between Gibbs' (Austin Stowell) and Randy's (Caleb Foote) partners, who are exchanging dresses and gift baskets that pass through the office; Lala is constantly reminded that her own friendship with Vera is on the rocks.
The next secret is naturally the perpetrator behind this week's crime: the murder of a young marine (not "lady marine," Franks), Natasha. Her corpse was found mauled right outside the base, and even though it looked like a cougar attack, they found three stab wounds on the body. In the backdrop of this case are the "Cougar Crazies," a rioting group of people opposing the euthanization of the cougar that mauled Natasha. While on the scene, there's a completely innocuous guy with a "weather pen," that is, a pen that can be used during any weather, that Randy momentarily fawns over — definitely not Chekhov's pen at all.
Upon questioning her bunkmates, Lala finds out Natasha was picked up by a big-shot colonel, not one they could comfortably bring in for questioning without going through red tape. So they need Wheeler's help. Unfortunately, Vera also needs Wheeler's recommendation letter at the same time. And Carl (Matthew Henerson), this week's comedic subplot, needs Wheeler's approval to join the cougar-hunting task force. Utterly and rightfully overwhelmed by all the people surrounding him and making demands while he is just trying to enjoy a whiskey and mull over his divorce, Wheeler cracks. Luckily for everyone, Mary Jo (Tyla Abercrumbie) sends him home afterward.
Lala and Vera Get Into a Fight in 'NCIS: Origins' Season 2, Episode 7
Before Wheeler leaves, he does give the colonel a call, allowing Franks to interrogate him about Natasha's case. The colonel tells them his meeting with Natasha was regarding her new job on a secret task force (where all the documents are redacted) and when he dropped her home, she was talking to a man she seemed to know. At this point in the episode, the investigation is shrouded in secrets, but at home, Wheeler is forced to deal with his own. His wife reveals that she knows he is seeing Oakley again, making his affair seem even more real and inescapable.
Meanwhile, Mary Jo is trying to mediate the tension between Lala and Vera by inviting them to a bar, but Lala leaves to take over from Carl in the office. She returns in time to see Carl don a ridiculous, camo-clad outfit to join the cougar task force. As he leaves, the blackout strikes again, and we're left in a creepy scene of darkness with Lala. A bang on the door catches her attention, and she is faced with a "Cougar Crazy" member who found the broken handle of the murder weapon. When she asks him to put his hands up, he panics, draws a gun and runs away. In an admittedly chilling but somewhat redundant and anticlimactic scene, she finds and arrests him.
Wheeler Confronts His Secret Affair in 'NCIS: Origins' Season 2, Episode 7
Matthew Henderson as NIS Special Agent Carl Loughlin, Kyle Schmid as Mike Franks, Caleb Foote as Bernard “Randy” Randolf, Austin Stowell as Leroy Jethro Gibbs, Diany Rodriguez as Vera Strickland, and Tyla Abercrumbie as Mary Jo Hayes in NCIS: ORIGINS Season 2 Episode 7Image via Paramount+
The next day, the forensics team confirms that the cougar ate some of Natasha's corpse by examining its feces. There, they also find a ceremonial coin that originally belonged to the colonel, giving Franks a satisfied smile as he is allowed to call in and interrogate a big-shot marine again. On the way to the interrogation room, Franks gives Wheeler one of his rare dollops of compassion, where he empathizes with his divorce by mentioning his break-up with Tish. Then he dons his fierce mask and enters the room with Lala. During the interview, another secret is revealed, as they find out that the colonel couldn't possibly have murdered Natasha because he was in a motel all night — with a man.
The revelation is staggering during this time because the secret made the colonel a liability. Considering he had access to confidential information, his homosexuality could be used against him as blackmail. As such, Wheeler was obligated to report the colonel to his superiors, and he had every intention to when Mary Jo intervened. She reveals that she knows about his affair with Oakley and urges him not to report the colonel, because he would never forgive himself. The scene is charged and goes exactly the way we expect: Wheeler verbally lashes out at her and kicks her out of the office.
Wheeler Feels A Little Less Alone At the End of 'NCIS: Origins' Season 2, Episode 7
Caleb Foote as Bernard “Randy” Randolf, Mariel Molino as Cecilia “Lala” Dominguez, Patrick Fischler as Cliff Walker and Tyla Abercrumbie as Mary Jo Hayes and Diany Rodriguez as Vera Strickland in NCIS: ORIGINS Season 2 Episode 7Image via Paramount+
Remember Chekhov's pen? The team finds out that Natasha had gone to the bar with that mysterious man the colonel saw, and by checking the trash cans, they find a weather pen. Apparently, only one person on the entire base owns that weather pen, and Randy immediately recognizes it. They chase him down, and it is revealed that he went on a date with Natasha, she rejected anything more than a kiss at the end of the night, and he murdered her in a rage. The motivations were glossed over a tad too quickly, but there is a bitter ache in knowing that, despite her involvement in all these secret teams, it was something every woman fears that killed her.
On a happier note, Lala decides to give Vera a basket of goodies to make up for her unsupportive behavior, while Vera reveals that she may want to stay at NIS after all and create her own joint team. Meanwhile, Wheeler thankfully decides not to report the colonel, agreeing to keep his secret, though he does also recommend Oakley for the DC job, dealing with his own sexuality by pushing it away. He also makes amends with Mary Jo at the bar, and she opens up to him about the broken oven she's been lamenting throughout the entire episode, one she associates with happy memories of her father. By the end of this slightly underdeveloped exploration into Wheeler's life, we leave him a little less lonely as he now finds comfort in knowing Mary Jo will hide his most precious secret.
New episodes of NCIS: Origins air on Tuesdays on CBS in the U.S.
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NCIS: Origins
'NCIS: Origins' Season 2, Episode 7 drags the pacing of Wheeler's heartfelt story.
Like Follow Followed TV-14 Crime Drama Action Release Date October 14, 2024 Network CBS Directors Niels Arden Oplev, John Terlesky, Diana Valentine, Edward Ornelas, Hanelle M. Culpepper, Lionel Coleman, Loren Yaconelli, Pete Chatmon, Pamela Romanowsky, Ruben Garcia, Jessica Lowrey Writers Brendan Fehily
9 Images
Austin Stowell looking surprised as Gibbs in NCIS Origins
Diany Rodriguez as Vera Strickland and Kyle Schmid as Mike Franks in NCIS: Origins©CBS / Courtesy MovieStillsDB
Austin Stowell as Leroy Gibbs and Mariel Molino as Lala Dominguez in NCIS: Origins©CBS / Courtesy MovieStillsDB
NCIS Origins Kyle Schmid as Mike FranksCBS/MovieStillsDB
Patrick Fischler as Cliff Wheeler in NCIS: Origins©CBS / Courtesy Everett Collection
Lala and Gibbs in NCIS OriginsCBS
Lala in NCIS: Origins season 2CBS (via MoviesStillDb)
Lala and Gibbs in season 1, episode 6, looking at someone
NCIS Origins castClose
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Austin Stowell
Leroy Jethro Gibbs
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Kyle Schmid
Special Agent Mike Franks
Set in 1991, NCIS: Origins explores the early career of Leroy Jethro Gibbs, a new agent at the NCIS Camp Pendleton office. The series delves into Gibbs' formative years under the mentorship of Special Agent Mike Franks. The prequel provides insights into Gibbs' background following the tragic loss of his wife and daughter.
Genres Crime, Drama, Action Expand Collapse Pros & Cons- Fischler plays Wheeler with heart, giving the emotions depth even if the story needs more work.
- The overall case is interesting, especially as the ending tugs on our heartstrings.
- Wheeler's arc feels underdeveloped and truncated compared to other character episodes.
- The pacing of the episode is inconsistent, as it is weighed down by subplots and red herrings.
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NCIS: Origins
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Austin Stowell
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