NCIS Season 22 Episode 7 Review: Hardboiled

Critic’s Rating: 3 / 5.0

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On NCIS Season 22 Episode 7, Torres is back in hot water — or at least tangled up in something that’s definitely off the books.

Why does he keep acting like he can do whatever he wants without facing consequences? Honestly, it’s baffling.

His character has been all over the place lately.

Last week, on NCIS Season 22 Episode 6, he was busy playing detective with Jess’s mysterious jacket (and wasting everyone’s time).

Now, he’s off the grid, cultivating his own CIs. Sure, there’s nothing wrong with building informants, but how he’s going about it feels… shady.

Vance thinks Torres might be crossing a line, but Parker brushes it off. Is he covering for him? I wouldn’t be surprised if Parker does think Torres overstepped but kept quiet to protect his team.

It wouldn’t be the first time.

And let’s be real — Torres finding himself in a mess is practically a running theme at this point.

The case of the week revolves around the murder of Roger Carnaghan, a naval researcher who was planning to steal and sell top-secret nuclear research.

Torres, in true Torres fashion, developed the guy’s wife, Amber, as a confidential informant — someone he just happened to meet at a party. Because, of course, he did.

Things go sideways when two private investigators catch Torres in a motel with Amber. It’s not a good look, but there’s more to the story.

Someone’s setting Torres up—shocker! It turns out Amber was in on her husband’s scheme, and the “missile” is at the center of it all. Yeah, it wasn’t a missile — it was a vacuum. Let that sink in.

And, surprise, surprise, the rookie P.I. was the one who thought he was going to cash in on the nuclear missiles that weren’t and caused the big mess that Torres found himself in.

Still, none of this changes the fact that Torres needs a leash — whether it’s for his off-the-books operations or just general boundary-pushing behavior.

The side story this hour? Just as lame. It centers on a bad call at a local kid’s soccer game, where Tim is moonlighting as a referee.

Apparently, Jimmy is the league’s head ref, which is how McGee got roped in. Unfortunately, this week, McGee has reverted to being McGeek.

And don’t get me started on Jimmy.

He’s such a noob, and it’s frustrating to see McGee stuck in a storyline about a bad soccer call while Jimmy treats him like they’re equally clueless. It’s insulting, honestly.

Look, I get the whole kids’ sports insanity and how unhinged parents can be. Been there, done that.

And sure, it’s nice to see McGee and Jimmy flex their parenting skills — but Jimmy feels so out of place in this universe.

I’ve been rewatching NCIS from the beginning, and even back in Season 1, Jimmy was a noob.

Gibbs and Ducky barely tolerated him (Don’t believe me? Check it out yourself.)

So why is he still here? He brings nothing but boredom, and watching him bumble through scenes is uncomfortable at best.

What’s worse is how McGee keeps getting dragged into irrelevant storylines like this.

His character has grown so much over the years, but these random detours feel like regression. It’s frustrating to watch.

And then there’s the real kicker.

McGee is in the middle of investigating a murder and discussing cigarette butt fingerprints with Kasie when — wait for it — Kasie decides it’s the perfect time to show him a video enhancement of the controversial soccer call.

I mean, WTF?

First off, do these people have nothing better to do during an active case? Especially Kasie? Last week, it was selfies with cadavers. This week, she’s busy with video enhancements for a soccer game.

And second, are we seriously using taxpayer dollars for this nonsense? Talk about wasteful government spending. It’s beyond ridiculous, and honestly, I’m over it.

I get that we need side stories, but some of these are so lame they make my eyes hurt.

A better use of McGee’s time would’ve been digging into LaRoche. Remember how he missed Ducky’s office dedication back on NCIS Season 22 Episode 3 because he was so caught up investigating LaRoche?

Since then, it’s like the whole thing has disappeared. If he was obsessed enough to miss such a big moment, why are we pretending it never happened? The inconsistency is maddening.

And speaking of maddening, let’s not forget NCIS Season 22 Episode 2 when the team had to hide a dead body.

Jimmy was the first one to question if they were crossing the line.

But now, when it comes to the soccer game where he clearly (thanks to Kasie’s reenactment video) made the wrong call, he wants McGee to let it go to save their “coaching careers.”

Seriously? It’s just kids — they’ll bounce back, right? But then Jimmy pulls a dramatic “I’m retiring from coaching” act, only to backtrack.

McGee? He’s out because he just wants to watch his kids play soccer. Respect. No need for McGee to follow Jimmy down this sad little road.

Honestly, Jimmy needs to leave NCIS altogether and sort himself out. He’s not adding anything to the team, and his constant baggage is dragging everyone down.

He’s like a sink clog — persistent, smelly, and impossible to ignore. Time to call the plumber. (What can I say? I call it like I see it. Shoot me.)

Lately, NCIS feels like watching a tennis match — one good episode, one mediocre one. There’s no consistency.

Returning to my rewatch of the early days, the original NCIS team with DiNozzo, Gibbs, McGee, and Kate (plus Ducky and Abby) reminds me a lot of the current vibe under Parker.

It was fun back then — until it wasn’t anymore.

I’m not sure what’s going on with NCIS right now or why the quality is all over the place, but it is.

With only two episodes left before the midseason break, here’s hoping they can finish strong and score a couple of wins.

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