NCIS: Origins returned from its brief break with an episode that shifts the spotlight to one of the show’s most guarded characters: Cliff Wheeler. Season 2 has slowly peeled back layers of the usually prickly supervisor, but Episode 7 — “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” — finally cracks his stoic exterior.
A Case, a Blackout, and a Trail of Secrets
The team investigates the death of young Marine Natasha, whose body is discovered mauled near base during a citywide blackout. At first glance, it looks like a cougar attack, but stab wounds tell a different story. With protesters (“Cougar Crazies”) swarming and tensions rising, the case quickly becomes messy — and personal.
Meanwhile, Vera reveals she applied for a joint task force without telling Lala, fracturing their friendship just as the office gets tangled in red tape and rising emotions.
Wheeler Breaks Under Pressure
Wheeler’s façade finally buckles. Between his divorce, endless demands for approvals and signatures, and his secret relationship with Noah Oakley, he cracks under pressure. Mary Jo steps in, sending him home — but not before his personal life becomes impossible to avoid.
His wife confronts him about his affair. And later, Mary Jo discovers the truth too, urging him not to punish another man — a closeted colonel — whose own secret puts him at risk of blackmail. Wheeler lashes out, but the moment lingers.
The Killer Revealed
The killer turns out to be the man Natasha went on a date with — identified thanks to a unique “weather pen” (yes, Chekhov’s pen). Rejected after a kiss, he murdered her in a violent rage, grounding the case in a chilling dose of real-world brutality.
Friendships Heal, Wheeler Softens
By the end, Lala and Vera reconcile, and Vera even reconsiders leaving the team. Wheeler, for his part, chooses compassion: he protects the colonel’s secret, recommends Oakley for the DC job, and finally lets Mary Jo in. Their quiet bar conversation leaves him looking — for once — a little less alone.
