‘NCIS Hawaii” Recap: Season 1 Finale — Kate Attempts a Grand Gesture

NCIS: Hawai’i closed out Season 1 on Monday night with Part 2 of its freshman finale, in which Captain Milius worked again with Special Agent Tennant’s team to find out who sabotaged a prisoner exchange between the United States and Eastern Europe.

At the close of Part 1, the American journalist that was being returned to the States began violently seizing and foaming at the mouth — and as Part 2 opened, he died not long after, aboard the Coast Guard jet Jane had secured. It was then discovered that the exact same grim fate befell the Russian spy that had been handed over at the swap. But who could have possibly poisoned the certified-healthy men, and when/how?

When the ME suggested that the poison had been administered in two parts, the second being via the oxygen tank aboard the planes, that led them to the doctor from the tarmac. After he was grabbed in Manila and grilled by Jane and a conspicuously colorful SEAL, it was learned that the doc had been recruited by “Silver Moon,” the same Dark Web entity that orchestrated Corporal Cartwright’s murder in Part 1.

Meanwhile, Boom Boom’s examination of the IED used on the SUV in Part 1 got Ernie and the team tracking the delivery and transport of some very unstable TATP (triacetone triperoxide). That led them to a lab, where in the course of searching the explosives-laded building, Jesse stepped on a pressure-sensitive detonator. Thankfully, only a bit of drama followed, as Boom Boom calmly rerouted the power source (lest they all turn to “pink mist”).

Much TATP was unaccounted for, though, and none of the likely public targets made sense. Jane then surmised that the target was the about-to-convene, covert meeting between Joe and his powerful peers in “The Group,” so as to really derail any attempts to maintain peace. Jane was unable to reach Joe by cell, but her team stormed the meeting place in time to evacuate everyone just before Babin (sp?), the mastermind, was able to trigger the explosion. Except, the remote detonator that Babin was holding, Boom Boom observed, was a dummy — meaning, someone else nearby was actually the bomber.

Based on intel that Whistler was able to coerce out of a (too) pretty (for Lucy’s liking) Russian FSB agent, Jane was able to confront the true perpetrator — Colin McIntyre, one of Joe’s counterparts in The Group, who was promptly arrested.

Afterward, back at Jane’s office, Joe inquired about how they might make what the two of them have a “regular thing,” but as Jane noted, her whole life is in Hawaii, while his is back in D.C. That said, the prospect is a “very nice thought,” and they agreed to “live in those nice thoughts” while he was still in town. But first, Jane was hosting a pot luck that night, to which the extended team (Boom Boom, Kai’s father, etc;) was invited.

At the party, Lucy anxiously watched the door, hoping to see Kate, but to no avail. But just as she started slipping into a funk (while denying her longings to Ernie), Lucy heard singing in the distance — as an arriving Kate took Ernie’s advice quite literally and delivered a “grand gesture” in the form of a serenade. (Adele’s Bob Dylan’s “Make You Feel My Love,” to be exact.) And sure enough, following an instant of confusion, and upon hearing Kate plainly profess her love, Lucy pulled her ex into a long kiss, as the partygoers on the deck whooped and hollered.

What did you think of NCIS: Hawai’i‘s finale, and Season 1 as a whole?