“Moonlit,” this week’s NCIS episode, delivered a satisfying blend of procedural twists and character-driven moments. The case itself, the murder of Navy Lieutenant Robert Mosley, initially seemed like a straightforward drug deal gone wrong. But as Torres and Knight dug deeper, the investigation took a detour into the world of wealthy families, environmental activism, and, of course, a healthy dose of secrets.
The victim, Lieutenant Mosley, turned out to have ties to Special Agent Sawyer, a figure from the team’s past. Sawyer, who has never exactly inspired confidence, claimed he and the Lieutenant were working a side gig, providing security for Shayna Reynolds, a young heiress with a passion for protecting endangered species. As it turned out, Shayna’s family had plans to sell ecologically important wetlands for development, a conflict of interest that placed her directly at odds with her own family.
Meanwhile, Parker was dealing with his own brand of intrigue. Haunted by visions of a mysterious little girl, he enlisted Jimmy’s artistic talents to create a sketch of the spectral figure. The girl, it turned out, was connected to a near-death experience from Parker’s past, an incident that also involved his mother’s death.
Back at the crime scene, the team discovered some unusual bite marks on Lieutenant Mosley’s body – alligator bites, to be precise. This led them to an underground party, a diversionary tactic employed by the real killer: Peter Braden, the Reynolds family’s head of security. Braden, it turned out, was trying to cover up the accidental death of his wife, a death that Mosley had witnessed.
Sawyer, surprisingly, played a key role in apprehending Braden, proving that maybe, just maybe, he can be a useful agent when the chips are down. As for Parker, he learned that the little girl he kept seeing was the sole survivor of the car accident that claimed his mother’s life, a revelation that brought closure to a long-unresolved trauma.
NCIS airs Mondays at 9:00 PM ET on CBS.
