WARNING: The following contains spoilers for NCIS Season 18, Episode 14, "Unseen Improvements," which aired May 11 on CBS.
The latest episode of NCIS, titled “Unseen Improvements,” featured the return of Gibbs’ former neighbor and friend, Phineas, but the show again missed a chance to make the boy a regular cast member. Phineas was first introduced in Season 17, Episode 5, “Wide Awake,” and he appeared in four more episodes over the course of the season. During that stretch, he and Gibbs bonded really well. Gibbs bought him a baseball glove and taught him how to throw a ball; they also worked on a science fair project together and even solved an NCIS case using a video game.
A shock to their relationship came when it was revealed that the boy’s mother, Sarah, was really a terrorist known as Sahar. It turns out she was using Phineas to get close to Gibbs and gain information in her quest to kill Ziva David. During a confrontation, Gibbs was forced to kill Phineas’ mother in order to save Ziva. Although Phineas was shocked by the whole course of events, he actually wanted to stay with Gibbs, a move that could have pushed Gibbs’ character into a new, bold phase for Season 18. However, NCIS didn't go in that direction. When Gibbs refused to commit to his staying, in Season 17, Episode 11, “In the Wind,” Phineas ran away and was taken by his uncle. Although Gibbs found him, the boy ended up going to live with an aunt and uncle who randomly turned up at the end of the episode.
Now, in “Unseen Improvement,” Gibbs is on suspension when he learns that Phineas’ uncle and would-be kidnapper is back and ready for round two. The kidnapper attacks Phineas and his aunt and uncle while they are driving and runs their car off of the road in an attempt to take the boy. With his aunt and uncle badly injured, Phineas flees the scene and makes his way to Gibbs’ house. Gibbs finds out that Phineas’ good uncle is in critical condition and being rushed to emergency surgery, while his aunt is in a medically induced coma after a bad concussion.
Phineas has had a rough go of it. When he first gets to Gibbs’ house, he tries to act like his life isn’t that bad. He enjoys living with his aunt and uncle, and school is okay. However, as the episode progresses, he starts to reveal how he really feels. Although he is still his usual, talkative self, during dinner he tells Gibbs, “I can hardly sleep some nights… I worry all the time about being alone and people leaving. That’s why I never let friends get close because they’re just going to leave one day, one way or another.” It’s pretty depressing that a kid who can be so chipper actually feels so alone.
Since Phineas has experienced this, he can also see through everything that Gibbs is. Phineas wants to know what happed to Sloane, if Gibbs loved her and if he would ever get married again. He even asks him, “Ever wonder if maybe living all alone and building that boat is just a way of avoiding stuff?” Gibbs is noticeably put off by the statement and tries to change the subject. But by the end of the episode, Gibbs admits to feeling lonely, just like Phineas.
The two of them are practically made for each other. Phineas has proven that he is perceptive, inquisitive and resourceful on multiple occasions, acting much like a Gibbs mini-me. Aside from all that, they have clearly missed each other, and they understand each other in ways that not many can fathom: feeling alone, having people taken away from them, always having someone out to get them and wondering what comes next. With Phineas’ aunt and uncle in critical condition, this could've been the perfect set-up for Phineas to become a more permanent part of Gibbs’ life. It could have benefited and pushed both characters, but NCIS misses its opportunity again. Phineas’ aunt and uncle both pull through and Phineas goes back to living with them, leaving Gibbs alone and in the same, old rut he has been in for years.
NCIS stars Mark Harmon, Sean Murray, Emily Wickersham, Wilmer Valderrama, Brian Dietzen, Diona Reasonover, Rocky Carroll, David McCallum. New episodes air Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on CBS.