‘NCIS’ Season 14 Recap: Vance Finally Got A Date In Episode 9 ‘Pay To Play’

CBS series “NCIS” served up another Season 14 episode in which a Congresswoman received death threats. Vance (Rocky Carroll), Gibbs (Mark Harmon) and their team of trusty NCIS agents worked hard to find the perpetrator.

Episode 9, titled “Pay To Play,” began with Congresswoman Jenna Flemming (Mary Stuart Masterson) failing to acknowledge a string of death threats. It’s only when she receives a death rodent with the words “Flemming -- You’re next” that her personal aide, Max Sanders, calls the NCIS. Flemming is less than pleased to hear this but calorie-counting Max, who uses an app to scan everything he eats, felt it was necessary.

The team looks at people on social media who may have made threats against the politician’s life. However, it turns out to be a dead end.

It isn’t long before a simple death threat case becomes a murder investigation when Max is found death in a motel’s pool. The agents question the motel’s occupants and his girlfriend. All they can understand is that a red car was spotted before his murder. The girlfriend, however, is much more useful. She informs them that her boyfriend was working on a secret project for Flemming.

The Congresswoman confirms that Max was indeed working on a secret project that involved researching for ways to shut down the Brighton Naval Base. She argues that keeping it open isn’t good for the economics of her district. However, closing it can cause problems for the neighboring town. Incidentally, that town’s Mayor drives a red car.

Nick Torres (Wilmer Valderrama) and Gibbs find a package of dead rodents hidden in the Mayor’s freezer when they inspect his house. It looks like he is the one who sent Flemming the dead rat. Unfortunately, the Mayor has a solid alibi.

The case of the week wraps up when NCIS finds out that Max’s real killer is none other than (drumroll) his girlfriend. She is a real estate agent and closing the Brighton Naval Base would mean that her $40 million housing project in Brighton would be shelved. It was a deal that she brokered. She would receive a handsome commission out of it. She hit Max when she realized what he was working on for Flemming, but didn’t realize that the blow would kill him.

“NCIS” Season 14, episode 9 ended on two cliffhangers. The first is Alex Quinn (Jennifer Esposito) learning that new team member Clayton Reeves (Duane Henry) has volunteered for a mysterious operation called Operation Willoughby. Alex warns him it’s a suicide mission but Henry insists he knows what he is signing up for.

The second cliffhanger of “Pay To Play” is that Torres and Reeves agree to have a little alpha male competition between them to determine who is the stronger one.

Oh and Vance got to date Flemming. So, yes, this case jump started the NCIS Director’s bleak love life.

“NCIS” Season 14 airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. EST on CBS.