Major spoilers for NCIS: Origins episode 3
Another NCIS: Origins episode, another moniker for the bad guy of the episode. Though in "Bend, Don't Break," the case is more complicated than it initially seems. The NIS team are called when a body is found in the conservation park. The vic was a civilian by the name of Emmett Sawyer, a 22 year old marijuana dealer who looked to have been beaten something bad, but he wasn't killed in the park. It happened at the Sherwood Pines Mall.
Emmett had been dealing there along with a kid around his age named Dougie. They'd gotten caught selling drugs a few times by the mall's security guards. It's the same place two petty officers had been pinched for narcotics but that was their only connection to the military.
When he realized he had heat on him, Dougie ran, but he didn't get far. Lala got the drop on him which gave Randy the opportunity to arrest him. But as Mike was talking to him, Dougie rammed his head into his face. This prompted Gibbs to jump into action and grab the kid before he could get away.
While being held on the ground, Dougie started talking about how they were all going to die. He elaborated on his point when he was being interrogated by Lala. He'd seen the Mothman and everyone knows once you've seen the creature everyone around you dies. Mike and Randy got a kick out of Dougie's explanation since the supposed Mothman is an urban legend.
Dougie, however, was adamant when speaking to Lala that he'd seen the creature. It had been on the roof looking at him with its red eyes. He'd freaked out so bad that he tried to speed off in his car. What he didn't realize was that Emmett was in his way. By the time he noticed, he'd already hit his friend and then he wound up driving over him. Hysterical and overwhelmed, Dougie put Emmett in his car and drove to the park. He knew Emmett was dead, but he had to get him away from the Mothman. The park has coyotes and the creature doesn't like them so it was the best place for Emmett in Dougie's belief.
As out of his mind as Dougie sounded when he was being questioned, he wasn't entirely wrong about what he saw. The team was clued into this thanks to his full statement which revealed that Prado, the security guard that they'd spoken to at the mall, was there the night Dougie accidentally killed Emmett. Dougie had seen him as he was driving away. And, no, he wasn't just making rounds.
Who is the Mothman on NCIS: Origins episode 3?
At first, it had seemed that what Prado was doing was nefarious after the team's case went from being about involuntary vehicular manslaughter to a robbery at the mall. The culprits pilfered guns from the sporting goods store and for some initially inexplicable reason the toy store. The NIS knew Prado was good for the crime, but they didn't have enough to hold him so Gibbs trapped him and himself in an elevator.
This bought his colleagues time to investigate what Prado and his crew were up to. With Vera's help, Lala was able to trace the crew to an auto detail business run by a man who Prado served with in the marines. There they found recon gear that would have given the crew the appearance of being the Mothmen of legend while they were turning the mall's cameras around, as well as coordinates to a location.
Having spoken with Prado, who was genuinely feeling guilty about what happened to Emmett, Gibbs had a gut feeling that the veteran and his crew weren't trying to get in the arms dealing business. Yes, they stole from the sporting goods store and robbed the toy store for its squirt guns so they could hide the guns in them, but they'd done so for a selfless reason.
Gibbs read Prado's file and learned that Prado and the marines he served with had witnessed a massacre in El Salvador. They helped the surviving families escape to a church but were ordered to depart. Knowing it was only a matter of time before the government death squads found the survivors, the crew were sending the guns to Perquín so the families could defend themselves.
Their plan fell apart because of the NIS' investigation but a covert operation was launched to save the families. They weren't left to fend for themselves like Prado feared.
Is Gibbs still riding the bench at the NIS?
For the entirety of the Prado side of the investigation, Gibbs was supposed to be benched. Mike had relegated Gibbs to the desk because of his father Jackson's request. In an emotional scene at the agent's house, Jackson had declared that his son had a death wish. He's of the mind that Gibbs doesn't need to be working at the NIS, he needs to be working on healing preferably back in Stillwater with him. In lieu of that he'll take his son getting pulled out of the field.
Gibbs couldn't countenance that and defied both his father and Mike. Doing so, however, is what helped break open the case, revealed the real reason for Prado's heist, and saved the Salvadoran families whose lives were under threat. Even knowing this, it took Gibbs directly asking Mike if he could go back in the field for him to get the go ahead but his boss warned him. If he pulls the same stunt he did again, he won't be benched, he'll be off NIS' roster all together.
Stay tuned to Americans Undercover for NCIS: Origins coverage. New episods air Mondays at 10 p.m. ET on CBS. Next day streaming is available on Paramount+. Follow us on X and Facebook for more content!