Do you ever feel like you have had your head in the sand and missed something really significant from previous episodes?
Well, that’s where I am after NCIS Season 22 Episode 15, where Parker revisits his past visions of Lily, his father pays a visit, and we have fun with NCIS Agent Dale Sawyer, Nick’s perfect nemesis.
So much time comes and goes between these things that I tend to forget they ever happened.
For a full recap of the episode, click the link above. This is our discussion space.
I’ve been nitpicky about NCIS lately because it’s generally so shallow. The cases are the most important part of the series, and while that’s OK, I think it does the characters a disservice.
But the case here, where a young woman named Shayna had a beef with her mother, going so far as to believe she would kill her over a land deal (an exaggeration by a young woman who needs drama), also helped elevate what little bit we got with Parker, Lily, and his dad.
Before now, we had an idea about Parker’s mom. She left the family early, and it was traumatic. She just walked out.
Parker has been seeing visions of Lily since last season, and it’s gotten under his skin to the point that he asked Jimmy to draw her using one of the most emotionally driven descriptions I’ve ever heard.
I find it fascinating that people can get anywhere near an actual person with such drawings, but Parker said it was spot on. It gave him a sense of relief to see her come to life.
Parker’s dad was on a senior trip to Vegas when Parker asked about his mother. Parker has big questions about his past and wants answers.
The timing was off, of course, but maybe it was the perfect setup for Parker’s Pops to skip town and hightail it back to civilization and finally address some of Parker’s questions.
Now, these conversations are always piecemeal. Perhaps what he told Parker was as much as he could eke out. Maybe this family speaks in short bursts, making others hunt down more significant meaning from their chats.
Whatever it was, Parker learned his mother didn’t exactly walk out on them, never to return in the way you’d imagine as a kid — your mother out there, just living life without you.
Instead, she was an alcoholic who put her kids (I say kids, given how Parker has described his family in the past) in danger. On the night of her death, she returned home, driving drunk with Parker in the car.
That led to a big blowup between husband and wife, and Mrs. Parker wrapped her car around a nearby tree. What’s interesting is that armed with this information, Parker found reporting of her crash, and in the photo from the scene was Lily.
It’s not a coincidence that Lily was at the scene and that he’s been having visions of her. And if Papa Parker says he doesn’t recognize the girl, he’s lying.
Some internet sleuths have wondered if Lily is a sister who died and Pops Parker never told Parker about it. But being at the accident scene doesn’t work for that scenario.
The article insinuated that Parker’s mom committed suicide, speeding up her approach to the tree. If that’s the case, she could have let the child out of the car at some point, but that’s far too complicated to imagine.
Parker has seen her on several occasions, most of them traumatic. She is ominous and respects secrecy. This is nothing but another clue to her mystery, though, and not an answer.
Seeing her in that photo confirms for Parker that she is real and is attached to his family in some way. I expect the rest of the story to come much quicker than the earlier timeline. Hopefully, we’ll have traction by the end of NCIS Season 22.
In the meantime, put your bets on the table about who you think Lily really was (or is?). I guess she could still be alive. Now, THAT would be a fun storyline for Gary Cole to bring to life.
Cole is so good, and he deserves a deep dive into his character. All of the others have had that exploration, and it continues, so he’s due.
Nick’s backstory wasn’t really explored in this episode, but his neuroses about inadequacy are always on the table.
This time out, NCIS Agent Dale Sawyer returned. He’s been in three other episodes over the years, but I’ll be darned if I can remember him. He’s prominent enough to Nick’s teammates that they’ve named him Nick’s perfect nemesis.
Sawyer is played by Zane Holtz, who had another one-episode role on NCIS way back in 2013 before he became Sawyer, an agent on the night crew.
Nick is jealous of Sawyer because he can afford a nice, large truck on a similar salary. He wonders what’s up with that, but McGee hears Sawyer’s grandmother died, leaving him a large sum of money.
It’s not quite correct. He’s been moonlighting for extra cash with the latest victim, Bobby Mosley. Bobby wound up dead because he came across some information about the chief security guard who employed him at their moonlighting job.
The story wasn’t bad, but it worked in conjunction with Parker’s story as the mother and daughter get a second chance. I sense that the Parker fellows will have that second chance, as well, once the full story about his mom and Lily is out in the open.
The activities around the case were lighthearted and fun. What do you expect from someone who died with an alligator bite (cue the Jaws joke when the bite radius is discussed), and a dramatic daughter imagines her mother to be just left of the Godfather in her quest for power and money.
Nick and Sawyer played well off each other, so I’d like to see more of Sawyer. Holtz has good comedic timing, and I’ve said before that the best NCIS episodes are on the lighter side.
It’s not always the best for character development, but it’s a good cap after a long day. Easy breezy crimes solving for the win.
Are you interested in finding out more about Lily? Should Sawyer make more frequent appearances?
Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Watch NCIS Online
NCIS Season 22 Episode 15 Recap: Moonlit
This is a scene-by-scene recap of NCIS Season 22 Episode 15, “Moonlit.” The episode gives viewers an update on Parker’s Lily saga.
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