In the fifth episode of the series NCIS Sydney, we get a scenario where the NCIS get ‘indirectly’ involved in a case. They were stationed in Australia to help protect the assets of the US Navy, but in the latest episode, they find themselves trying to save Dr. Roy Penrose, who gets trapped in a hostage situation. No, it wasn’t a terrorist attack; the hostage-taker was a 15-year-old Louie, who controlled the show for a while with an IED vest wrapped around her torso. Jim comes to the forefront to save Casey, as he believed from the get-go that a 15-year-old couldn’t be the mastermind of the hostage situation, and indeed he was correct. Here is a detailed recap of NCIS Sydney episode 5.
Spoilers Ahead
Who Made The Bomb?
Dr. Roy Penrose was chilling in the Ground & Hound Cafe with his dog, not expecting any more NCIS duties that day. But Louie walked in the door, and Roy was unofficially on a case. He could see that she was wounded, but she was adamant that everybody listen to her; otherwise, she would blow up the place. Roy was quick on his feet to dial the NCIS headquarters, where Jim, Mackey, and others were listening to whatever he was talking about. Roy could only make them understand that he was in the Ground and Hound Cafe, and it was possible that he might get blown to smithereens if they didn’t do something soon. When Jim arrived at the scene, Detective Sergeant Cath Welsh had already gathered her unit to deal with the hostage situation. Louie had the brilliant idea to start a live feed on her social media in case the police try to barge in and shoot her, which Jim thought was best, as he tried to be amicable in the process of negotiation. Meanwhile, the NCIS team found CCTV footage where Louie was seen robbing a bank and perhaps shooting a cop as well. Blue was trying her best to get a live acquisition, i.e. hacking into Louie’s phone to get a live record of her calls and messages, and she tracked the incoming call, which almost led DeShawn and Evie to Stone, the man who had made the bomb.
Why Was Fiona Arrested?
Mackey had seen Stone near the cafe, and after their preliminary investigation at Louie’s house, where her mother Fiona and cancer-ridden sister Casey lived, she figured that Stone might be the one who had used Louie’s desperation to get her to commit the robbery. The whole plan was set up by Stone, who abducted Casey once NCIS left the premises. He did not return to his house, where there was enough evidence that he had built the bomb. But there was a twist. Fiona’s fingerprints were all over Stone’s apartment, and she was arrested. The vest that Louie was wearing was all thanks to Fiona’s ingenuity. Stone might have built the bomb, but it was Fiona who made the vest. She was in cahoots with Stone, but the reason was pretty moving. Fiona had made the vest, not for Louie but for herself. Louie jumped the gun, wore the vest herself, and contacted Stone, telling him that there had been a change of plan. The money was for Casey’s medications, which cost a lot, and Stone was to be their dealer. But he didn’t honor the plan and tried to shoot Louie when she got out of the bank. The bullet had grazed her arm, which explained the injury Roy saw on Louie. Stone had told Fiona and Louie that the bomb wasn’t real and that it was just to scare people at the bank so they would hand over the money, but he had tricked everybody and put a live bomb in the vest, which he could detonate through his phone.
How Did Blue Help Find Casey?
The only thing stopping Stone from detonating the bomb was that he didn’t know where Louie had stashed the money. Mackey was in constant contact with Jim, telling him about the new developments in the case. Up until then, Jim had done well to stop Cath Welsh from neutralizing Louie. Welsh seemed to care only about the lives of the hostages, but she wasn’t paying attention to other facts related to the case. Jim had saved Louie once by obstructing the sniper’s shots, but it was getting more and more difficult to be the savior. Meanwhile, Blue was having the worst day of her life. The team had figured that Louie was oblivious to the fact that the bomb was fake, and they had to make Fiona call her to know the truth. Blue couldn’t admit the fact that Stone was going to blow up the place either way. She had tried hard to hack into Louie’s phone, but to no avail. Next, she tried to find Casey through her phone, but that was a dead end as well. Luckily, she saw a video of the two sisters dancing and saw that Casey had a tracker on her med bag, which she always carried on her back. Through the tracker, Mackey and others tracked down Stone and Casey.
Why Didn’t The Bomb Go Off?
Louie had asked for a chopper, but that wasn’t going to happen. Jim had stalled matters for as long as he could, and when Stone called Louie to tell him that he had Casey with him, Louie had no option but to tell him where she had stashed the money. Jim knew that once Stone had the cash, he would blow up the place, which is why he had asked Welsh to get a jammer in the area. There was a lot of red tape involved as there was a hospital in the cafe’s vicinity that could be affected by the jammer. Jim took his chance and got the jammer himself by circumventing all that red tape, and eventually Welsh understood his point. She had seen that Louie had not shot the cop, from the body cam on the cop, it was clear that he was shot by Stone, who then shot Louie but had missed. Louie might have robbed the bank, but she wasn’t a killer. Neither was she aware that the bomb was real and could be detonated if Stone dialed the phone in her vest. Mackey and others arrived at a location tracking Casey’s bag, and Stone was busy looking for the money in a trashcan. DeShawn took the opportunity to save Casey, and seeing the cops, Stone threatened to dial the number that would detonate the bomb. Mackey awaited instructions from Jim to know if the jammer was in place. The moment they had Jim’s assent, Mackey shot Stone, killing him on the spot. The jammer prevented the call from ringing Louie’s phone, and she was saved. The 15-year-old was slated to be detained in a juvenile center as she had committed a serious crime, but through Roy’s testimony, she could be released with a minor punishment.
