Tonight on CBS NCIS: ORIGINS returns with an all-new Monday, April 14, 2025, season 1 episode 17 called, “Darlin’, Don’t Refrain,” and we have your weekly NCIS: ORIGINS recap below.
In tonight’s NCIS: ORIGINS season 1 episode 17 called “Darlin’, Don’t Refrain,”as per the CBS synopsis, “After the shocking developments in the Sandman case, the team works with the FBI to investigate further.
While Wheeler struggles to hold onto his job, his family reaches a crisis point”
So make sure to bookmark this spot and come back between 10:00 PM – 11:00 PM ET for our NCIS: ORIGINS recap. While you wait for the recap make sure to check out all our NCIS recaps, spoilers, news & more, right here!
Tonight’s NCIS: ORIGINS Recap begins now – Refresh Page often to get the most current updates!
In tonight’s NCIS Origins episode, the Reginal Director demanded a meeting with Wheeler. He heard that the Sandman hadn’t actually been captured. The serial killer was still free and he managed to kill someone in prison. The fallout from this was in the media. The media loved tearing someone down.
They couldn’t wait to mock Wheeler for his premature victory lapse when he arrested Bugs and he claimed his office had captured the Sandman. Their scrutiny along with the fact that the real Sandman had planted listening devices at Wheeler’s office, under Wheeler’s nose no less, almost got Wheeler fired tonight. The Regional Director planned on firing him when he told Wheeler to come in.
Then some sailors got in trouble. The department couldn’t afford another black eye. Wheeler gets to keep his job, but he was told to get his house in order. There was already a mole found at the office. Wheeler’s people either had to find the real Sandman or Wheeler will get fired. Wheeler was under pressure.
Things also weren’t great at home. His son was failing most of his classes and recently got arrested for vandalizing a bunch of headstones with his friends. Wheeler snapped at Jason after Jason demanded to go to a concert. He told him that he was a disappointment.
Jason responded by smashing up the tv with a fire poker. His father tried to stop him and so Jason swung the poker at him. It cut Wheeler’s hand. It was a deep wound.
His wife wanted him to go the hospital. Only Wheeler couldn’t be late to his appointment with the Regional Director. Nor did he want to explain that his delinquent son had injured him. His wife bandaged his hand the best way she could and Wheeler hid his injury. He also reached out to the FBI. His department was going to be working with the FBI. And Wheeler let them run point.
Wheeler later told Franks that he trusted Agent Oakley more than him. He wasn’t wrong to put his faith in Oakley. Oakly knew more than his own people. If Gibbs hadn’t remembered Operation Sundown from some shredded documents he saw, they would have had nothing. It was an important document that got shredded by accident.
Gail was sometimes useless. She shreds important stuff if its in the same section as the junk mail. She luckily doesn’t cross shred and so they connected Bugs to Operation Sundown.
NCIS just didn’t know what Operation Sundown was. Oakley had to tell them that it was a CIA covert op. The CIA used a private military contractor known as Flintpoint Security to work as protection detail for an asset. The asset was Ahmad Safar. He gave the American crucial information during the Gulf War.
They promised to protect him in return and something went wrong. Ahmad was killed along with his wife and son by insurgents. The FBI sent the NIS this information months ago. They also revealed that Bugs worked for Flintpoint Security.
Bugs acted as a spotter to three snipers. The man that Bugs claimed he killed had been his supervisor overseas. What the FBI didn’t know was the name of the three snipers. They were only told about Bugs after he got arrested for being a serial killer. The CIA wanted to protect themselves.
They also didn’t want to be tied to a conspiracy on domestic soil and their help ended with Bugs’ information. They didn’t want to reveal what else happened with Operation Sundown. Franks and Oakley had to get the information out of another man that worked that job.
The man was in charge of protecting the family. Until he heard about the American government offering a bigger payday by capping oil fields. Sadaam had sent fire to everything to spite the Americans. They were watching millions burn by the minute and they offered a huge payday to anyone willing to cap the oil fields.
Stop the oil from getting destroyed. The guy in charge of Operation Sundown wanted the bigger payday. He ordered his men to abandon the family and the family was killed because of them.
Now the men behind that decision were being hunted down. The Sandman was killing everyone involved in what happened. He blamed them for the family dying. Bugs must have agreed with him.
He continued to act as his spotter. They watched the Safar family for months. The mom cooked breakfast every morning. The son always made sure to hug his parents before he left the house. The father came home everyday with flowers he had picked himself just for his wife. They were the perfect family. Something Bugs and his friend didn’t have.
They wanted revenge. The kicked off the Sandman craze to get that revenge. The FBI were still in charge of the investigation and so Gibbs couldn’t be in the field. He also heard that Lala got roughed up by someone freaking out about the Sandman. It just made Gibbs feel more useless.
He was put in charge of watching Vera’s interview tapes with Bugs. He didn’t think he’d get anything from it. Bugs butchered a saying by Napolean. Gibbs recognized that saying.. He heard it all the time at the Veteran Support Group.
The group was by a fellow soldier. Someone that now works for Veterans Affairs. Gibbs suspected the guy was the real Sandman. Only he didn’t tell his team or the FBI. He confronted the guy alone. He thought he was a friend. He even visited Gibbs at the office. He used that opportunity to bug the place.
Gibbs blamed himself for what happened. Its why he confronted his friend alone. It’s also why he looked for evidence at the suspect’s home. He found the files. The guy used his job at the VA to get information on everyone involved in Operation Sundown.
Gibbs was found searching the place. He got into a fight with the Sandman. It ended with Gibbs having to kill a friend. The guy that had really helped him recover. He was pretty banged up. He had to go to the hospital and he checked himself out early because he didn’t think he deserved help.
Or kindness. The one person that managed to convince him that he still deserved to live after he lost his family – he killed. Lala stuck around because that was her. She always saw right through Gibbs. She knew he needed someone even if he couldn’t put it into words.
Oakley was that person for Wheeler. Wheeler mentioned problems at home. His son got arrested again though funnily enough a talk with Franks helped Jason open up.
Jason was acting out because he knew about his dad’s affair. He thought his dad loved this other woman more than them and that was far from the truth. Wheeler ended that relationship months ago. He also wanted to be more present for Jason. He told his son that he loves him more than anything. Jason believed him and they played the piano together. They hadn’t done that in a while.
And Wheeler also took the blame for the document being shredded. He claimed that he thought they had the right guy when they arrested Bugs and he didn’t think anything else was important. He might get fired for that later. Except he didn’t care anymore about climbing through the ranks.
THE END!
