I always enjoy when this series goes after bigger game, not just the usual police procedural of who killed a navy person and why. This segment includes some significan national securities which may be at play, alongside the murder mystery.
It's enjoyable to see Mark Harmon left on the sidelines (so as to focus on the team's intrinsic competence on their own) while still giving him shtick to do (the current latter-day episodes suffer from Harmon having been written out of the series entirely). And the banter and interplay of the regulars with romantic elements dangled for comedy relief works well to balance the more serious moments.
Then the big plot switch satisfyingly brings Harmon back into the foreground, with the returning character of the lovable kid he bonded with back as a key element of the story, even slipping in the meaning of its cryptic sort of title.
It's satisfying, well-scripted and acted entertainment in the NCIS tradition.