They discover that his companion was a Marine Lieutenant Emma Reynolds who had had a romantic relationship with an Afghan heir of a powerful tribe with strategically important land holdings in Afghanistan.
The team has to put their Christmas Eve celebrations on hold as terrible weather conditions and the absence of government employees due to the holiday season hamper the investigation.
One of the three Russian mercenaries sent to kidnap the child is captured and taken back to headquarters where he is interrogated by McGee and Tony while Gibbs and Ziva go on the run with Emma.
Unable to endure Ed's constant whinging any longer, Jimmy chastises his father-in-law and tells him about all the good he can achieve in NCIS, convincing him to bless their marriage.
[3] On November 7, 2011, Entertainment Weekly announced that Larry Miller was cast as Ed Slater, the future father-in-law of Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen).
The holiday theme was almost overblown at times, and there was a high level of (often predictable) cheesiness throughout, a far cry from some of the uber-serious, superbly well-written episodes this and every season.