Gibbs and the gritty ragtag team continue their investigation at the fledgling NCIS Camp Pendleton office.

A murder near Camp Pendleton leads Gibbs and the team to a suburban mall in San Diego, where Gibbs takes matters into his own hands. Jackson Gibbs pays Franks an unexpected visit.

With the countdown on to an execution, Franks races to extricate the location of a missing body from a death row inmate and honor a promise he made to the victim's sister before time runs out.

As Leroy Jethro Gibbs prepares for his first Christmas without his wife and daughter, flashbacks reveal the unlikely journey that led to his first day on the job as a special agent.

When the murder of Pedro Hernandez is unearthed, Gibbs faces a reckoning. But when he needs his team most, the loyalty of one is brought into question.