The opening scene -- students making a horror movie in the woods find a real skeleton -- is just a device to get us into the real story of this episode.

The skeleton belongs to a long-dead  naval lieutenant with distinctive injuries -- multiple stab wounds, a missing finger -- that Gibbs has seen before.  He had been involved in a case 11 years ago in which a hooker had been convicted of killing two sailors using the same m.o. She had been suspected in the death of this sailor, but his body had never been found. Until now.

When forensics ties the murder weapon from the old case to this one, Gibbs sends McGee to the women's prison to get a confession from the convicted murderess.

On his way in, McGee bumps into an old classmate, Brenda Carter, who is now a guard at the prison.

While McGee is interviewing the prisoner, a riot breaks out in the visitors center, a male guard is stabbed, and McGee is caught in the middle of it. The inmates are in control, and they're holding several visiting families as hostages.

The prison warden has a plan for regaining control, but no experience using it. He reluctantly agrees to let Gibbs come along on a negotiation with the inmates.

McGee negotiates on behalf of the inmates. If NCIS agrees to investigate the guard's death, they'll release the hostage. However, they will continue to hold McGee and the two other guards. They also demand that there be no attempts to retake the building by force. The warden agrees, but gives the team only seven hours to bring the situation to a close.

Inside, McGee has to frisk the inmates in a search for the murder weapon. Each of the women has a back story, either as victim or aggressor.

The apparent motive for the murder of the guard, named Trimball, is that he was trying to shut down a drug smuggling operation.

The NCIS team goes in to process the crime scene. A trail of blood leads them back to the guard's bathroom, with evidence that he may have been up to a little hanky panky before he was murdered. Since no one saw the actual stabbing and the surveillance footage is compromised, everyone who had been in the visitors center is suspect.

Is it McGee's old academy chum, who DiNozzo describes as "an eight on the DiNozzo Psycho Chick Meter"? Is it the jittery, hostile ex-gangbanger inmate with a chip on her shoulder? Is it the warden, who missed his last two scheduled drug screenings?

As the evidence accumulates, the investigation takes a turn that no one suspected...

This episode is entertaining, but somewhat predictable in that the perpetrator is never who you think it will be. The writing team has an excellent sense of misdirection. The episode does manage to touch on every possible cliche' in a short timeframe -- a warden with an attitude, crooked guards, secret relationships, pedophilia, drugs, women in prison, SWAT teams, and a hooker with a heart of gold... what more can you possibly ask for?

It is a good feature episode for McGee. His character is steadily shedding his "probie" persona and gaining more responsibility and self confidence as the season progresses. He's been picked and abused a fair bit this season. In this episode, his key line is "I can be tough when I have to be." He certainly proves that when he finds himself in the middle of this intense, explosive situation.

Tony's movie references in this episode include Batman, V for Vendetta, After Sunset, and Fatal Attraction. Did I miss any? Please let me know in the comments.