A dead rat, a dead aide, and an uncooperative congresswoman all took part in "NCIS" Season 14 episode 9 "Pay to Play." With pretty much the entire main cast fawning all over Congresswoman Flemming, we couldn't help but feel that they were just trying way, way too hard to set up a relationship between her and Vance.

The out-of-order airing was pretty apparent when Clayton Reeves showed up at the beginning of this episode, having just arrived from England to join the NCIS International Desk. The same thing he did in NCIS Season 14 Episode 8, "Enemy Combatant."

Clayton Reeves's arrival set up the rivalry-to-bromance with Torres, which definitely adds a layer to their interactions in the previous episode. Their conversation was very funny and giggled everyone, though many wondered as to why they switched the airing order in the first place.

Everyone were practically tripping over themselves to say how wonderful and fantastic a person Congresswoman Flemming was, despite the fact that she was pretty well hindering their investigation.

Over the course of the episode, there was shock at how thick they were laying it on. Was this simply to set up for a possible Flemming-Vance romance, as hinted at the end of the episode? We don't know, but the heavy-handedness did little to endear her to me as a viewer.

The topic of military base closures is definitely a heated one; this episode briefly touched on the social and economic repercussions on the surrounding communities, but a drunk mayor and an idiot 16-year-old really don't do the issue justice.

The only people showed to be opposed to the base closure were the aforementioned drunk mayor, idiot 16-year-old, and the murderer.

As someone who lives within proximity of two military facilities, I am well aware of the massive (if often hidden) reach such installations have on the area around them.

And yes, there have been worries that these bases might be forced to close, and that concerns a lot of members of the local community.

In short, it's far, far more complex than it was portrayed to be here.

There were several bright spots throughout the episode (Clayton/Torres bonding, the 16-year-old's aborted escape, and Flemming's complaint about being tired of sitting in orange rooms, to name several), but it really would have gone over better aired in the proper order.

Be sure to tune in on Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2016 for NCIS Season 14 Episode 10, "The Ties That Bind."