['NCIS' - 'Cracked']What happens when a scientist gets too near to a job? Well, in the cause of Abby Scuito (Pauley Perrette), the resident genius lab tech on 'NCIS,' the solution is that she starts to suffer herself. For that cause alone, this was a really good 'NCIS' episode, delving into the emotional connection Abby developed to a woman who was short by the sentence the credits rolled.For more on Abby's obsession and the nefarious way a person can be poisoned without being fed or injected with the poison, read on. The end of a Naval lieutenant with a beautiful mind was decidedly not caused by her being run down by a city bus, although that's how it looked. Once on Ducky's (David McCallum) table, the truth about Lt. Thorsen began to emerge. It involved the complicated body language literally printed all over her arms and abdomen. The references to the Russell Crowe movie, 'A Beautiful Mind,' were obvious, including the fact that Thorsen had delusions. The secret of who would get killed Thorsen - since it wasn't the bus - was the one that concerned Gibbs (Mark Harmon) most. But Abby's beautiful mind couldn't get past Thorsen's genius formula, which was all over her consistency and later, when they found Thorsen's secret lab, all over the walls and tables and every bit of composition in the place. Abby was missed in trying to trace the code to the formula, even to the period of incurring Gibbs' anger. When he elevated his part to her, you would take thought he'd smacked her in the head (like he does to Tony and McGee and any other probie who's deserving). Abby is special, however. Gibbs rarely, if ever, loses patience with her process. Tonight, he did. While Gibbs struggled with Abby's un-Abby like behavior, Ducky was keenly sensitive to Abby's psychological response to Thorsen's death. It wasn't just that Abby was mesmerized by Thorsen's scientific excellence. Abby identified with Thorsen and was attached to communication with her by smashing the code to the formula. For a time, it seemed like Abby may have been in over her head. Another poignant moment occurred when Gibbs met with Thorsen's mother. When the woman revealed how her daughter had suffered for years from bipolar syndrome (presumably), Gibbs was sympathetic. But it was when she asked if Gibbs had children that Jethro's one word answer was compact and sad. "Did." Thorsen's boss-from-hell - the guy who'd sent her a nasty video e-mail that made Mel Gibson seem like a calm fellow - turned up dead, which eliminated him as a suspect. By then, Ducky had figured out how the poison had been administered to Thorsen. In poor order, the NCIS team had it figured out. April, the jealous co-worker at Gen 1, had used Thorsen's daily shower to distribute the poison via the water and through Thorsen's skin. It was a diabolical method and slowly killed the woman over a two-week period. By then, Abby had figured out Thorsen's code, with the service of a store card hidden in a book of Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass," which had belonged to Thorsen. That liberated Abby like nothing else could. She returnedto her normal - for Abby - self. And to put a bow on it, Gibbs returned to Abby's lab, where she was decorating for Halloween. He listened to her apology, kissed her softly and led her away. All's well that ends well. Well, almost. The Tony dressing up as Tony Manero from 'Saturday Night Fever' for a role-playing game with a new girl, Ethel, just didn't work. The wig was all awry and no measure of Travolta-isms by Michael Weatherly could save the scene. 'NCIS' airs Tuesdays at 8PM ET on CBS.