TV tonight: 'NCIS,' 'Supernatural,' 'Forever'

NCIS
CBS, 8 ET/PT

The discovery of a floating body leads Gibbs to board a ship that's been captured by pirates. Which is bad news for Gibbs, and, odds are, even worse news for the pirates.

Supernatural
CW, 9 ET/PT

Supernatural has two bits of possible good news for its loyal viewers. One is that Sam is increasing his efforts to save Dean from the Mark of Cain, and he may have found some unlikely new allies to help. The other is that the episode was directed by Dean himself — Jensen Ackles — one of those behind-the-scenes twists fans sometimes find intriguing.

Forever
ABC, 10 ET/PT

This promising new series offers one of its better episodes — one that boasts a more complex mystery than many and a more interesting use of Henry's regenerative powers. Even so, it also exposes a continuing Forever problem: The series' overly flexible use of Henry's centuries-old past. The show's central gimmick — that Henry's long life has given him near super-human deductive skills — is a fine and workable detective-show idea. What's less workable is asking us to buy that every case somehow relates to some place he's been or someone he knew. Even a man who has lived hundreds of years hasn't been everywhere and met everyone, and even a fantasy has to make more sense than that within its own universe.