NCIS Season 11, Episode 9, "Gut Check" is like an excellent breakfast buffet selection. Viewers who like a little bit of everything finish the meal in a happy mood. Emily Wickersham as Ellie Bishop is Soup of the Day. Call her Bishop's Chess, or Chess with Bishop. It seems patrons are coming back for more of her. Gibbs' team is back in good old NCIS business!

Spoiler alert: This feature contains major spoilers from NCIS 11x09, "Gut Check." Read at your own risk.

SecNav Sarah Porter (Leslie Hope) begins the episode with a presentation to prized U.S. national security partners at MTAC (Multiple Threat Alert Center). A security breach shut the MTAC system down. Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) and team find out the root of the issue. Anthony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) fill them in with a paper written by NSA analyst Ellie Bishop - two years ago.

Ellie Bishop's Rule No. 1: "When my ear buds are in, flash the desk light." She's a little bit of Pauley Perrette's Abby Sciuto -- quirky, music enthusiast, giddy-vibrant, and operates with food, soup and drinks (not Caf-Pow, though). Tony brings up a Russel Crowe - "Beautiful Mind" reference. More, when told to "stay in the car," Ellie "pulled a Palmer," in Tony's words. Her NSA colleague describes her as one of those "reclusive data freaks." But it turns out, she wants to be a team player. In fact, she misses being one.

The Chess Begins with Gibbs. On her third day at the NSA as an analyst, Ellie Bishop wrote a predictive paper involving the SecNav's pay grade and the exact turn of events at the NCIS MTAC. Towards the end of the episode, it is revealed that Bishop had applied for an NCIS post before she got the NSA job. Gibbs got her in a game of chess without her realizing it.

Can Ellie Bishop Fight Like Ziva? "Three older brothers" trained Ellie to defend herself at gunpoint. The viewers don't get to see the action, but it's enough to know the new Ziva can fare well on the field. The showrunners would rather have the audience think Ziva is not being replaced, but Ellie has her own way of taking over Ziva's desk. Incidentally, she is the first woman to work on Ziva's desk since the season premiere of NCIS Season 11. All the others had to take the other desk farther from the group.

Casting Chemistry Check (in order of encounter). Tony DiNozzo and Leroy Gibbs, very good. Dr Ducky Mallard (David McCallum), promising. Tim McGee (Sean Murray), couldn't be better. Abby Sciuto, excellent! (They're already talking about Kate Todd.) Abby hates the NSA and she makes it known, but it seems she couldn't resist Ellie Bishop. Abby was not very friendly to Ziva at first, but it had a lot to do with Abby's feelings toward Ari, Gibbs and Kate. Brian Dietzen's Palmer is not in the episode, but Ellie pulling a Palmer tells the audience, these two would be fun to watch!

Ellie Bishop relies on statistics and logic. Gibbs, of course, listens to his guts. Ellie learns a lot in NCIS 11x09. Gibbs' Rule No. 45: Clean up your own mess. She also picks up Rule No. 6: Never apologize. It is a sign of weakness. The manner by which Gibbs and Bishop play roles in the interrogation room shocks DiNozzo. There's good chemistry here. And DiNozzo sees that. The viewers, too!

VIDEO: Emily Wickersham with omg! Insider in this YouTube clip

NCIS showrunner Gary Glasberg can heave a sigh of relief. Many viewers of NCIS Season 11, Episode 9 ("Gut Check") are impressed with Emily Wickersham's Ellie Bishop. People are talking on social networks, saying this new character is "something else." It may still take a while before Team Tiva could accept it, but Ziva David has a kick-a** replacement.

More about Ellie Bishop in NCIS Season 11:

'NCIS' Season 11, Episode 9, 'Gut Check' Spoilers: Emily Wichersham Debuts in New Episode, Cote de Pablo's Ziva David Replaced? [VIDEO]
Cote de Pablo's Ziva David Replacement Named as Bishop, NCIS Season 11 Spoilers [VIDEO, PHOTOS]