N C I S

[jordmundt6]

Anyone see the TV Guide article about the splashy 200th episode? Feels like Don Bellisario repeating himself again (but with better results). There was talk of Gibbs doing an "It's a Wonderful Life" thing about possibly never joining NCIS (what if his wife and daughter had never been killed?). This sounds suspiciously like "What If" the 200th episode of JAG where the main characters share a meal at a Chinese restaraunt and all get the same fortune about "the road not taken" and imagine alternate paths for themselves. Disaster. Like one of their worse Christmas episodes. I'm hoping this one will be much better.

It should be noted that by the time JAG hit its 200th episode in its 9th season, they were trying to recover from a shark-jumping season finale/premiere combo that angered the fanbase and their numbers (never as lofty as NCIS is now) had begun to trend downward, slowly at first and then much more steeply.

Even if this is a similar idea, I have to hope that it's executed much better than JAG's was because a return to shoddiness of "What If" could be a negative tipping point for the show.

[Fawkesfan1]

Originally Posted by jordmundt6

Anyone see the TV Guide article about the splashy 200th episode? Feels like Don Bellisario repeating himself again (but with better results). There was talk of Gibbs doing an "It's a Wonderful Life" thing about possibly never joining NCIS (what if his wife and daughter had never been killed?). This sounds suspiciously like "What If" the 200th episode of JAG where the main characters share a meal at a Chinese restaraunt and all get the same fortune about "the road not taken" and imagine alternate paths for themselves. Disaster. Like one of their worse Christmas episodes. I'm hoping this one will be much better.

It should be noted that by the time JAG hit its 200th episode in its 9th season, they were trying to recover from a shark-jumping season finale/premiere combo that angered the fanbase and their numbers (never as lofty as NCIS is now) had begun to trend downward, slowly at first and then much more steeply.

Even if this is a similar idea, I have to hope that it's executed much better than JAG's was because a return to shoddiness of "What If" could be a negative tipping point for the show.

I liked it . It was a good episode and it showed what would have happened if Gibbs hadn't done some things in his life. A definitely different take on the usual, but it was still worth the watch.

Spoiler: show

I really loved how Tony screwed up Ziva's name while she remained in Mossad (sp?) -- Risa, Visa, Tiva ...

How did the rest of you like it, episode wise?

[jordmundt6]

It was okay. It wasn't schlock like JAG's 200th, but it wasn't gripping in and of itself. Viewership was split where I watched. I will say this--I never EVER saw Kate and Tony as believable marriage material for one another. Also, I believe the alternate reality coupling of Tim and Abby was meant to kill off that romance thread. She's just too much woman for him. Sorry, Tim. It's not clear how alt Jen Shepherd died (I'm going to assume that her disease just ran its course). I thought it was very cheap and lazy of them to have non-widowed Jethro die on deployment. That was particularly hollow.

[Fawkesfan1]

Originally Posted by jordmundt6

It was okay. It wasn't schlock like JAG's 200th, but it wasn't gripping in and of itself. Viewership was split where I watched. I will say this--I never EVER saw Kate and Tony as believable marriage material for one another. Also, I believe the alternate reality coupling of Tim and Abby was meant to kill off that romance thread. She's just too much woman for him. Sorry, Tim. It's not clear how alt Jen Shepherd died (I'm going to assume that her disease just ran its course). I thought it was very cheap and lazy of them to have non-widowed Jethro die on deployment. That was particularly hollow.

Neither did I. Oh dang . I was hoping that wouldn't be the case... oh well .

Noticed that ... that was one area that didn't make any real sense . Why wasn't she really included there? Why wasn't more said?

[Lady Elven]

Originally Posted by jordmundt6

I thought it was very cheap and lazy of them to have non-widowed Jethro die on deployment. That was particularly hollow.

to be honest that was the only part of the show that made sense to me. without his family being killed he would have no need for NIS therefore most likely would have continued with his military career which he could have died during service. what I didn't like was gibbs being an [expletive] trying to push everyone away.

[jordmundt6]

But we've SEEN that side of Gibbs before. Obsessing over Ari, obsessing over his family's deaths, the way he reacted to the blame game over the whole Pin Pin Pulla (or however you spell that bomber's name) disaster. It was annoying but believable. Here's the thing--from what they showed us, it seemed like they were insinuating that if the girls hadn't died, he was less than three months from dying in action. I could see him staying too long and dying in Sarajevo or Chechnya or Afghanistan, but before Desert Storm? Cheap.

[Fawkesfan1]

Originally Posted by jordmundt6

But we've SEEN that side of Gibbs before. Obsessing over Ari, obsessing over his family's deaths, the way he reacted to the blame game over the whole Pin Pin Pulla (or however you spell that bomber's name) disaster. It was annoying but believable. Here's the thing--from what they showed us, it seemed like they were insinuating that if the girls hadn't died, he was less than three months from dying in action. I could see him staying too long and dying in Sarajevo or Chechnya or Afghanistan, but before Desert Storm? Cheap.

Speaking of which, didn't like last night's episode that much at all . Tony's ex fianceé got on my nerves fast .

*heck she reminded me of Diana Fowley from the X-Files due to that *

Hopefully she won't be returning any time soon .

Spoiler: show

The best part was when her son came and caught her and Tony in the act of making out and said to Tony, to never do that again . Way to go kid .

One thing I did notice though was that when his ex mentioned about Ziva and whether or not he'd go with her... it was practically a mirror to Ziva's scene from a couple of eps' back...

Spoiler: show

Didn't like how he said no to that... but figuring he did... along with Ziva (a couple of eps back)... we can guess that that won't be the case in the end -- hopefully.

Anyone else catch last night's episode? Thoughts?

[OldMotherCrow]

Catch up time! Concerning the 200th, I agree with the assessment that it was okay, but not great. I'll use spoilers, just in case:

Spoiler: show

Originally Posted by jordmundt6

I will say this--I never EVER saw Kate and Tony as believable marriage material for one another. Also, I believe the alternate reality coupling of Tim and Abby was meant to kill off that romance thread. She's just too much woman for him. Sorry, Tim.

To me, Kate and Tony acted more like siblings, so yeah, don't see the marriage ever happening. But this was Gibbs's alternate world fantasy. I think he looks for daughter substitutes in the young women around him-- so in his AU scenario where Kate lives instead of dies, she marries Tony and names their daughter Kelly. In the AU, Abby and Tim are together, too, which I think is the more interesting of Gibbs's imaginary pairings, because the death of one of them wasn't keeping them apart in the "real" world. I took the whole thing as a recognition on Gibbs's part that if he had been different, he wouldn't have been an impediment to the potential of the people around him forming romantic interests. Whether or not the romances could ever happen, I think he's right that he does impede the personal lives of anyone who works on his team. I think this was a continuation from him telling Tony a few episodes not to be like him when it came to love.

I thought it was very cheap and lazy of them to have non-widowed Jethro die on deployment. That was particularly hollow.

Yes, I agree. "Its a good thing Shannon and Kelly got murdered, otherwise I would have died and they would have been sad and we wouldn't have had a happy family anyway." I doubt that's the message the writers were going for, but I think that part completely side-stepped the issue and missed the mark. I wish the episode had ended on a stronger note.

And last episode, with superheroes and Wendy the reporter:

Spoiler: show

Originally Posted by Fawkesfan1

Speaking of which, didn't like last night's episode that much at all . Tony's ex fianceé got on my nerves fast .

I really liked last episode. I loved the exchange between Gibbs and ICU at the end, especially after Gibbs's earlier reaction to Abby's "Real life Superheroes!", where he just chucks what he's holding onto the floor and leaves in disgust. I found the episode to be very entertaining.

Wendy showing up at some point was bound to happen. Bit of a stretch to have her a 4th grade teacher who conveniently morphs into a DC reporter on the trail of a hot lead, but oh well.

The best part was when her son came and caught her and Tony in the act of making out and said to Tony, to never do that again . Way to go kid .

As a Harry Potter fan, I appreciated the reference:

"Which was your favorite Harry Potter?"
"The one where he wasn't kissing my mom!"

[Fawkesfan1]

Originally Posted by OldMotherCrow

Catch up time! Concerning the 200th, I agree with the assessment that it was okay, but not great. I'll use spoilers, just in case:

Spoiler: show

To me, Kate and Tony acted more like siblings, so yeah, don't see the marriage ever happening. But this was Gibbs's alternate world fantasy. I think he looks for daughter substitutes in the young women around him-- so in his AU scenario where Kate lives instead of dies, she marries Tony and names their daughter Kelly. In the AU, Abby and Tim are together, too, which I think is the more interesting of Gibbs's imaginary pairings, because the death of one of them wasn't keeping them apart in the "real" world. I took the whole thing as a recognition on Gibbs's part that if he had been different, he wouldn't have been an impediment to the potential of the people around him forming romantic interests. Whether or not the romances could ever happen, I think he's right that he does impede the personal lives of anyone who works on his team. I think this was a continuation from him telling Tony a few episodes not to be like him when it came to love.




Yes, I agree. "Its a good thing Shannon and Kelly got murdered, otherwise I would have died and they would have been sad and we wouldn't have had a happy family anyway." I doubt that's the message the writers were going for, but I think that part completely side-stepped the issue and missed the mark. I wish the episode had ended on a stronger note.

And last episode, with superheroes and Wendy the reporter:

Spoiler: show

I really liked last episode. I loved the exchange between Gibbs and ICU at the end, especially after Gibbs's earlier reaction to Abby's "Real life Superheroes!", where he just chucks what he's holding onto the floor and leaves in disgust. I found the episode to be very entertaining.

Wendy showing up at some point was bound to happen. Bit of a stretch to have her a 4th grade teacher who conveniently morphs into a DC reporter on the trail of a hot lead, but oh well.




As a Harry Potter fan, I appreciated the reference:

"Which was your favorite Harry Potter?"
"The one where he wasn't kissing my mom!"

Spoiler: show

That's what I thought as well. They were trying to get those two together back in the day, when all I ever saw from them was just a brother and sister thing ...

I did as well from the last episode . Just priceless .

[baseballblondie]

I do enjoy the focus we're getting into Tony & Gibbs this season. One thing I noticed, Tony & Wendy were engaged 9 years ago. Then they also say that it was while he was still with Baltimore PD. If I remember correctly, during season 1, we find out that Tony'd been with NCIS for almost 3 years. So maybe I missed something or the writers/producers missed something.

[jordmundt6]

I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that Wendy (as a schoolteacher) was in a long-term relationship with Tony, that they met when he was still with the Baltimore PD and that nine and a half years ago, she broke off the engagement. Not all of these things add up, I thought Abby had been at NCIS as long as Tony, but while Gibbs knew Wendy very well, Abby had never met her...or even seen her. JAG ran into some of these problems as they tried to introduce new characters from "the past" later in its run, but this seemed like a better constructed attempt (even though the idiosyncracies are annoying). This seems to be a recurring theme with Bellisario shows. Quantum Leap had some of the same issues.

[featherfish81]

I'm finally caught up on this show, so I can now come back on this thread without fear of spoilers. I'm surprised no one is talking about the big news - Gibbs has a love interest?!? I think it's good that he's pursuing a relationship, and unlike some of his other potential interests, I can stand the character. At first I found her a little annoying, but she's growing on me.

[OldMotherCrow]

Samantha Ryan is growing on me, as well. It helps that she's being played by Jamie Lee Curtis-- there's some serious star power there, so the character stands out when she's in a scene. I also like that she appears to belong to Gibbs's age category (unlike the usual love interests), despite having a young son. It also feels like it's being presented as a case of serious like rather than love, which feels less forced to me. I would be happy with her as a recurring character.

[Fawkesfan1]

Originally Posted by OldMotherCrow

Samantha Ryan is growing on me, as well. It helps that she's being played by Jamie Lee Curtis-- there's some serious star power there, so the character stands out when she's in a scene. I also like that she appears to belong to Gibbs's age category (unlike the usual love interests), despite having a young son. It also feels like it's being presented as a case of serious like rather than love, which feels less forced to me. I would be happy with her as a recurring character.

Yep it does . I love that as well, it's nice to see a pairing like this, instead of the usual Older guy/Younger woman thing . Always hated that kind of thing. Me too.

[jordmundt6]

Not a good long-term match though. That's why keeping it at "serious like" for a little logner and having them go their separate ways is a good idea. Too many secrets, too many bodies buried for it to turn into love without that being a disaster. She's a good character and she works well with Harmon--but, not a good long-term pursuit (for exactly the opposite reasons that Jeanne was not a good long-term pursuit for Tony and I have to stretch to remember her character's name now). Hollis Mason was probably the best match they've created for Gibbs, but Su Thompson (who a decade earlier was playing the "mom" in Disney movies of varying credibility) used the role as a springboard to attempts at finding her own series. Sadly, it didn't work and we lost an interesting NCIS character. Rather the inverse of what happened to Sasha Alexander. Losing Kate turned out to be the best long-term move for the show and one of the better bolder moves in the series run and she found a role on TNT that fits her well.

Personally, I think the most intriguing partner/foil/interest they've brought on for Gibbs since Hollis left was CGIS SA Abigail Boren (no, no one's going to call her Abby). Yes, there is an age difference, but she's not some sweet young thing that Tony or Sr. would chase, and while she does put up walls, her defense mechanisms and habits would seem to be far more compatible with Gibbs' own behavior.

As for other love interests for Jethro...um, have there really been many? Jen was in the past, and you could see why all the exes were just that. Is this a reaction to the ill-fated introduction of as Abby says "Mallison" Hart two seasons ago? Yes, that was a mistake. However, this is one failed experiment, not a pattern.

[Fawkesfan1]

Originally Posted by jordmundt6

Not a good long-term match though. That's why keeping it at "serious like" for a little logner and having them go their separate ways is a good idea. Too many secrets, too many bodies buried for it to turn into love without that being a disaster. She's a good character and she works well with Harmon--but, not a good long-term pursuit (for exactly the opposite reasons that Jeanne was not a good long-term pursuit for Tony and I have to stretch to remember her character's name now). Hollis Mason was probably the best match they've created for Gibbs, but Su Thompson (who a decade earlier was playing the "mom" in Disney movies of varying credibility) used the role as a springboard to attempts at finding her own series. Sadly, it didn't work and we lost an interesting NCIS character. Rather the inverse of what happened to Sasha Alexander. Losing Kate turned out to be the best long-term move for the show and one of the better bolder moves in the series run and she found a role on TNT that fits her well.

Personally, I think the most intriguing partner/foil/interest they've brought on for Gibbs since Hollis left was CGIS SA Abigail Boren (no, no one's going to call her Abby). Yes, there is an age difference, but she's not some sweet young thing that Tony or Sr. would chase, and while she does put up walls, her defense mechanisms and habits would seem to be far more compatible with Gibbs' own behavior.

As for other love interests for Jethro...um, have there really been many? Jen was in the past, and you could see why all the exes were just that. Is this a reaction to the ill-fated introduction of as Abby says "Mallison" Hart two seasons ago? Yes, that was a mistake. However, this is one failed experiment, not a pattern.

Yea I see what you mean there. I wonder if she'll turn out to be a bad guy of some sort (as in one of the secrets from her past, would end up affecting a case in some way)? I could kind of see something like that happening, which in turn would affect any kind of relationship with Gibbs...

Noticed that. there hasn't been. Hopefully Gibbs will find love someday though.

[Fawkesfan1]

Saw this week's episode as was a little bit disappointed. Comments under spoiler cut:

Spoiler: show

The plot line seemed rather weak at times, was hoping for a stronger one. The few things that kept me watching were the dialogue and the action/adventure part of it. Other than that I was disappointed .

Here's to hoping that next week's episode is stronger.

Thoughts and comments?

[OldMotherCrow]

Originally Posted by Fawkesfan1

Saw this week's episode as was a little bit disappointed. Comments under spoiler cut:

Spoiler: show

The plot line seemed rather weak at times, was hoping for a stronger one. The few things that kept me watching were the dialogue and the action/adventure part of it. Other than that I was disappointed .

Here's to hoping that next week's episode is stronger.

Thoughts and comments?

I did like Samantha Ryan.

Spoiler: show

Alas, I agree with you on the plot. Is the Watcher Fleet thing there for a reason, or just to explain how that Harper guy knows everything? A lot of what went on seemed like an obvious wild goose chase, I'm surprised that the team couldn't see it. And did Harper just hang out in front of that warehouse just waiting for them to call? Yeah, the plot has been really messy. I hope it gets better.

[baseballblondie]

The finale...My thoughts in spoiler tags, so don't read if you haven't seen yet.

Spoiler: show

Looks Ryan's character may be gone. Good. I didn't like her. An explosion that leaves Tony & Ziva trapped in an elevator, Director & McGee somewhere in the building, Gibbs & Abby in the lab, and oh no. Not Ducky. I cannot wait til September. Any idea as to when the actors will finish signing their contracts?

[Fawkesfan1]

Originally Posted by baseballblondie

The finale...My thoughts in spoiler tags, so don't read if you haven't seen yet.

Spoiler: show

Looks Ryan's character may be gone. Good. I didn't like her. An explosion that leaves Tony & Ziva trapped in an elevator, Director & McGee somewhere in the building, Gibbs & Abby in the lab, and oh no. Not Ducky. I cannot wait til September. Any idea as to when the actors will finish signing their contracts?

I didn't get to see all of it, but it looks like it was good.

Spoiler: show

It was sad to see what happened to poor Ducky . It looks as if he'd had a heart attack and died.

Me neither, it was a pretty good finale.

Nope, but it looks as if David Mccallum was getting ready to leave the show from the looks of things.

Also, is it just me or did Ziva mention to Tony about getting eloped? I could be wrong on that one... but it did make me grin a little bit there .