Back when I was a freshman, the captain of my high school’s hockey team was a guy who held the position as both a junior and a senior — he was that good. Back when he was a sophomore rookie on the team, he was initiated into the brotherhood by being pinned to the ground, and having his body-hair shaved — each and every follicle of it. Yeah. So if I hear that that senior class is brutally murdered….
A bit of a head-scratcher for a case-of-the-week. I think the increased dose of character and team that NCIS now exhibits — all good in my book — forces a lot of spots to be skipped in the connect-the-dots of the investigation. Okay … it’s not really about that anyway, right?
Tonight’s episode, “Reunion,” was meant to be just that. Ziva, after being saved by Tony and the boys last week, returns to NCIS to get her old job back. Excuse me, what? You mean, the Mossad liaison officer, who was posted to the American Naval intelligence organization as a bridge between the two countries, found it appropriate, and the correct approach, to request a reinstatement from the organization she was never officially a part of?
If that was confusing, you’ll understand were I am right now. No way in the world could/should ANYONE from NCIS have had a discussion with Ziva about her future before she went back to Israel, and met with her commanding officer/father. There are no two sides to this one, no argument to be made against. She absolutely has no ground to stand on here. Gibbs can’t request that she be reinstated, and Vance can’t approve her reinstatement. At least not until after the Mossad has decided on her fate, AND has re-applied for her assignment as a liaison to NCIS. Did the writers decide to only go halfway on the research for this story?
It’s a shame, too, because now that this can of worms has been opened, I find myself disliking Ziva — something I definitely did not begin to feel until at earliest last season’s penultimate episode. Now? I just prefer she not be around. I don’t like feeling that way, but I do.
And, hello Ari! He had to come back up again, didn’t he? But if Gibbs questioned his faith in Ziva once, how will she ever get that back? Gibbs doesn’t seem like the wishy-washy type. As in, he’s more Robert De Niro in Meet the Parents than in Meet the Fockers … does that make any sense?
Some additional stuff worth noting from tonight:
It’s great to have NCIS back, don’t get me wrong. And I know I’m being hard on Ziva, and on this entire situation; I just think they’re ignoring a reality that’s screaming in their faces. And yes, Vance mentions needing to clear things with the Mossad, but it’s not something that’s small enough to have happened without our being witness to it. I just hope that they clarify Ziva stuff the right way … no way should she have the credentials to even be back in the Navy Yard right now.
Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Sep 29, 2009 @ 21:36 EST5EDT
I thought it was implied by everything that she’d quit Mossad.
*POST AUTHOR*
I’m not really so sure she could do that … it’s not just some job. And, from a distance, without returning to Israel to resign her military post?
Plus, even if she could possibly resign in that manner, how would that enable her, an Israeli citizen who’s a non-US citizen, resident, or any other legal status in this country other than ex-diplomat, to work for a US intelligence agency?
Fair enough. NCIS Agents are required to be US born or Naturalized Citizens.
But, I think some suspension of disbelief is in order :)
*POST AUTHOR*
Hey, they started it! :)
I also thought she quit Mossad. I kept waiting for them to call her an agent. That somehow she was now an official member of the team.
But, it was not entirely clear what her status with the team is. So, she could still be with Mossad and a liaison.
I enjoyed the ep. The case was a little odd, but it had some good twists and turns to make it interesting.
*POST AUTHOR*
I think she technically left her liaison post last season, so unless Israel re-appoints her….
As Vance told her, she never was a special agent. She *can’t* be an agent. Even if she *did* renounce her Israeli citizenship and begin the years long journey toward US citizenship (during which time she wouldn’t be on Gibbs’ team in any capacity – which would be *just* fine by me), I’d be shocked if she’d ever be granted the level of security clearance needed to become a special agent after having been an agent of a foreign power. She was ill-conceived from the outset, but bypassing this would be far too much. She’s still Mossad and I agree with the reviewer – it should never have been blackboxed like that. They need to ditch her and be done with it. At least let Vance use her as a pawn in his upcoming op. It would serve her right.
Yep. Ziva’s whole plot-line has Shark-Jumped in a big way. I wish they’d killed her off instead of having the boys rescue her…
I still see no difference between McGee and the NCIS:LA boys on the multitouch board. For practice, Tim’s had that iPhone for more than a year now.
I would be surprised if Vance ever mentions Ziva’s official status again, much less we see an actual scene to settle it.
*POST AUTHOR*
The issue is insignificant, of course, but did you not see McGee practicing the wrist-flick and Gibbs walking up behind him?
You may be right, but it will be a big mistake by the show to just let it go.
Yep, as we’ve discussed before, I just saw no difference in the apparent skills of McGee and Hanna (and Tom Cruise for that matter) on the big screen. They use the exact same movements with the same speed. LL Cool J’s arms are just much larger.
If NCIS just let more things go, we might have been spared the entire Shepard’s vendetta storyline.
*POST AUTHOR*
You’re always a fun person to pick over minutia with. ;)
So, why was McGee practicing the flick?
Well, minutia is the singular, and minutiae the plural, because the word is first-declension, not second-declension like datum:data (sorry, too much high school Latin ;).
I didn’t see McGee practicing so much as happily playing. It was clear in the crossover episodes that he’s really jealous of the OSP’s toys, and wants a full sized multitouch screen like that for himself. Last I heard, they still run about $50,000 though, and that’s a lot even with author’s royalties.
*POST AUTHOR*
See :-)
Maybe I’m just reading his geeky enthusiasm as inexperience?