Just when I was beginning to wonder where the most-watched scripted show on television went, back comes NCIS with some of the wittiest repartee this side of a stand-up comedians’ convention. I think everybody got a piece of everyone else last night. Now that’s some fine writing.
Plus we got another episode with Fornell (Joe Spano), which always succeeds at putting a smile on my face. Does anyone remember the questions we raised about his beard the last time he guested? I think someone over at NCIS might be reading what we have to say, because Tobias not only addressed his beard with some of the first words out of his mouth (he called it his undercover beard), but Gibbs got in on the fun as well by calling him Kenny Rogers.
This was yet another episode of the show where the case-of-the-week didn’t interest me so much, yet week after week (with unexplained weeks off in between) NCIS manages to make great TV without relying on the crimes to hook us in. And whether or not you find yourself captivated by the mysteries, it’s exceedingly impressive that the show has found a formula that can work without that. These characters are so rich, and so well fleshed-out, that entire episodes can stand on their silly nonsense, or their personal lives, alone. Did JAG do it so well? Does NCIS: LA?
Which is why I’m left not so much with a discussion as some things that I really enjoyed:
- Tony called Palmer “Autopsy Gremlin.” Even funnier considering that, at the time, Palmer was upstairs showing off pictures of his girlfriend, something that Tony doesn’t have, and hasn’t had in quite some time. And am I mistaken, or did Tony actually call him “Potter?”
- I think this was the first week we saw it … McGee got the fingerprint toy that he was so impressed by a few episodes back! You know, the one where you can print someone — dead or alive — in the field and gain access to the fingerprint database remotely? Wonder who sprung for that puppy.
- I loved the sand mites/bites back-and-forth between Ducky and Palmer. They’re great as a pair, and Palmer only does better with Gibbs, when he makes a joke and Gibbs stares him into retreating. Happened last night, too.
- For anyone who saw last week’s episode of In Plain Sight, Fornell described exactly what Mary was moaning and groaning about — the FBI handles witnesses until the end of their testimony, and then hands them off to the Marshals for protection, relocation, etc. That’s the system, and it has been for a long time. And Mary knows that full-well. So why can’t she grow up a little (you can see why I no longer cover that show)?
- I’m actually glad that McGee’s lady friend Susan (Jackie Geary) misinterpreted his signals and walked out. I mean, too bad for Timmy, but man was she annoying.
- And along that vein, Susan was voted “Least likely to take a hint” in high school. Probably true (hard to be certain without knowing her classmates, but a safe bet), and also a completely awesome “most/least likely” title assignment.
- Gibbs taking a polygraph. I expected him to beat it, not run, but it was still a great scene.
Like I said, what case now?
Photo Credit: CBS
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Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Apr 28, 2010 @ 11:30 EST5EDT
But NCIS:LA has that “epic bromance” that’s all the rage these days. Never mind that the rest of the characters are shortchanged and seem two-dimensional in comparison.
I loved the JAG action, but the angst and preachiness could get annoying at times.
I feel like we’ve heard Tony say “Autopsy Gremlin” several times before.
Gee, perhaps Mary could have been put off by the fact that the FBI sleazebag led the witness on for years never mentioning the possibility of witness protection to ensure his cooperation, then sells it as a five-star hotel, everything-you-could-want decadent lifestyle on the government’s dime when he has to foist the guy off on the Marshal Service, leaving it to them to clean up his mess and bring the witness back down to reality? Perhaps it was best summarized when she flat out states Faber treated his witness as an asset rather than a human being? Nah.
I don’t think Susan misinterpreted Tim’s signals; her entire journey this episode was learning that, whether from Gibbs or from Ziva. My impression was that she realized that Tim wasn’t really attracted to her, but wanted to be and was trying to force it, egged on by Tony’s needling him with comparisons to Palmer. Susan just knew the relationship wouldn’t work and declined to start it.
I thought it was odd that the team thought Susan might be involved because she was the sole survivor of the explosion. The only reason she wasn’t killed right then was that Gibbs and Fornell had pulled her out of the building mere moments before for questioning. Also? Fakest CGI explosion ever outside of a Syfy movie of the week. It was a very cool fade to black-and-white commercial out, though, ruined only by Spano wrapping the thumb of his supporting hand around the back of his pistol—a good way to cut yourself when the slide is at full travel.
*POST AUTHOR*
I guess we have to get into In Plain Sight somewhere, right?… ;) Or not. I’ll just say that 1) you’re only right if you assume that going into witness protection is a prerequisite for testifying. The FBI should have introduced the option to the witness, but there’s no reason it should have been part of the process at all if he didn’t request protection or seem scared for his or his family’s lives. And 2) either way Mary handled the situation with less tact than any other person on the planet would have been capable of. She’s not an all-knowing, all-seeing, all-right super human. Somehow, she forgets that on a regular basis, and everyone else is stupid.
I think Susan did misinterpret, at least McGee’s intentions at the end. He didn’t say date me, he said I’d love to hear more about what you do. They couldn’t be friends? I think what she learned this episode was to mistrust her instincts, so she did the opposite of what her own gut was telling her.
Agreed. It made no sense, because it was obvious that had Gibbs and Tobias not come to get her she would have died. As for CGI, I’m not up on that stuff.
I thought it was obvious to everyone in the room that McGee was trying to ask her out; if Susan was wrong, I would have expected Ziva to have spoken to that fact to cap off that storyline.
If you’re right, however, then they definitely need to bring Susan back again to settle things. :)
It’s not a question of being up on CGI, just of having been raised on real, practical explosions in movies and television, so that the new crop of cartoon explosions is easy to spot unless the SFX budget is astronomical. It was just really, really obvious in this case, because the blast blows out the windows neatly and evenly, and the bricks surrounding the windows aren’t even chipped. Compare that to previous NCIS episodes, where they have blown out real storefronts, and it’s night and day.
*POST AUTHOR*
I meant that stuff doesn’t make any impact on me. I hardly even glance at things like explosions. I internalized that it was happening, but I didn’t pay any attention to it. I’m sure you’re correct, I just don’t know anything about it.
Love any episode with Fornell, since I’ve beena big fan of Joe Spano since he was on “Hill Street Blues.” The scenes with Fornell and Director Vance were great, particularly their anticipation about Gibbs and the polygraph. On another site someone was talking about an episode featuring Gibbs, Fornell, and Mike Franks. Add in Vance and they may have something there, to the point where you wouldn’t really need Gibbs and his team.
*POST AUTHOR*
I think Vance doesn’t bring it old-school often enough. But that could be yet another spin-off of this Navy family: Vance, Franks, and Fornell all retire and open a PI shop together somewhere in a quiet, Midwest town. :)
What annoyed me is whenever they run prints at the lab it takes days to get a hit, but with the hand scanner only takes a few seconds. Maybe it’s time to upgrade the computers and lan.
*POST AUTHOR*
It has to be that the hand-held regularly downloads an updated database to the unit, so that when you search you’re only searching a local drive. Otherwise, there’s no way the main database would be able to handle so many simultaneous requests for matches instantaneously.