NCIS – Did you notice that we never saw McGee dispose of the doll?

I do so enjoy the side stories on NCIS. The regular mini-sagas that the team experiences anew week after week are usually good for a laugh, and when one bleeds into the case-of-the-week (Tony’s father, Gibbs’ father), it’s all the better. Which is why I found myself so excited by the possibilities in McGee having his identity stolen.

The blowup doll really did feel a lot like some prank that Tony might pull — I loved how he knew where to find the deflate button — but once we found out that the scam was in the neighborhood of $10,000, it was obvious that something else was afoot.

I suddenly pictured a multi-episode arc that would turn into a case for NCIS to investigate … something about an enemy of the United States trying to find some angle to gain access to classified information that being NCIS Special Agent Timothy McGee would get you. Maybe it was even going to be a WikiLeaks tie-in.

And then Tony showed up with Nick (Aramis Knight), McGee’s neighbor Mrs. Miller’s son … and what? No apology, no punishment, no explanation for the entire situation aside from a teenager thinking that McGee’s life was too routine? I’m sorry, but that totally sucked. It’s one thing if there was no grand scheme to the entire thing, but McGee letting it go with a “You owe me $50″ was really stupid. I was extremely disappointed in that.

The case last night was no better or worse than they usually are. A murder — not even tangentially related to the Navy — of a Marine whose wife is a Gunny just like Gibbs. I understand that NCIS isn’t going to be investigating combat deaths, but sometimes the jealous husband/wife/lover/admirer thing gets old.

I wonder if in real life these units conduct investigations into crime rings, syndicates, or even plain old robberies. We’ve seen that here and there on the show, but I’m thinking maybe our team could become an elite NCIS investigative unit that doesn’t look into the murder of some wife abuser in his backyard. Just a thought for an area that the show might be interested in exploring after eight years.

I was also somewhat surprised that there wasn’t more between Gibbs and Gunny Wooten (Christina Cox), considering the fact that they share the same rank. I expected him to say something to her about expecting more, or her saying something to him about it being different as a female Gunny. I don’t know, but I didn’t expect nothing when we learned that the murder suspect held Gibbs’ exact rank.

I must say, though, that I loved Palmer’s “Black Thumb” rant at the beginning of the episode, rambling away as Ducky, Gibbs, Tony, etc. all stood around the dead body at the crime scene. I really think there’s so much more that the show could be doing with the character — they waste so much time in Abby’s lab … couldn’t that screen time be given to Mr. Palmer? Don’t you just want to explore the depths of who that man really is?

Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Feb 02, 2011 @ 13:30 EST5EDT