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I did an "as it happened" post yesterday. Then I felt the need to expand on my thoughts. So below the cut are my hits and misses from last night's episode.
The Good
The Bad
The Ugly
The Good
- Vance. He was the one that brought up Ziva's status with both NCIS and Mossad. She was never an agent and how can she come back as a liaison if she doesn't keep ties to Mossad and her father? Vance was very director-ish in this ep and I liked that.
- Ducky and Palmer. They were so normal and they had never changed and I love them for it.
- Tim and Tony. They are the way I know they can be. They were joking with each other without heat. They seemed so in tune with each other.
- Gibbs. At first, I was a little leery with how he was kind of saying they needed Ziva. I don't really see why they need her, so I didn't agree with that. But then he got in her face about trust.
- Vance, again. He called Gibbs on what I think Gibbs was actually doing. He was hoping that Vance would find the reason for Ziva not to come back and save Gibbs the trouble of making *that* decision.
- Vance, thrice. The "I Love You" moment in front of Tim and Tony was made of win. And it made me think of my past-Vance/Tony fic that I always wanted to continue by making it present Gibbs/Tony.
- The "Kiss". When Ziva kissed Tony on the cheek, I LOVED how Tony just stood there not looking at her and then had his eureka moment for the case. He was so not in that conversation the same way Ziva was and I loved that. It was definitely one sided on Ziva's part.
- Competent!Tony. I think we saw him in this episode. We also saw Joking!Tony who was more inline with how he used to be and not some poor imitation.
- Abby's Rant Positive Notes. I did like that she stood up for Tony and the description she gave of his outside and inside. However, read below for more negative on this.
- Baltimore PD connections! (more below on this)
- Headslap! Yay!
- Tony saved the homeless guy and then mentioned he had something wet (or something) on his hand he didn't want to think about.
- Original Cindy! Thanks to
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onlyonechoice for pointing that out to me, because it was driving me up the wall. - And last, but certainly not least, Toppy!Gibbs who made Tony wait through his report and for just a few moments longer before he was allowed to go to the bathroom. And Tony looked completely comfortable (except for the pee!dancing) to let Gibbs dictate when he went to the bathroom. I love the dynamics those two have. :-)
The Bad
- Ziva. I just don't like her character anymore. And then I hate that I don't like her because the writers made me not like her and it snowballs from there.
- Abby's Rant Negative Notes. I didn't like that she contradicted all the points in favor of Tony with the little asides about seeing it different. There is no other way to see it. And I didn't like the drop down banner. At least they didn't have Ziva pictures all over Abby's lab or something like that.
- The ending. It was too nice and tidy. What freakin' reason does Ziva have to be on their team. She does not have close ties with Mossad right now (considering she hasn't been home since the rescue and they didn't rescue her). She cannot be an agent because she IS NOT a US Citizen. That said, how the heck is she even allowed to stay in the US right now. I mean in real life, there's a wife of a dead soldier who was having trouble staying the country and she has a kid by the dead soldier. So what right does Ziva have in the US right now? I guess that's creative license. *hrumph*
- The case. I don't really remember it and who was who/what in that case.
- Ziva helping Tim and Tony. I know *why* they did it, but I didn't like that they did it. Remember the time Gibbs and Tony went to solve a case on Air Force One of all places with just the two of them. And Tony, Gibbs and Kate managed just fine for some time without Tim. *sigh*
- People who knew / knew of Tony from his cop days. Why do they have to be bad or implied bad in this case? I did like the way he said that he was glad Tony had his back. It sounded like he had a little hero worship going on there and it makes me wonder what kind of stories he was told about Tony.
- Ziva in the men's room. It was funny the first time. It was okay the next time. But now it's just, grrr. I think I mainly don't like it, because they would never, ever have one of the male characters go into the women's bathroom in the same manner. Now if it's the guys talking in the bathroom, I'm fine with it. If it was Ziva and Abby in the women's bathroom, I'd be fine. But let's stop with opposite sexes in the bathrooms please.
The Ugly
- Ziva saying Gibbs is the closest she has to a father. I did not like that they went there. Ziva has a father. From everything we've ever seen, while not close-close, she doesn't have problems with her father. Granted, him or someone at Mossad left her for dead in Africa, but still. She has a father and I just don't see her character saying that to Gibbs. Unless it was more trust-issues and she was trying to use that get Gibbs' trust back. Saying that she thought of him as a father even if she really didn't. But I didn't like that. At all.
Yeah... that whole father thing just didn't sit well with me. It seemed too forced from Ziva's side and it just opens too many can of worms from trust to exactly what her agenda is.
I would have classified the men's room scene as an "ugly" too because it's just such an invasion of privacy. If she really wanted to have a discussion with Tony she would have done so in a place where they were on equal footing. By choosing the men's room she is putting him in an awkward position where he is uncomfortable and at ease from the very nature of where they are. Why do that?
the case.... made little sense. And was boring and random. *sigh*
And the father thing just irks me. *pouts*
I want to re-watch the whole second Gibbs and Ziva scene today if I get the chance. It's confusing the heck out of me as to what actually happened there. I still can't figure out if the whole thing about her killing Ari to get in good was a lie or not.
The bathroom thing pissed me off (no pun intended). It highlights an arrogance in Ziva that she believes people need to have conversations on her timetable. She can't even wait five minutes for them to leave the bathroom. If one of the male characters did that to a female character? There would be shouts of how big of a pig he was etc... I hate the double standard because she's a 'girl'.
I hate the double standard too. You know how bad it would have been had Tony gone in the women's bathroom... *sigh* One rule for Ziva and another for everyone else. Makes me want to write Tony filing sexual assault charge against her, because I think he'd have the right (and case against her) to do it.
Even though I can't stand this new, tentative Ziva. It's a tough one, because I know she's been through a lot and it's going to change her, but I miss the more confident, badass Ziva.
And yeah - I thought the "father" thing was highly manipulative of her. Esp as she hadn't even talked to her father or so she said. She was happy to go on the mission, and it went wrong. She doesn't know WHY her dad didn't rescue her - did he even know she was still alive? NCIS didn't. And they didn't go there to rescue her either.
What irritates me about NCIS is how little adds up these days. In the old days, all the plots were quite simple but entertaining and they made sense. It wasn't vague or just not addressed like it is nowadays.
Gibbs really had me not liking him at first in the episode because of how he was saying they need Ziva. Why Gibbs? Why??
What irritates me about NCIS is how little adds up these days. In the old days, all the plots were quite simple but entertaining and they made sense. It wasn't vague or just not addressed like it is nowadays.
This exactly. I think you said something in your post about how you rewatch the early eps but no the later ones. This is how I feel. Plus, I don't think I could come into the show in season 6 and 7 (probably 5) like I did coming into in Season 3 and figure things out. I feel like I can't miss an episode or I'll not know what's going on... I liked NCIS for the case of the week with small and short-ish plot arks... but now... those days are gone.