NCIS

I used to thoroughly enjoy this series, but with Ziva and Tony gone and Abby apparently about to leave, it has gone right down in my estimation. The three new cast members are very poor substitutes for the above, the two females (especially the dark one) being the most annoying. One feels no empathy towards them, and they seem unlikely characters to exist in an organisation such as NCIS.

Has the USA gone to same way as the UK in being unable to produce decent TV series (or films) any longer? Guess I'll just have to stick to watching older stuff on DVD.

What a shame.

I've written about this show before on IMDb --- but here I am months later in May 2005 and yet it still continues to be impressive. There have been a few shows that were "bleh" in the last season but the "SWAK" episode tonight really got a few great moments of emotion between the cast members. The writers (at least to me) were able to pull off the "suspended disbelief" and I got pulled into the moment as DiNozzo was about to kick the bucket. I sure hope they keep most of the cast in the next season, as they seem to play off each other brilliantly. The only cast member I could see losing (according to the season finale preview, they lose an NCIS agent) is McGee. He's great and believable for his role, but any of the others lost as regulars on the show would break down the core character interplay. The McGee character could be replaced...but the others would be much more difficult. But then again I guess this is all decided and in the can...we'll find out on May 24th. My comments to other viewers that have commented on the reality of the series --- yeah, it's not the real life NCIS at all. But real life would be mind-numbingly boring to fit in 60 minute TV show. You'd need the constant buzz of fluorescent lights in the background combined with pages and pages of forms being typed into the computer --- mostly about drug abuses by young 18 year olds. This is TV drama and a fabricated fiction. I appreciate the nod Bellesario gives to NCIS and like the show for the entertainment it is. Real life NCIS isn't a fun job, but we get an hour on Tuesday night to pretend it is.

The show has lost two many of the the stars. Same with LA. Hawaii was terrible from the start. New Orleans is already gone. The NCIS Dynasty is over!!!! There's no-one left who can carry the show.

Finally Bellisario got it right. Gibbs and his gang are first and foremost investigators, not hoity-toity staff officers who moonlight as stereotyped combat soldiers with thickly-laid-on patriotic dogma that would make Ward Carroll vomit with rage. At no time do they ever try to borrow an F-14 to go on some bombing raid over the international hot spot du semaine; they stick to their job descriptions the whole time. They also have personalities and eccentricities that make them a better ridealong than overstarched Harmless Rabbit and whatever babe he happens to be working with this season, such as Gibbs' coffee addiction, Ducky's intellectual ramblings, DiNozzo's attempts at being a cool womanizer, Abby's interesting blend of science nerd and goth grrrl, and Kate as the token vaguely normal neophyte thrown into the mix. Too bad this couldn't have been done with JAG in the first place.

When the show first started out it was a little shaky, but since then has grown into its own. The characters are believable, both annoying and enchanting, and the plots are wonderful. There's a depth and a comradeship that isn't often showed this well in television. It isn't forced or faked; it's entirely true to life and believable.

The underlying sexual tension between several of the characters is also intriguing and interesting to watch, the most obvious of these being the relationship between Tony and Kate, but there's also hints at Kate and Gibbs, McGee and Abby, and so on. It's a crime drama that's both serious and light-hearted, and a wonderful show for anyone who likes fascinating stories, good humor, and great character interaction.