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GIBBS AND LANGER

3rd November 2010

One of the more curious relationships we never got to see fully explored was that between Gibbs and Langer.

Brent Langer had been a NCIS agent before he jumped ship to join the FBI. When we first meet Langer in "Tribes", it is obvious the two men have been good friends. Gibbs is genuinely pleased to see Langer again.

Langer still has strong loyalties to Gibbs. He risks his career at the FBI to obtain information relating to Gibbs' case and personally delivers it to Gibbs at his home. Gibbs wasn't surprised to see him, or to obtain the data. He knew Langer's personal loyalties would over-ride his professional ones. The two men must have been very close at one time. Perhaps as close as Gibbs and Tony are now. So close that Brent Langer considered that he still owed loyalty to Gibbs.

When we next see Langer he has returned to the bosom of NCIS...and the relationship has changed. Langer is back in the fold, but Gibbs is holding him at arms length. The relationship is purely professional and you can see that the change has made Langer nervous. The strong, confident man from "Tribes" has gone. He is slightly nervous around Gibbs. Watching "Last Man Standing" again recently I did wonder if the push for Langer to return to NCIS came from within the FBI. Was he a plant to keep tabs on the new director? Was Langer's personality change caused by feeling guilty about deceiving Gibbs?

It is unlike Gibbs to change towards someone the way he did towards Langer. The friendship between the men should have remained. Gibbs was unhappy and angry about his team being split up and being given a new team, but I felt there had to be something more than that to explain his stand offish-ness with Langer.

When it appears that Langer is the mole, Gibbs is swamped with self doubt. He no longer trusts his own instincts. We realize that Gibbs is trusting himself again when he takes Langer's FBI identity card and places it on the Honor Wall in the bar. The wall honors NCIS agents who gave their lives in the line of duty. This is Gibbs acknowledgment that Langer was a good man, a good agent, and a good friend.



LAST UPDATE
ON 4th November 2010, 6.35AM AEDT
SUBMITTED BY MargyW


SHORT FUSE

2nd November 2010

The third episode of season 8 brought us the return of FBI Senior Special Agent Fornell in a case that has a very senior member of the FBI involved.

The plot involved the shooting of an intruder in her home by a Marine. A subplot of Tony being chosen to be the face of NCIS on the new recruiting brochure gave the episode an even bigger boost.

Ducky got to tell a very interesting story on how a criminal removed his finger prints. We got to see Gibbs being domestic. Doing his ironing whilst watching an old Western movie on TV.

One of the best scenes had to be Gibbs and Fornell eating the Indian food Fornell brought for dinner. Mark Harmon and Joe Spano both have wonderfully expressive faces!

To be honest, any episode that has Gibbs and Fornell together is going to have memorable scenes, simply because Mark and Joe gel together so well. Equally memorable to the Indian food scene is the scene with them talking to the wife of Tollan, the FBI member mentioned above. Their faces when she asks if they are married are a sight to behold. Especially when she takes one look at them and says "Divorced".
The scene of Fornell cooking dinner for Gibbs was very good. Joe Spano looks very good in an apron!

The scene in the barn with Sgt Dempsey and the drug dealer with what turns out to be a fake bomb strapped to him is also very good. Gibbs' total nonchalance about the situation did make me think that he suspected that the bomb was a fake.

But the final scene when it turns out that Vance chooses a photo of Gibbs to go on the brochure is a classic. The look on Tony's face when he sees the photo is hysterical.

Prize for THE best scene however, has to go to Gibbs head slapping the cardboard cut out of DiNozzo as he walks out of the squad room. The scene is even funnier when you realize that Mark Harmon adlibbed that portion of the scene.

"Short Fuse" had some great lines to remember it by.

McGee: There will be no living with him now.
Ziva: Now?

Tony: The toilet seat was up. Maybe she's more Marine than I thought.

Fornell: Be nice to me. I just spent two hours with our ex-wife.

Abby:
Back to the Duck Pond.

Ziva: Well I find certain older men attractive.

Fornell: We at the FBI do tend to piss people off.

Gibbs: Let's go. You're with me, Poster Boy.

Gibbs: It's good. What's the occasion?
Fornell: I'm trying to curry favor.

Sands: The director wanted the image of NCIS to be one of authority, and integrity, and leadership.



LAST UPDATE
ON 3rd November 2010, 6.42AM AEDT
SUBMITTED BY MargyW



GIBBS AND HIS MOM

21st October 2010

A while ago I did a blog on Gibbs and kids. I mentioned that some of Gibbs empathy with children comes from what he witnessed at the age of about 10 or 11 that traumatized him. I speculated that what Gibbs saw may have been his mother's murder. This opened the flood gates for discussion. So instead of revisiting Gibbs and kids, we're going to visit Gibbs and his mom.

I personally believe that what the young Gibbs witnessed was the death of his mom. Possibly at the hands of another. The death of a much loved parent is an incredibly traumatizing event for a young person. This I know from first hand experience.

I don't believe Gibbs parents divorced and he went to live with his mom. Divorce amongst Gibbs' parents generation was exceedingly rare. You made your bed and now you lie in it, was the prevailing opinion. Also too, there was no support for a woman if she left her husband, so it is more likely that the young Gibbs watched his parents bitter fighting as they fell out of love and possibly into hate. Jackson's comment in "Heartland" - I always thought that your mom and I had a love story for the ages, but you see, things did not work out between your mom and me - would seem to support this.

It is possible that if his mom was murdered, that having seen the fights, young Gibbs was terribly afraid his father had done it and he would be left all alone. People are seldom totally rational when deeply traumatized.

Rightly or wrongly, Gibbs blamed his father for his mother's death. Jackson noted that himself, commenting in "Heartland" - When she died, I know how mad that made you. I know how angry you where that I got on with my life. I saw the look on your face, how you wanted vengeance.

We know that the deaths of Shannon and Kelly drove Gibbs into the arms of NCIS. A drive to help others have the justice and the closure he did not have. I wonder though, if the death of his mother isn't another spur which drives Leroy Jethro Gibbs onwards.



LAST UPDATE
ON 22nd October 2010, 6.49AM AEDT
SUBMITTED BY MargyW



MAKE MIKE FRANKS A REGULAR

20th October 2010

I think it's time that the recurring character of Mike Franks, played so wonderfully by Muse Watson, was made a regular character. I know from reading various sites that a heck of a lot of fans agree with me. Mike Franks is too good a character to only see once or twice a season.

Now, with Mike's little piece of heaven burned to the ground, it's a good time to ease the character into the show on a more regular basis. Especially as it is obvious that Vance is using Mike as a de-facto agent.

It wouldn't be hard to slip Mike into the show on a more regular basis. He now has nowhere to live, and Layla and Amira to care for, not to mention the remains of the Reynosa cartel carrying a serious grudge. Bring Mike back to Washington, D.C., and have him open a little Mexican themed bar. Call it "Mike's Cantina". Make it a place for the team to hang out from time to time. It makes Mike accessible on a more regular basis, without trying to forcibly squeeze him into the NCIS team unit, which simply doesn't work.

With this set up you still have Mike available, without an artificial team construct, and you just know he'll go cowboy as the situation demands it. It's a perfect comprise. Mike Franks ready to roll, and the team dynamic remains unaffected.

I sincerely hope that Shane Brennan, Gary Glasberg and Chas Johnson listen to what the fans want on this occasion. Muse Watson fits in so beautifully with the rest of the cast, that it really is a crime that he isn't part of the show more often.



LAST UPDATE
ON 21st October 2010, 6.31AM AEDT
SUBMITTED BY MargyW





MargyW
MargyW
Latest page update: made by MargyW , Nov 3 2010, 3:43 PM EDT (about this update About This Update MargyW Edited by MargyW


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MargyW Gibbs and his Mom 18 Nov 8 2010, 6:36 AM EST by xenascully
Thread started: Oct 21 2010, 3:51 PM EDT  Watch
My blog entry for today:

http://www.ncisfanwiki.com/page/NCIS+MODERATORS%27+BLOG+123

I look forward to reading your thoughts and opinions.
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MargyW Make Mike Franks a Regular (page: 1 2 3) 54 Nov 7 2010, 12:27 AM EDT by calilady
Thread started: Oct 20 2010, 3:32 PM EDT  Watch
My blog entry for today:

http://www.ncisfanwiki.com/page/NCIS+MODERATORS%27+BLOG+123

Any feedback/discussion would be great.
3  out of 3 found this valuable. Do you?    
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MargyW Gibbs and Langer 6 Nov 5 2010, 6:16 AM EDT by marion612
Thread started: Nov 3 2010, 3:37 PM EDT  Watch
My blog entry for today:

http://www.ncisfanwiki.com/page/NCIS+MODERATORS%27+BLOG+123

Any feedback/discussion would be great.
Do you find this valuable?    
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