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NCIS MODERATORS' BLOG 78
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AGENT AFLOAT
21st February 2010
"Agent Afloat", written by Dan E. Fesman and David J. North (see blog entry below) was the second episode of season 6 and the one that finally reunited the team. To refresh your memory, a Navy lieutenant takes a swallow dive off the fantail of the USS Seahawk where Tony is stationed as agent afloat. When McGee and Ziva go to his home, they find his wife murdered. As is usual with writers of the caliber of Fesman and North, the plot then begins to buck and roll like a ship in a storm.
"Agent Afloat" has numerous good scenes. Tony finding the body in Cartagena by tugging on a stray bootlace. When the leg comes up into the air, the expression on Tony's face is a classic.
Tony talking about McGee managing when he was separated from the team, but he is really talking about himself.
The "it's snot" conversation in Abby's lab between Abby and McGee is a classic in double speak and confusion.
The first of two stand out scenes for me, however, is Vance and McGee in MTAC. McGee wanting to hack the USS Seahawk's computer network and telling Vance why he should do it. It is McGee at his most confident. The second scene is Gibbs on the medi-vac plane confronting the bad guy. When he tells the pilot to launch and grabs on to the webbing for dear life. The plane launchs, and the unsecured bad guy goes flying through the plane.
"Agent Afloat" has some great lines too.
Tony: You've got to get me off this ship. Have you any idea what it's like to be the only cop in a city of 5,000? (pause, remembers he's talking to Gibbs). Well, you would. It sucks!
Vance: You didn't read those files, did you?
Gibbs: As I said, two good men.
Vance: Make your choice.
Gibbs: DiNozzo
Vance: Pack your bags, Agent Gibbs. Your boy's going to need some help.
Ziva: You seem different?
Tony: Taller? Hotter?
Ziva: Older.
Tony: Yeah, well it's been four months.
Ziva: Still beating yourself up over Jenny?
Tony: Not as much.
Ziva: Still drinking?
Tony: Not as much.
Tony: It's just like the squad room. Only there's no squad and no room.
Vance: I've already made my decision, Gibbs. And in answer to your question, it was never a punishment.
LAST UPDATE ON 22nd February 2010, 6.24AM AEDT
SUBMITTED BY MargyW
HEAD CASE REVISITED
18th February 2010
I got great response to my blog on the season 3 episode "Head Case" so thought I'd take another quick look at it.
It became apparent from the feedback that this episode is a favorite season 3 episode. It's balance of drama and humor appealing to the majority of fans. In fact, I did not have one person say to me "I did not like that episode."
A couple of people pointed out the odd feeling they get watching the scene where Ziva says she will never be taken alive, in view of what happened at the end of "Aliyah". I must admit, that scene prickled the back of my neck too.
Palmer's carving tissue samples off the head for Abby with the comment of "White meat or dark?" drew a lot of comment. Especially Abby's reaction to it.
Ziva using Jenny to get her information and thinking she's put one over Gibbs, only for Gibbs to tell her to thank the Director, was a classic. From memory, I don't think Ziva ever used Jenny to get information again.
Emerellda, I think, summed it up best: "...it was just a really good solid episode, that encompassed everything that we have come to know and love about NCIS."
Once again, thank you to everyone who took part in the original discussions.
LAST UPDATE ON 19th February 2010, 6.32AM AEDT
SUBMITTED BY MargyW
SCRIPTS OF DAVID J. NORTH
17th February 2010
David J. North often writes in tandem with Steven D. Binder, so you will see some duplication from my previous blog on Steven's scripts.
- Bikini Wax This was David's first script for NCIS and one of his best. Had a scene so memorable that it became part of the opening credits for several seasons. I refer to a soaking wet, soapy McGee giving Gibbs the thumbs up.
- The Voyeurs Web. One of David's darker writings, but still something of a fan favorite.
- Model Behavior. Who could resist a reality show called Boot Camp Babes? Nice murder mystery and sly poke at reality television at the same time.
- Jeopardy. Has Ziva killed a suspect? David gave us a great Ziva-centric story with this episode.
- Singled Out. One of the best episodes of season 4. Ziva undercover at a speed dating event. Gave Gibbs one of his best lines ever with "You're a geek, Ziva David, not mentally deranged."
- Blowback. More undercover work. This time it is Ducky who goes undercover after La Grenouille.
- Lost and Found. One of the funniest episodes of season 5 with the young kid, Carson. Carson just happens to be a mini-DiNozzo much to the amusement of the rest of the team.
- Judgment Day. None of us are ever going to forget this double episode. Jenny gunned down in an abandoned diner in California, and the team broken up and scattered.
- Agent Afloat. Tony all at sea and homesick. Ends with Tony back home with the team, where he belongs.
- Nine Lives. Dead marines, the Mob, and Tobias Fornell. What's not to like about this episode?
- Love & War. A weird episode this one. A man is found dead and eviscerated. Strange markings are carved on his back. But, as with most David North scripts, things are not what they seem.
- Bounce. A little role reversal with Tony leading the team trying to unstuff a case he stuffed when team leader after Gibbs retirement. Interesting to see Gibbs in a different role. Both mentor and comic relief!
- Dead Reckoning. Trent Kort wants that little favor that Gibbs owes him.
- Aliyah. The season 6 finale which ends with Ziva held captive in Somalia.
- Good Cop, Bad Cop. Eli David wants his daughter home and will stop at nothing to get what he wants. Even having another Mossad agent falsely accuse her of murder.
- Power Down. This is one of the best episodes of season 7. Good plot. Lots of humor as the team copes with a massive black out across Washington, DC.
LAST UPDATE ON 18th February 2010, 6.28AM AEDT
SUBMITTED BY Margyw
CHILD'S PLAY
16th February 2010
I was bitterly disappointed with this episode. In my opinion "Child's Play" written by Reed Steiner would have to be top contender for the worst episode ever. It is certainly the worst episode of season 7 to date.
The plot was unbelievable in the extreme. A US Military Think Tank using children? For crying out loud! Yes I can cope with suspending my disbelief, but not suspending it by the neck until it's dead!
The smaller subplot of Thanksgiving at Ducky's was also stretching it. We're expected to believe that Ducky would wait until two days before the festivities to invite his friends to dinner? Gimme a break.
And the scene that really peed me off? Gibbs breaking the news to a woman of her sister's death by showing her a photo of the corpse! I don't give a rat's backside if the woman is a suspect or not. That scene was so not Gibbs it wasn't funny! It showed a cruelty that simply isn't in the character. If the writers don't understand the characters, they shouldn't be writing for the show, in my humble opinion.
It was distressing watching Mark Harmon, David McCallum and Michael Weatherly work with a script that bad. All three men are excellent actors, and they were given dross to work with. The whole thing felt glaringly wrong. There was no character development. No warmth. No real humor. None of the little quirks that make a great episode of NCIS. The script was paint-by-numbers NCIS.
- New nickname for McGee - CHECK
- Kiss on the check for Abby - CHECK
- Head slap for Tony - CHECK
- Taciturn Gibbs - CHECK
- Rambling Ducky - CHECK
- Goofy clown routine for Tony - CHECK
To be blunt, there are fan fiction writers out there who could have turned in a better script than that. There wasn't even a truly memorable line of dialogue to save it.
LAST UPDATE ON 17th February 2010, 8.08AM AEDT
SUBMITTED BY MargyW
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| MargyW | Scripts of David J. North | 16 | Feb 23 2010, 8:57 PM EST by MargyW | ||
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| MargyW | Agent Afloat - Blog Entry | 1 | Feb 22 2010, 2:30 AM EST by HardKore71 | ||
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| MargyW | Child's Play - Blog Entry (page: 1 2 3) | 40 | Feb 20 2010, 2:38 PM EST by Mona92 | ||
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