The Patriot will now be taking a look and reviewing what has been happening so far in the television show NCIS.
“Ziva David is dead. “
Anthony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) broke open the season of NCIS with that declaration. The last few seconds of the previous season ended with David (Cote de Pablo) being tortured. I refused to believe it and waited out the episode to see if David lived.
David was indeed alive (as I knew she had to be), but ready to give up on her life. DiNozzo and Tim McGee (Sean Murray) had managed to get themselves caught by the same terrorist, Saleem Ulman (Omid Abtahi) who captured David three months earlier.
Maybe a bit unrealistic, but this is TV.
Special Agent Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) saved the day with his sniper shooting abilities. DiNozzo, McGee, and David walked out of there as alright as anyone can be after going through that ordeal.
The story I waited for since season 6 of NCIS ended did not come until episode 4 of season 7– how did David end up with Saleem. The two episodes in between, the high school revenge murders and the blogger’s murder, were merely fillers, though “The Inside Man” (Episode 3) was interesting to say the least. I held my breath to hear all the truths come out. Throughout the two, there are little hints that all was not well with David’s story.
Yes, the two episodes created more tension and anticipation.
The truth tumbled out when remains of marine Daniel Cryer (Erik Palladino) showed up in the wrong place. David’s old story of the boat going down in a storm quickly got washed away when the position of Cyrer’s body, in relationship to the coast, proved the ship did not go down where she had said.
Not to mention the fact Cyrer had a bullet lodged in his body.
Director Leon Vance (Rocky Carroll) questioned David’s loyalty even further when the ship was found to have its entire crew shot. Malachi Ben-Gidon (T.J. Ramini), Mossad team leader, and companion to David during the trip showed up to say David shot Cyrer when their cover was blown. David refused to take the blame and told the true story. Malachi shot Cryer without properly questioning him first. David leaves the Malachi, her father, and Mossad behind to join NCIS as a true agent.
With the death of former Director of NCIS, Jenny Shepard (Lauren Holly), I thought that it would be the end of the ridiculous vendettas that plagued Jenny. Apparently, it’s a part of the position; Director Vance has a few as well. In Episode 7, “The Endgame,” Vance sends the team after a North Korean operative. Due to the history the two have, she comes to him with a suicidal wish. She wants him to kill her, but Vance does not have to because Vance’s wife does it for him.
The season is filled with all of my favorite people.
David’s incorrect sayings, including “red throats” for rednecks, MCGee’s continued bad jokes, geekiness, and occasional oblivion, the ridiculousness of DiNozzo, the womanizer, and the mystery behind Gibbs all contributes to my love for the show.
But how could the team be completely without Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen), Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard (David McCallum) and Abby Sciuto (Pauley Perrette), the girl who got me to watch the show in the beginning?
Gerald Jackson (Pacho Demmings), Ducky’s former assistant, did a nice job, but Palmer compliments him much better, mostly because the two are so similar. They both speak about whatever connection comes to mind, whether or not it is relevant.
Abby, Abby, Abby … where do I start? The combination of childish innocence and Goth attire and tendencies makes the character. I do not quite understand how both are possible at the same time, but Abby always manages it perfectly. The show has the most interesting deaths, though the motives that follow are not always as unique. The characters make the show more than the plot and I watch every week to see not who died, but how.
Rachel Kokoska can be reached for comment at [email protected]