SEASON EIGHT EPISODE NINE
ENEMIES DOMESTIC
I
went into this episode with a totally open-mind. I knew very little about it
other than it was the second half to last week's and one of the team would be
close to death.
For the most part I enjoyed it. I thought it was well written, well directed,
well acted, moved far faster than last week's but there were parts that were
slow and IMO unnecessary - padding in other words. It could have been tighter.
Could the two episodes have made one? I'm not sure. Possibly they could have,
but overall I think not. But they could have made one and a half, there was too
much padding in both to make two episodes. So maybe they could have made one
really edge of seat episode.
My biggest issue with it (as anyone who regular reads my reviews will know) was
the constant flashing back to previous times, mainly Amsterdam but then also to
1999 and then to the here and now. I just find those types of episodes (and
books) constantly throw me out of the story. I'm settled in watching it and
wham, I'm pulled out. Thus I think it had lesser impact on me than many others
as it was jerking all the time.
That said I did still enjoy it. Full marks have to go to the amazing
transformation of Rocky Carroll and Michael Nouri from them today (especially
Rocky) to how they were back in 1991 - ah, yes, 1991. I swear they are now doing
this deliberately. Okay, so it wasn't Gibbs in 1991, but it was this now
infamous year *g* That really was tremendous.
I did like how it tied up a lot of Vance and we have a number of questions
answered - not all of them. We still know there are things in his past that
didn't quite add up, things he didn't want NIS digging too deeply into, which
I'm assuming is to do with his boxing days and the dead boxer. And we have what
was written on the paper he shredded all tied up too. So full marks for
answering a lot of questions. And I liked how they even managed to get in Gibbs
and Vance meeting and the reference to the Danish - now we know. And also tying
up the Russian Gibbs shot in Paris and how he was the Russian back in Amsterdam
- an awful lot of loose ends dealt with. I thought that was cleverly done. How
can NCIS get some things so right and others so wrong?
I did like seeing how Vance and Eli met and it was very believable. I liked
seeing how they constructed the home made Claymore bomb and how it echoed the
bomb in the safe house. And how Vance's never forgetting anything was what saved
him; because of the bomb he helped Eli construct and place, he was alive today.
As much as I hate flashing back and forth like that, it was extremely well done
insofar as the story-line and the links.
Even though I don't enjoy the constant flashing back and forth, I was very
intrigued by the whole Amsterdam project and how clearly from the beginning
Vance was expendable not only to McAllister but also to Whitney Sharp - there's
a part of me asking the question: how much did she know. Was she involved at
all? Certainly she chose Vance for the reasons Gibbs stated and not for the
reasons she gave. A young black man with no family was of course, at that time,
easily expendable. She may not have actively tried to kill Vance, but she's
culpable too in some way, something which seems to have been totally glossed
over.
The whole thing was purely a set up to kill Vance, but to blame it on Eli and
Mossad, it was a well set up idea, but part of me wonders why McAllister didn't
act before that. Vance isn't always under guard, etc. Okay, so had he acted
sometime between 1991 and now, he might have been caught, but OTOH, it did seem
a tad elaborate to plan all of this just to kill Vance, when he would have had
countless opportunities over the years. But I can just about hand-wave that,
because let's face it if I don't then it makes a mockery of the whole two
episodes. But if you examine it closely, it's a very weak plot point.
I also have to ask the question of just how McAllister knew all about the bomb
Vance and Eli had constructed and the exact place it had been positioned in and
how it was set off. I guess he went to Vance's room after the bomb in Amsterdam,
but would it have been possible for him to work out exactly where it had been
put and from what it had been constructed? Maybe he asked Vance and Eli for
step-by-step details, but . . . And given the only reason, as Eli told us, that
Vance was alive was because he remembered exactly the placing and making of the
bomb in Amsterdam, McAllister had to know that. Hmmm.
McAllister, I thought last week that he was going to be involved in someway with
something because of the focus of him. My suspicion of him grew once we saw him
and Vance in Amsterdam when they were having this meet out in the open about the
Russian and McAllister was sure the Russian would find Vance, even know who he
was, and yet there they were totally out in the open - if the Russian was that
good, he would know who McAllister was and so why meet so openly? I also
suspected Sharp of being involved, given she'd recruited Vance. So it wasn't a
huge surprise when McAllister appeared at the hospital and we learnt that it was
him to tried to kill Vance and all because he (McAllister) wasn't the bright
forward looking agent that Vance, Tom Morrow, Jenny and others were. A fairly
weak motive really, but then there have been weaker ones.
Again I liked how the two teams, Tony and Ziva and Malachi and Liat worked
together and complemented and echoed one another. I enjoyed how the men focussed
the women who were clearly at odds with one another from the moment they met. I
expected the chick fight at some point, it had to come, it was foreshadowed
totally. Was it necessary? Nope, it was one of those padding scenes. I did also
think Liat was involved and a baddie, given that would have been something of a
cliché, I was glad to see they didn't go that route after all - even though she
did try to keep Ziva out of things by erasing the important part of Eli's
message. I hope we don't see her again as I didn't take to her from the moment I
met her. She really is too showy and has far too many chips on her shoulders.
Tony will, of course, be totally peeved that he missed the chick fight - we know
how much he loves them.
I liked how Gibbs used Tim to do all the setting up and moving of the past
directors, etc. to the Navy Yard and getting all the paperwork and old files
whilst Ziva and Tony continued to work with Malachi and Liat. That worked well,
as it would have been daft to split up the team that had been established, plus
that kind of thing is something Tim would do far better than either Tony or
Ziva. So it was a nice touch to see Tim with Gibbs at the hospital with Vance. I
always like to see Gibbs and Tim working together.
The build up to Ducky meeting an agent from the past was totally weak and again
padding, it wasn't necessary; it added nothing to the episode at all and we
didn't get what it was all about anyway. Not that I'm complaining that their
past 'relationship' didn't come out, but why the build up for something that
didn't happen? What I picked up was that there was no love lost between them at
all; Ducky was courteous as he always is, but there was an edge to it: he did
not like her. As for his 'moment of weakness' maybe she came on to him, he
momentarily succumbed, she wanted more, but he being who and what he is backed
away and she never forgave him for that. Tony's comment about hanging a sock on
the door knob was laughable given there was no hint of sexual tension or even
liking. Again, it's something NCIS really do not seem to manage well; when they
want supposed attraction between two people they so often mess it up. Anyway, a
waste of a scene - as with the chick fight pure padding.
The McGyver reference had me smiling and also was a wee bit spooky as J had
mentioned McGyver in relation to McGee only a day or two ago when we were
discussing Mac names and he wondered if Tony had ever used it.
There were some nice team moments, the odd flash or two of humour, not that much
but there wouldn't be given the serious nature of the episode. Again, there were
losers because of the concentration on Vance and Eli and Malachi and Liat
particularly Ducky and Abby but that was to be expected. I hope we get back to
our team next week.
The plot was simply to dig out the bad guy or guys; find Eli; find out who
wanted initially Eli dead and then realising it wasn't Eli they were after, but
Vance and how it all tied in with the meeting between Eli and Vance in
Amsterdam. And to move Ziva's relationship with her father forward so there
could be healing.
The ending was very moving indeed, Cote is an amazing actress, I don't think I'd
really appreciated just how good she is and says so much with her eyes, her
face, her body language. A very touching and emotional ending. And again the
whole two parter led up to that because it was so clear that whilst she still
might hate him, maybe still hasn't truly forgiven him, Ziva still loves Eli
very, very deeply. That came over in her face, voice and body language
throughout the episode every time she mentioned him. The fact that he had to
have been kidnapped as it was the only scenario whereby he was still alive -
before they realised he got away himself.
So, yes, I did enjoy it, it was fairly powerful, but sadly it doesn't stand up
to close examination.
Favourite scenes:
- The opening scene with Gibbs's voice still coming over the walkie-talkie and
Vance coming to. An excellent opening.
- How Tony and Malachi 'settled' Ziva and Liat in their first abrasive scene.
- Tim herding 'cats'.
- McAllister asking Gibbs for permission to smack his (nice little emphasis on
the 'his' for G/Mc fen) boy (Tim) with his cane and Gibbs denying him
permission. Only Gibbs gets to smack his team.
- The wee bit Gibbs & Ducky bit in Autopsy.
- Abby and Tim in her lab when she's talking about the home-made bomb and then
calls him McGyver saying she'd been saving it. And he kisses her on the cheek -
a lovely moment for A/Mc fen.
- Tim and Tony talking about the McGyver name and Tim asking Tony if there's any
names he was holding back and Tony saying that's not how his mind works, his
mind is full of scat, it's unpredictable and then his waffle as to what he
means. A priceless Tony moment, so very well done. And a nice Di/Mc moment.
- Gibbs and Eli in interrogation.
- Tim coming into the squad room to find Tony, Ziva, Malachi and Liat trying to
access interrogation as they want to hear Gibbs and Eli and Tim solving the
problem in a second and hacking straight in and how proud Tony was of him.
Followed by Abby asking how many people knew how to build a Claymore mine and
Malachi asking 'in this room?' and then after Malachi, Liat and Ziva raise their
hands, so does Abby. A wonderful scene and a nice touch of humour in the tense
episode.
- Ducky's appearance to suggest they go to the hospital to give blood and Tony
following him to the lift to ask about Sharp and Ducky telling him that Vance
was not her type; she preferred policemen. Once again Ducky's dislike for Sharp
was clear in his voice.
- Gibbs and Vance in the hospital. A very moving scene and tense and it showed
just how far these two have come. Nice touch with Gibbs leaving Vance his knife
and telling Vance never to go anywhere without one.
- Vance and McAllister - an information dump, but still a tense scene. Well done
on fixing the Morphine beforehand. And good to see Vance use Gibbs's knife to
kill McAllister.
- The final scene between Ziva and her father.
Minor irks:
- The lack of Ducky. I know it had to be because of the whole nature of the
episode, but that's one reason why I'm not fond of this kind of episode. Ducky
is the one who always loses out.
- No Jimmy.
- A flash back to Gibbs & Jenny in Paris.
- The flashbacks generally - I don't like that kind of episode.
- The chick fight as it was padding.
- Ducky and Sharp again unnecessary padding.
- Quite how McAllister knew exactly how to make and place the Claymore mine so
as to echo the one in Amsterdam.
Ship of the week:
Gibbs & Vance
Character of the week:
Vance
Actor/Actress of the week:
Rocky Carroll
Storyline: 8.00
Enjoyment: 8.00
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