SEASON EIGHT EPISODE FOURTEEN
A MAN WALKS INTO A BAR
I
knew a fair bit about this episode in general terms and felt it was either an
episode you loved or hated (the Marmite episode as a friend dubbed it). Now
after watching it I don't know if I loved it, hated it or somewhere in the
middle - which is odd, but at the moment that's how I feel.
It moved me to tears more than once, mainly because of all the flashbacks, not
just to Kate but also to Ziva's past to the decisions she had to make, to her
killing her own brother and the cost to her. It was a very sobering episode in
many ways and brought back a lot of memories from past episodes and whilst I
normally hate that kind of jumping back and forth, I felt this worked really,
really well.
I really disliked Dr. Rachel Cranston to begin with, she put my back up and I
can quite see why Tony, Ziva and Abby reacted to her as they did, she was
intrusive and unpleasant and at the time I thought she had her own agenda. And
what an agenda it was! And that was part of the problem; I found it hard to
believe that she could use her 'powers' to get into NCIS to evaluate her dead
sister's team, not so much for their sake, but for her own. She was looking for
some kind of closure. I found the way they shoe-horned her into the episode
badly done as I simply didn't believe it. However, it did explain a lot about
the rest of the episode and her attitude and behaviour and I guess had to be
done, there was no other way of bringing her in. I get that, I don't have to
like it or believe it, but I do understand it. I can also understand what drove
her to do what she did.
I dislike this kind of evaluation, TBH, I'm not sure it has a place and clearly
given how often it had been re-scheduled, it wasn't of high importance to
anyone. Could they go on re-scheduling like that in reality? Psych tests, I
thought, were mandatory and part of the annual review, apparently not. Thus in
many ways I was already very anti Rachel before the episode started and nothing
she did or said and the way she acted, talked to people and behaved helped that
opinion of her. When she ignored Tim telling her to stay outside, I thought she
was a foolish woman who quite frankly deserved it if something had have happened
to her.
Having said all that, the fact that she did irritate and did push and come over
as she did, isn't necessarily bad. Having strong feelings positive or negative
are always good, as it means a character/plot/scene has worked. It's the 'meh'
reactions or the 'don't really touch you in one way or other' that aren't so
good.
As for the case, that was interesting and a real navy case and also painful too
- yet another subject tackled so well. In some ways it's a great shame it was
tied up with this episode as it was worthy of more, I felt. How terrible that
the Commander had given all the years to the service of his country, only to
have to face mandatory retirement and end up with nothing. Suicide clearly
wasn't a decision he made quickly or lightly, but he made it. Kudos to the two
junior people who helped and tried to cover it up. Foolish of them, of course,
but so easy to understand why they did it. I actually thought the Petty Officer
was involved in this killing, because of the way she came over to Tony and tried
to make him believe it was the Korean who'd murdered, something I never for one
second believed. She drew attention to herself and yes, it turns out she was
involved - just not in the way I'd thought.
There were some incredible scenes and they were pretty much all between Rachel
and members of the team.
The one with Ziva was particularly powerful, intense and moving. She had Ziva
taped (she had them all taped, but then she knew a lot about them anyway, not
just from their files but from Kate) and knew which buttons to press. The
emotion Ziva showed was tangible and yet also underplayed in the way Ziva does
it. Her past is so painful for her, she has had so many choices, made so many
decisions, not all correct. She has come through so much and come out the woman
she is now - but a woman who is still searching for one thing: something
permanent, something that cannot be taken away from her. We got further inside
Ziva and saw more of who and what she is in the small scene than in five and a
half seasons really. The flashbacks were painful, so hard to watch because of
how much Ziva was hurting. For me this scene was one of the three most powerful,
moving, intense, important and emotional of the whole episode.
Abby was true to form in her attitude the second she meant Rachel. We know how
much she dislikes anyone coming in and messing with her team, especially when
the person is female, so that was very much in character. The first scene when
Gibbs was there and Abby kept looking at Gibbs was very Abby seeking reassurance
from her father. I loved her comment after Rachel said not to let her interrupt
to the effect that it was too late, she had already interrupted. But it was the
next scene between them that really worked so well and was so moving; Abby
remembering Kate and how much she still misses her. Also learning that apart
from a few charitable things, Abby only has work. I'm surprised the nuns weren't
mentioned though, given they featured quite a bit in earlier seasons, just in
mentioning, etc. I felt it was odd they weren't mentioned. Rachel drawing her
out on Tim was interesting. Abby's reaction when Rachel asked if she could spent
time with him was totally classic 'methinks the lady doth . . .' It's crystal
clear Abby still cares for Tim more than just as a friend and colleague.
Ducky and Dr. Rachel was interesting. Ducky so insistent she couldn't get into
his mind because he knew all the tricks and then with barely a pause for breath,
he's telling her things. That little scene whilst again somewhat painful as we
discover how lonely Ducky is (actually we learn how lonely all the team are
outside of work) and the irony of working with the dead and getting older all
the time, was also jolting as him beginning to talk to her happened far too
fast, IMO. If it was going to happen and it had to to tie Ducky in with Kate and
the past, then it should have happened later. And why did he not mention Jimmy?
After all, he's not alone in Autopsy all of the time, only when Jimmy is at Med
School, it would have taken a matter of seconds to add a bit mentioning Jimmy,
that's all.
Rachel and Tim, apart from when she went into the house after Tim told her not
to, wasn't anywhere near as emotional as the other scenes, which was good, but
also telling. So Tim's 'issue' is women and we know he's not had a good time
with them and seems to find the 'odd bods'. But then we get his thoughts and
memories of Abby and once again it's clear how much Tim still loves her and
wants to be with her. Very telling that we had both of them remembering and/or
reacting to mention of the other.
Rachel and Vance again she worked him out; she knew that had happened; she knew
how scared he was; she knew he'd learnt things he wished he hadn't and now was
questioning himself and his future/present. And we got the reminder that Vance
has asked SecNav for the job as Director had pushed for it.
So Tony finally got 'captured' and had to talk to Rachel. Of them all he really
disliked her most, perhaps even more than Abby, but she'd already got to him
from the second she spoke to him - just as Kate did - and he was very wary of
her and scared as to what she might find out, what he might reveal. His earlier
chat about how it's up to him to play the clown and make the team laugh was
telling. His flashbacks to Kate were very poignant indeed and the missing scene
was a nice one and used very well. He and Kate could really have worked out, he
knows it and it seems that there were things Kate never told him. It was
interesting to have some glimpses of Tony and the mention of his mother dying
when he was eight and being sent to boarding school at eleven and the flashback
of him being offered and turning down the team. He really regrets that decision,
I think he regrets it more and more as time goes on rather than less, he talked
about accepting the decision and moving on, but he hasn't. He is bitter about
making it; he knows he should have taken it and he knows he may never get
another opportunity. That could explain a lot about the clown Tony, the
sometimes less than nice Tony, because he knows what he did was a huge, huge,
huge mistake. And Rachel got him to in effect admit that. That scene was very
well done indeed. It was an interesting look at Tony, the kind we've rarely seen
before.
And finally Gibbs and Rachel. When he finds her asleep behind Ziva's desk, just
as her baby sister was all those years ago and he flashes back to Kate that was
one of the many scenes that brought tears to my eyes. She was never going to get
him to open up, not as she got the others, and yet in part she did. She wanted
closure. The scene in his basement when he took her to the exact place where Ari
had been killed and the flashback of that was well done, well timed. As were the
earlier flashbacks to Kate's murder. Gibbs telling her that Ziva killed her own
brother, the man who'd killed Kate, brought it full circle in many ways. And
then the scene where Rachel recalls Kate phoning her about Gibbs saying he'll
never accept her/respect her, etc. again was moving as we saw the Kate we knew
existed, the Kate who strived so hard to be part of NCIS and live up to Gibbs's
demands, but was never acknowledge in words - until now. This was the other
really emotional, poignant scene, in line with the Ziva and Rachel scene.
Vance reading Rachel's report was a good round up. Yes, the team are
dysfunctional - but we know that - yes, they are a clinical disaster, but they
work. At least for now. I like the little warning to be careful, that maybe
someday they will fall apart. It was very well done and the montage of scenes as
he's reading worked so well and fitted perfectly. A great way to close a really
emotional episode.
I loved seeing all the different Tim's from the various seasons, seeing how much
he has changed over the time.
I still find it a tad difficult to actually believe that Rachel managed to get
to be the one to go to the team and I still think she abused her position. She
had an agenda and was abrasive to begin with and some of the things she
asked/way she behaved were odd until you knew just who she was. She did irritate
me for quite some time. But it did all make total sense once we knew she was
Kate's older sister - and they were very alike in so many ways, character-wise.
I know she had to abuse her position otherwise it wouldn't have worked, but I
still found it hard to believe she could get away with it. And what will happen
now re: her position? Will she have some kind of disciplinary action against
her?
I do feel sorry the case was used in this episode as it got kind of ignored and
I did wonder what would be reported in respect of the Commander's death. Would
they cover it up somehow? Could they even? He did deserve to be remembered as a
hero and buried as a good man. He gave everything and for what?
For me the episode was as much about Ziva as it was about Kate, because whilst
the others all worked with and loved Kate, Ziva's involvement came only as a
result of Kate's murder by Ziva's half brother and Ziva killing Ari. The two
women, both so different, yet so tied together and alike in more ways than
perhaps Ziva realises, were the focal point of this. Ziva's haunting desire of
wanting something permanent will stay with me for some time.
I missed the interaction and banter between our team as that was virtually
non-existent, which is had to be. There was very little humour in it, again to
be expected. Definitely an episode to muse over and one that had me with tears
in my eyes more than once and I'm still feeling emotionally drained.
And even now I'm still not sure how I feel. I think I loved it (a few
irritations aside), I'm somewhat emotionally drained at the moment and that's
probably partly why I'm not sure how I feel. Yet as it has taken a toll on me, I
clearly got caught up in it and taken along by it, so that implies I really did
like it. Enjoy? Can you truly enjoy such a deep, almost painful episode?
I'm feeling mellower now and with more time to reflect I have to admit it really
was a stunning episode in so many ways. So much emotion bound up in one episode,
more than you often get in several. A lovely tribute to Kate in particular, but
also to all the fallen in a way, because we can't forget the apart from the main
plot, the sub-plot we the pain of the Commander who chose to take his own life
as he felt he had nothing left when he was forcible retired from the career and
life he had loved and the woman he'd loved for so long. So very, very poignant.
After the second viewing and even more pondering I realised that as poignant and
moving as the episode was, despite all the many good things, despite the tribute
to Kate, the fact that Rachel abused her position so badly was just, for me,
impossible to reconcile and accept. I know TV isn't like real life and that we
have to hand wave and accept things that wouldn't happen in the real world. But
equally so we all have lines over which we cannot step - and for me Rachel was
that line. So sadly the episode will not get a particularly high rating.
Favourite scenes:
- The squad room scene with Tony telling Ziva how he knew which horses to bet on
and demonstrates how they behave. Vintage and priceless Tony.
- Ziva and Rachel's chat', especially when Ziva admits she wants something
permanent.
- Abby and Rachel's 'chat'.
- Tony and Rachel's 'chats'.
- Gibbs and Rachel in the squad room and in Gibbs's basement.
- The final montage scene whilst Vance is reading Rachel's letter.
Irks
- Rachel annoyed me to begin with.
- The fact that she was able to evaluate the team being who she was.
- Ducky caving so quickly after saying Rachel couldn't get to him.
- Ducky not mentioning Jimmy when he spoke to Rachel.
- Abby not mentioning the nuns and bowling.
Ship of the week:
Abby/McGee
Character of the week:
Kate
Actor/Actress of the week:
Cote de Pablo
Storyline: 8.00
Enjoyment: 7.50
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