SEASON NINE EPISODE SIX
THIRST
I was in two minds prior to watching this episode. On the one
hand it promised more Ducky (which is what I've been asking for) on the other
hand it gave him a female love interest. Now to me from the second I saw Ducky
(long before I paired him with Gibbs) Ducky came over as being gay, so my OTP
aside the fact he was going to be lovey-dovey with a woman was always going to
be odd.
However, from the moment I a) knew about the love interest and b) saw the
pictures I had no doubt whatsoever that it would end in tears. As soon as I saw
the photos I said to a couple of friends that she was calculating and was going
to be the baddie. The look on her face when they were on the sofa talking was
clear as day.
Also, when Gibbs met her his body language and facial expression screamed 'I do
not trust this woman'. Although to be fair the number of people Gibbs trusts can
be counted on the fingers of both hands (and you'd have some left over): Ducky,
Fornell, Abby, Tony, Tim, Ziva, Jimmy and Vance are the eight people he trusts -
there would have been Mike too, but he's no longer with us. So in a way Gibbs's
being wary wasn't exactly a surprise, but he actually seemed even less trusting
than he normally is. I also thought he may have been a tad jealous, because it
was obvious he knew nothing about her (despite his comment that he did) whereas
she knew a lot about him.
Plus, it was also foreshadowed during the conversation between Ducky and Jimmy
when Jimmy expressed concern and said he was just looking out for Ducky and
Ducky said it was his heart, not Jimmy's, to be broken - it really did give it
all away.
And I was vindicated. Although I have to say the way it was done was quite
clever. I wasn't at all surprised that she was the killer, her body language,
her facial expression, the whole demeanour made my spider sense go into
over-drive - I wanted to yell at Ducky 'get away from her'. I hadn't guessed
that the reason she killed the two men was simply to keep Ducky, I thought it
would have something to do with something in her past. Although in truth in a
way it did; it had something to do with her father, as Ducky said the men
weren't her father and they whilst they may not have been that nice to their
wives (but it takes two) they loved their kids.
So poor, poor Ducky. He ends up being smitten about a psychopath. I must say I
had problems buying into Ducky being the kind of person to get involved with
on-line dating - even though as Jimmy told us there are sites for all kinds of
people. And I'm sorry to say that the so called romantic scenes with 'Mary' just
didn't work for me. They seemed very forced, as if both of them were trying too
hard. Now maybe that was just because I'd already got her pegged as a baddie or
maybe it was because in fact they were both a wee bit forced; Mary because of
what she'd done and Ducky because he was trying so very hard to impress. Ducky
was definitely not Ducky.
The case, which although tied in with Ducky & Mary did take second place to the
relationship, itself was interesting enough; I knew you could die from drinking
far too much water in too short a space of time but the way this was done with
the men being fed Ecstasy which would make them drink and drink was cold and
calculated - as Mary was. She truly believed the men had killed themselves.
The other so-called red herrings; the gun man and the waitress were really,
really poor - which was a shame.
There was some great banter though, I loved that for once Tony wasn't the one
with all the knowledge and how displeased that made him as Tony has to be the
one who knows everything. I thought that was so well done and Tony was great in
the role of the 'under-dog', he played it so well. It was great that Abby
wouldn't trust him with personal stuff, knowing only too well that he'd blab.
There was some good gentle humour too and nice interaction between the
characters.
I thought it was so typical of Tony after he'd commented that at least the two
dead guys had sought counselling and Gibbs asked him to repeat it, that Tony
cringed, looked worried that he'd said something to offend Gibbs (re: his own
marriages) and had muttered his repeat and tried to defend it - so very well
done.
The scene in the squad room when it suddenly dawned on Gibbs who was the killer
was well done and his concern for Ducky was palpable. The episode was very good
for Gibbs/Ducky fen (despite Mary).
So overall I enjoyed it more than I thought - and who can argue with so much
Ducky? But even though I was sure I would be right about Mary, I am so glad I
was vindicated and she was the baddie and it did end in tears. It wasn't as
strong an episode as the last few weeks because the case really took second
place, but it was far better than I allowed myself to fear.
Favourite Scenes:
- The opening squad room scene with Tony not being the one in the know for once.
I loved Ducky bringing the kids coffee, such a lovely thing to do.
- Ducky and Jimmy in Autopsy when Jimmy was expressing concern.
- Ducky, Abby and Jimmy in Abby's lab when Ducky brought back cakes.
- Tim, Abby and Tony in Abby's lab, when Abby admitted she wouldn't trust Tony
with any personal gossip.
- The final scene with Ducky and Mary when the truth came out. So very well
done, amazingly underplayed really, extremely well acted by DMc and CL.
- The ending scene in Autopsy with Gibbs and Ducky. In particular I loved
Gibbs's line when he said Ducky didn't need to trust his judgement because Gibbs
would. And the whole fact that he was going to drive Ducky home.
We learnt some things too:
- Ducky has moved from Reston House *sighs* I didn't want that to become canon.
- Ducky misses the dogs - I knew he would.
Minor Irks:
- I found it very odd that Gibbs didn't want to go and look at the brain; he
seemed almost squeamish - which is totally OOC as we've seen him look at
anything.
- The scenes with Ducky and Mary, they made me uncomfortable.
Pairing of the week:
Gibbs/Ducky
Character of the week:
Ducky
Actor of the week:
David McCallum
Storyline: 7.50
Enjoyment: 7:50
Go to NCIS Episode Guide Page
Go to NCIS Index Page
Go to NCIS Non Fiction Page
Go to Home Page