While members of my family have been fans of this series since it began, I never quite jumped on the bandwagon for NCIS. I’d catch an occasional repeat on some unnamed network and even purchased the first season though I never watched much of it. I think it was in part because I’d grown tired of the whole number of series that revolved around the forensics that began with CSI and spawned 2 spin off series of it’s own as well as this one with it’s own spin off. I keep waiting for a new show called CSI:RFD about a team that uses forensics to investigate barnyard animal killings.
When this set arrived I decided that I’d try it out, to see what it had to offer and to discover if it was as good as my family kept trying to tell me it was. After the first few episodes I was sorry I didn’t get aboard sooner. Thank goodness that boxed sets and Hulu exists for me to get the chance to catch up.
The NCIS is the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the primary security, counter terrorism and law enforcement agency for the United States Department of the Navy. More than half of it’s employees are civilians and they work alongside their armed forces comrades to solve crimes around the globe. But in the case of this show, its more about crimes in this country.
The NCIS team in question here is led by Special Agent Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon), a straight laced apparently humorless leader who’s drive and determination make him a formidable opponent should you decide to commit a crime on his turf. Gibb’s right hand man is Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) and his opposite in charm and humor. DiNozzo is fond of movie quotes and flirtatious behavior and often on the receiving end of slaps upside the head from Gibbs. Next up is Ziva David (Cote de Pablo), ex-Mossad agent and a physical presence to take down criminals. Special Agent Timothy McGee (Sean Murray) is the teams computer whiz. Abbey Sciuto (Pauley Parette) is the teams forensics and scientific genius and rounding out the team is Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard (David McCallum), their resident doctor and coroner.
This team takes on all sorts of cases but for the most part murderers. The season opens by finishing the cliff hanger from season 7 where Gibbs took on a Mexican cartel who then marked him and his family for death. Rather than face him head on, they send a team to kill his father played by Ralph Waite. You should be able to guess the results since Harmon continues with the series to this day.
Other episodes in this season seemed to reveal a thread to me that might or might not have been intentional. That thread was an involvement of fathers. One episode features a story that involves DiNozzo’s dad played by Robert Wagner. A two episode set revolved around Ziva’s father Eli (Michael Nouri), the head of the Mossad and an attempted assassination on him while he’s visiting Washington. Yet another episode involved an ex-covert agent whose granddaughter is kidnapped to try and get him to reveal himself. This idea of fathers in stories just seemed to resonate with me while watching season 8.
So what makes the series so good? As with most ensemble series it’s a combination of the cast and their interplay that makes it stand out. They gel well together, combining to make a family type group where they may joke and tease one another, but deep down they truly care what happens to each other. You know that every character here put into a bad situation would be willing to get the back of any of the others. And that’s a comforting thought to have in a field like this.
The acting is so great yet so subtle here for the most part. But even the over the top characters fit well into the entire situation displayed. Abbey may appear to simply be a Goth chick but she knows her stuff. And while DiNozzo may be a huge yet seemingly unsuccessful flirt, his charm still shines through.
The stories also help by presenting us interesting tales that hold our interests from start to finish. And like most good mysteries, they give us enough clues that if we’re paying attention we should be able to solve the puzzle along with the characters at about the same time.
Jumping on to this series by picking up season 8 won’t hinder you from enjoying it or leave you wondering where it all began. You’ll catch up quickly and enjoy the show on its own. And perhaps you’ll join the thousands already watching weekly and then go back to pick up previous seasons. Owning this one would just be a treat for your collection.
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