(S06E01) All summer long, NCIS fans have been simmering about how the team was broken up in the season finale. It was bad enough that Jenny had died and a new director -- well, actually, the acting director -- was named to take her place, but then his first action was to reassign DiNozzo, McGee and David and give Gibbs three new agents. As the ads for NCIS reminded us, "breaking up is hard to do."Well, I'm relieved to report that the team may not be together, but they're still intact. It's not as confusing as it seems and if you watched tonight's return, it was clear that the powers that be knew what they were doing with the storyline. Picking up 126 days since the break up, you got the sense that Jethro was nearly as vexed about the changes as Abby, even though he was refraining from putting pictures and postcards on the bulletin board.
For more about how all the pieces of the puzzle have come together so that those that are scattered can still be whole, read after the jump.
So, it turns out that Vance is smarter than we thought and the break up wasn't a punishment but a strategy cooked up by the director to get Jethro to flush out a spy in NCIS. The fact that Lee appears to be the double agent, and that Gibbs and Vance seemingly believe that she killed the "real" spy -- Langer -- is part of a larger story.
If you think about the scene in which Vance talked about his fascination with Muhammad Ali, you can see where they're going. Gibbs and Vance playing a little "rope-a-dope" with Lee. Rope-a-dope was Ali's strategy in the Rumble in the Jungle fight with George Foreman. The term involves letting your opponent beat you up to the point where he/she thinks you're vulnerable and about to go down. Applying this theory to NCIS, Lee thinks she's got the upper hand, that she's fooled Gibbs and Vance. Hmm, I think not. Down the line, this thread will be picked up again.
Two-thirds of the team was reunited by the end of the show, and it looks like Tony may be the focus of next week's show, so I anticipate Team Gibbs will soon all be together under one roof before you know it.
Other points of interest
-- That was a gorgeous blue satin dress that Ziva almost had on in the sexy nightclub in Morocco scene. If that was her singing, she's good.
-- How funny was it that the geek squad/nerd herd call McGee "boss."
-- Tony's self-inflicted slap on the head when he went off on McGee without knowing that Gibbs was listening in.
-- Michael Nouri as Ziva's father, Eli David. Apparently, he and Vance have a history.
-- Not enough Ducky or Abby. Also, is Palmer going to be reprimanded for his dalliance with Lee?
-- Langer was played by Jonathan LaPaglia, Anthony's younger brother. He looks a lot like him, too.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-24-2008 @ 12:41AM
VP said...
Yes that was really Ziva singing in the Moroccan bar.
We can all breathe a little easier now. I am guessing by the start of episode three everything will be back to normal. By the way Vance and Gibbs took Lee's word about the real spy tells me that they ain't as stupid as Lee thinks they are. I am sure we will see Lee threatening a team member in the future.
Good to have the best show on TV back.
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9-24-2008 @ 12:59AM
nickmagoo said...
well, the obvious ploy would be to have palmer threatened by lee at a future date (after having reconsummated the relationship). and man, ziva was muy en fuego in that dress - the back went lower...and looower...and loooower...plus i LOVE that song - temptation (by tom waits, ziva's version was a copy of the uber sexy diana krall take on it)
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9-24-2008 @ 3:31AM
PurpleSlog said...
Here is a photo of Ziva in "The Dress":
http://www.flickr.com/photos/purpleslog/2791979475/
Tony is a part of the NCIS "Special Agent Afloat" program. That is actually a promotion in the real NCIS.
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9-24-2008 @ 3:36AM
KenMo said...
I'm betting we have not seen the end of LaPaglia either.
It would not be like Gibbs to let someone under him go down that easily and I'm sure he already suspected Lee before she and Langer went to "Building 3".
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9-26-2008 @ 1:12AM
LC said...
I agree. Langer was the only one that Gibbs recommended for NCIS, so I am thinking he is a pretty good judge of character. He may have had Langer swap out her rounds for blanks. He did, after all, have his hand on his weapon first, yet she shot him.
Now that could only mean she was defending herself and the sting would have ended there, but it was confirmed when she took his weapon and shot out the windows. I am guessing Gibbs has her under surveillance to flush out her contact.
9-30-2008 @ 8:20AM
dave said...
does anyone know why Langer pulled his gun on Lee in the first place?
She was just kind of standing there...
maybe i missed it during Lee's flashbacks?
9-24-2008 @ 8:13AM
VisionOfOne said...
I completely agree with your comments on LaPaglia. I couldn't believe how much he looked like Anthony, so I checked it out on IMDB. He is slated to return in episode #6.6, however whether that will be alive or as a flashback remains to be seen. He had also already been on the show back in January as an FBI agent.
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9-24-2008 @ 8:25AM
TIDEATHEART said...
WHAT A THRILLING SEASON OPENER...GREAT SHOW!!! THE UNIT NEEDS TO STAY TOGETHER!
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9-24-2008 @ 10:51AM
Shepard said...
yeah, I believe it was Cote/Ziva singing..
All in all a nice episode, but damn I missed jenny :/
There could at least have been a flashback or some grieving... but otherwise it was a cool episode :)
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9-24-2008 @ 11:45AM
RobynS8971 said...
Great episode, I was a little taken back when Gibbs and Vance accepted Lee's story de facto, knew something was up, all last year, such a sweetheart, and this year the claws come out!
Hope Palmer does not get swept up in the blood letting to come.
Does everyone else love DiNuzzo as much as I do?
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9-24-2008 @ 2:01PM
Dot said...
By the end I knew that Lee hadn't fooled Gibbs, but there is a part of me that thinks that maybe Vance is in on this with her. Who wrote her the txt message?
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9-24-2008 @ 10:45PM
Dorv said...
I guess I'm by myself on this one... As much as I've loved Lauren Holly (especially on Picket Fences), I hated her on NCIS.
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9-25-2008 @ 9:30AM
tarheelbookworm said...
I agree. Loved her in PF but hated her in NCIS. Not sure if it was the character or the story line but I too was glad to see it end. Sorry Holly fans, but there is a better place out there for her.
Maybe it was just a woman as a boss over Gibbs!
9-25-2008 @ 12:38AM
margaret mckillop said...
I am a great fan of NCIS and if they break up the team they will lose this veiwer. It was bad enought losing JAG without NCIS
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9-25-2008 @ 4:37PM
JOHNGALTX said...
It was all tied up too nicely; reminded me of the typical Star Trek and Stargate rewind device where everything neatly falls into place at the end because the hero planned it that way from the beginning. The writers could have used the break-up over two weeks and created a great deal more tension between Gibbs and the Director without having to fall back on DataMcGee saving the day with his computer from the basement.
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9-25-2008 @ 6:36PM
nattyff said...
i love the plot, it really surprised me, i thought that they would drag the reunion a little more, but these is the way to go!!!
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9-28-2008 @ 10:48PM
gordonm33 said...
agreed w/ most comments, re: Jenny. I do enjoy Lauren Holly but didn't think her character was necessary (for much screen time).
re: who was lee texting at end? any chance it could be Palmer? i'm always leery of those who come off as innocent/simple (think Keyser Soze).
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10-06-2008 @ 10:33AM
lisab said...
i love the show i think its great. and how do you feel about putting an end to war right now. if so i have a petition to do so . and here it is
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/mens-holiday
by signing this you can make a diffrence today. thanks .
lisab
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