Over the summer, spoilers were leaked that the NCIS season premiere would begin with a bang. They weren't kidding. Last night's show was a spine-tingling puzzle of an episode that unraveled scene by scene, building suspense to the ultimate -- satisfying -- conclusion. If you were thinking that, like last year, the team was going to be torn asunder after the way things ended with Ziva being returned to Israel, you were pleasantly surprised. More after the jump.
However, there's another story to report. The overnight ratings are in and the viewers have spoken. Twenty million of them! The return of NCIS zoomed to the top of the ratings with 20 million viewers tuning in. That helped CBS launch NCIS: Los Angeles, opening with 18 million, and also bolstered The Good Wife with nearly 14 million. Any way you slice it, those are stellar numbers. The folk at the Black Rock must be dancing in the hallways.
Back to NCIS and last night's show: it was supremely satisfying to watch them go back month-by-month to reveal how Gibbs, Tony, McGee and Abby were undone by Ziva's absence. Not so much her absence, but her lack of contact. It wasn't like her and it was ticking them all off, especially Tony. Interviewing replacements for her spot in the squad just exacerbated the situation. Vance, in his usual fashion, was no help at all. But that prompted one of the best DiNozzo-Gibbs exchanges, as in "wink-wink-nudge-nudge-Bob's you're uncle" -- this is how we get to do what we want. That is, go get Ziva!
Nothing could top the moment, though, when Tony got to look Saleem in the eye, referred to the movie True Lies, and calmly reminded the guy that his boss was an expert sniper. Then, from behind some weird desert camouflage, you saw Gibbs' eyes and -- BANG -- Saleem was gone. Gibbs took him out with one shot.
On the emotional front, of course, Ziva is shell-shocked. She feels undeserving of the rescue, and when she returned to the office and everyone applauded the team for their mission, the vacant look in her eyes spoke volumes. Abby hugged her, doing what Tony wanted to do, but Ziva's not really all there yet. She's traumatized. It's going to take some time to get back to normal.
All the more reason why next week's show is must-see viewing for me and the other 20 million who watch NCIS.
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Let's talk about spoilers ...
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-23-2009 @ 6:09PM
Fahad said...
NCIS was really great last night no doubt about it. I was into it from the first scene and it held my interest all the way to the very end.
Then came L.A. what a snooze fest. I wasn't all that impressed and everything they were going for with NCIS was just completely off in L.A.
Maybe we need a season to get used to the show. But there are no character interactions or characters I really like. It's one of the reasons why I love NCIS so much is because the characters are so interesting to watch and love while having a mystery to solve.
If L.A. seems more like CSI at this point then anything else.
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9-23-2009 @ 6:17PM
Arclight said...
I'm so glad TVSquad has a post covering NCIS.
There was a time when the post covering Kate's death at the end of S2 was the all time most commented on thread.
Then they covered like 3 episodes during S3, Then dropped coverage of it again.
Will NCIS be covered regularly now?
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9-23-2009 @ 6:18PM
Arclight said...
BTW great picture for this post, any idea where I can find a copy big enough to use as desktop wallpaper?
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9-23-2009 @ 8:41PM
Ian said...
Great show and nice acting especially in this ep:)
The writers and producers are to be congratulated for the way they create a terrific set of plot lines and build out the characters piece by piece.
Makes other shows appear real amatuerish.
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9-23-2009 @ 6:34PM
John Hewitt said...
I am also glad to see someone finally covering this show. Great episode. I also liked how we saw McGee and DiNozzo showing that they do have a bond, despite the usual weekly insults and practical jokes.
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9-23-2009 @ 7:22PM
Axman said...
Yes it was well worth the waite , The show just kept you in your seat glued to the TV,,,, NCIS is 1 of the best shows on TV, Now let's hope the rest of the season is as exciteing
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9-23-2009 @ 7:40PM
C C said...
It's not surprising NCIS got those numbers for their season premiere. USA has been airing rerun blocks almost daily for months now (and getting impressive ratings for repeats!), and ION has been showing reruns as well. I'll bet lot of people stumbled upon the show channel surfing.
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9-24-2009 @ 1:14AM
shamon said...
The spin off open even more good i love these shows and to think it came from jag one of the best shows from the 90's .
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9-24-2009 @ 3:38AM
Rob Walley said...
Wow...I'm shellshocked! TV Squad actually posted a story about NCIS. This has been the best show on TV for the last few years and has just about been completely ignored here. The season premiere was a total gift to the fans as it highlighted almost exclusively what we like best about the show...the characters. Next week we can get back to the case of the week format, but this week, it's all about "The Family." When Abby held Ziva at the end, we all did. I love this show!
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9-24-2009 @ 6:45AM
Alicia R. said...
This really is one of the BEST shows on TV. NCIS: LA is boring... I'll give it a few more episodes and then call it.
But yeah... like other posters, is TVSquad going to covering NCIS now?
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9-24-2009 @ 8:44AM
Sue said...
I am a new viewer just started watching the repeats on various channels and I have to say WOW loved the first eps in fact still have on my dvr to watch again and again til next tuesdays eps. Great job by all cast members for putting on a great season premiere. And congrats on the great numbers. Can I just say one thing its nice to see McGee and Tony hanging out; after all the hazing that McGee has had to go through with Tony; its nice to see them getting along like they do. And enjoyed watching Abby and McGee break into the buying sheep song that was cute; those two have some cute moments in the lab. And the interviewing and Gibbs saying to Tony 'no turning into a casting coach' Mark harmon always great as Gibbs and David McCallum needed more Duckie hopefully next eps :)
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9-24-2009 @ 9:17AM
Mike said...
Let me say that I echo others' appreciation for finally having some NCIS coverage on this blog; I hope it continues.
I am also a big NCIS fan; it's probably in my top 5 pretty consistently. Which is why I also have to blow the whistle on GLARING holes in the story - on a show of this caliber, it's just not acceptable.
Okay, I can just barely accept that the director of a Federal Agency would allow his most two senior field agents to get captured deliberately, although from what little we here in America know about terrorists, they were just as likely to be killed outright. And I can accept that all that computerized stuff with the Caff-Pow led them to the bad guy, even though it's a shipment, not a UPS delivery.
But what I simply refuse to accept from one of my favorite shows is this: Gibbs takes out the leader of the terrorists with a head shot from what, 3/4 of a mile away over two hills? Then in like 90 seconds, gets all the way down the hills, through all the bad guys, and into the compound in time to shoot the last terrorist threatening his team. I mean, I know the guy is a bada**, but's he's still human, right? The laws of physics still apply?
I'm only going on about this becuase it kind of turned a semi-great episoide into a "oh, come on!" moment for me. Which was disappointing, because I'd had high hopes for the season opener.
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9-24-2009 @ 12:42PM
Eric said...
maybe he had a zipline? :) At the very least he could have had a jeep. Plus we are not sure exactly how long it took them to head out. A few minutes could have passed in the time Gibbs shot the terrorist and when they started to make their way out of the room, they could have even waited for the gun fire to subside before they started to leave. I agree there are plot holes, but my love for NCIS is enough to overcome them.
10-02-2009 @ 11:42AM
skywalkermoon said...
Thanks for covering NCIS! This first episode was well worth the long summer wait... I can't wait 'til next Tuesday to see what happens now that Ziva is back among the group.
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9-24-2009 @ 2:04PM
Pamela said...
One of the best most excellent NCIS episodes...season premiers of all. YES, there were definite holes, but it did not sink the ENTIRE show. Love Tony/Ziva relationship, McGee & Tony hanging out and the entire team is simply excellent! Loved the camaraderie! Great job to the entire show. HOORAH!
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9-24-2009 @ 4:43PM
Fran said...
O, ye of little faith. I did not for one minute doubt that the whole team would rescue Ziva, even Gibbs.
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9-28-2009 @ 6:43AM
connie said...
I loved the first episode it was great. I hope Tony and Veva get together. I also hope Gibbs finds that special person and have a child. Maybe he already does with Jeaney Shepard that would be awsome. Way to go NCIS I love this show.
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11-10-2009 @ 11:46AM
pat o'hara said...
NCIS is a comfortable show with good acting, writiing, suspense enough ... characters are sharply delineated and are fun.
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