That was no episode of NCIS

If it hadn’t starred our usual team, I might have thought that last night’s episode of NCIS was any other law and order procedural other than itself.

Absent were the traditional machinations of a criminal investigation, replaced instead by some Criminal Minds-like interrogation special. I mean, I know Gibbs grilling a suspect is one of the things that we’re meant to look forward to on the show, but used as a supposed excuse for why NCIS was getting jurisdiction of the case? I can just see Vance trying to explain that to another agency.

I’m very confused by the roller coaster nature of the Gibbs/Vance relationship. We already know that the intrigue between them was dropped for at least a season before it returned recently in the form of them butting heads. Now, after such a prolonged slowdown, I feel as if things are speeding up faster than is warranted, the two sharing long angry stares frequently during last night’s episode.

Because of the lack of follow-up I don’t believe that we’re heading back to a Gibbs investigation of Vance’s somewhat mysterious past. Which would mean that we’re headed in a new direction … Gibbs’ lack of respect for Vance’s authority, and Vance’s questioning of Gibbs’ loyalty to him, are about to come to a head. But should we care?

I’m not so sure. I know that Gibbs’ problem with Vance stems from his gut telling him that something’s off there (by the way, the “what” would have been something he’d have discovered had he pursued Vance’s past way back when). What we don’t know is why Vance looks at Gibbs sideways. Granted Vance knows that Gibbs can be a loose cannon at times, both unpredictable and uncontrollable. But Vance’s mistrust of Gibbs — considering that Gibbs always proves to have acted appropriately in the end — has never been substantiated properly. Which leaves Vance’s pushing back at Gibbs making little sense.

The one really enjoyable thing about last night’s episode was Nick Peyton (Cameron Monaghan). Not so much because he was interesting, but Cameron Monaghan has been lighting up my TV screen recently as Ian Gallagher on Showtime’s Shameless as the fifteen year-old (I think) Gallagher kid who’s secretly gay and is having an affair with his married boss. It’s a shame that shows like that get such a limited audience — although it’s understandable considering the subject matter — because Shameless has quickly become one of the best dramas on TV, and is Showtime’s most recent smash hit. It’s actually why I was kind of surprised to see Monaghan here; when do you get too big for these guest spots?

But anyway, I didn’t enjoy Nick so much as the Monaghan sighting. As for the mystery itself? Eh. I think it would have been somewhat more interesting if neighbor Mark Stafford (Don McManus) had killed the man that he blamed for killing his daughter … which is absolutely backwards logic, by the way. Having the crazy, un-medicated, recently returned mother be the killer seemed too simplistic.

Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Mar 23, 2011 @ 12:14 EST5EDT