NCIS – Faster than a speeding bullet

Let’s begin on a positive note: NCIS’ 200th episode wasn’t quite as bad as Grey’s Anatomy’s recent “What If” episode. So there’s that. Also, we caught a glimpse of Papa Gibbs (Ralph Waite). Those are all good things.

The episode itself was not. What did help — in all seriousness — was the presence of a real case. It was middling at best, but it certainly beat what a lot of shows do when marking a milestone episode: all flashback all the time.

I’ve never understood the mentality behind that. Shouldn’t a two-hundredth (or hundredth, or even fiftieth) episode celebrate the series, the writers, and the cast by putting on a killer show that lives up to the standard set by the previous one hundred and ninety-nine (or ninety-nine or forty-nine) episodes? Why would we want to tune in for a highlights show? I’m only marginally ready to accept that type of thing one or two episodes prior to a series’ finale; a clips show to mark a milestone is a ripoff.

So NCIS was only mildly at fault in that respect. But what was up with the Christmas Carol-esque nature of the episode? First of all, I took issue with the choice for a guide. Why dangle Ralph Waite in front of us and then not use him? And don’t tell me that “dead” was a criteria for Gibbs’ spiritual shepherd, because if the hour was all about Gibbs’ choices, then he could have chosen anyone. I did not need to see Mike Franks (Muse Watson) again.

Second, the entire premise of choice was stupid. What if Gibbs’ mother and father had never found one another? Really, it was worthwhile to show us what would have been had Cate (Sasha Alexander) never been shot? Or had Gibbs never sought revenge for the murder of his wife and daughter? No offense, but who cares? What practical application did that have on the bullet that took forever to fly through the air and strike Gibbs in the shoulder? (After all that, that was it?) It would have made a lot more sense for the question to have been: what if Gibbs hadn’t brushed the kid off about helping his father (who, by the way, should still be held responsible for what he did even if it was the wrong thing for the right reason)? That minor historical alteration would have actually impacted the kid’s decision to shoot Gibbs in that diner. All the other stuff was nonsense.

As was the weird McGee story line. Were we to believe that McGee would be leaving the team in the middle of a season? And yet he packed up his desk … it made no sense. And to have the entire plot begin and end over the course of a single hour … what in the world was that about? What was the point? Did we learn something about McGee? About the team? If we did, I missed it.

What a waste of a cast reunion. NCIS’ 200th episode was a total bust for me. How about you? Aside from enjoying the surprise guest stars, did you get anything out of the episode? Did you feel like it made a solid tribute to what the show has done these past eight plus seasons?

Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Feb 07, 2012 @ 22:05 EST5EDT