rebecca_in_blue (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rebecca_in_blue) wrote2011-04-12 10:46 pm
rebecca_in_blue) wrote2011-04-12 10:46 pm
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"No, don't you dare go to freeze-frame! I'm warning you..."
Two such great NCIS episodes in a row -- what a time to be alive! I really love what EJ is bringing to this show. And once again, my episode notes run ridiculously long.
Notes for episode 8x21 Dead Reflection.
Third appearance of EJ Barrett, last seen in Two-Faced. First appearance of NCIS Agents Simon Cade & Gayne Levin.
Writers: George Schenck & Frank Cardea (Defiance).
+ It was a very spooky, ominous touch when the lights started flickering over the dead body in the opening scene. Nice.
+ "He's not smiling." "When is he?" Haha, so true. I liked this exchange, and the Three Musketeers talking about the eyeball in the ice cube.
+ Ducky letting Palmer take over surveying the body at the crime scene. I loved his cute smile when Ducky handed him the... thermometer (or whatever that thing was). Palmer is really starting to come into his own.
+ The lingering shot of Davenport looking at Ross's dead body at the crime scene. I should've known then that he knew more than he was telling.
+ "Why don't you tell him how many sides it has, Tim?" That was kinda mean of Tony, but I still lol'ed at that line.
- Ziva referring to EJ as "a real nidkevit." (I know I completely misspelt it. I might be studying to convert to Judaism, but I didn't know that word.) It's safe to say that it means something impolite. The writers are really overdoing the team's dislike for EJ. I wasn't surprised when Abby whined about her in Two-Faced last week because Abby can be very childish. But does Ziva really have any reason to hate her so much? This is another good example of how the writers can be sexist and won't let two women get along. Remember that awful pissing match between Ziva and Liat in Enemies Foreign and Domestic? Ugh.
- Tony zoning out and staring at EJ during the presentation. You could really tell how annoyed the rest of the team was with him, even though they didn't say so.
+ That yummy jacket and shirt when she and Gibbs visited the naval facility. I also loved when the camera panned up to the helicopter flying overhead, then back to Gibbs's face in that scene.
+/- It really irked me when Ducky acted annoyed with EJ for pushing for information on the eyeball. It doesn't seem at all like something Ducky would do, and again, I feel like the writers are forcing characters to hate EJ, even if there's no real reason to. Ugh. But I was pleasantly surprised when Gibbs actually defended EJ to him.
- Gibbs's expression when Ducky told him that Ross was pregnant when she died. Such good acting by Mark Harmon there.
- "Me big dumb oaf." Ugh. I hate it when the writers have Tony say/do something stupid just to get laughs.
- Tony harshly correcting Ziva's "rhinoceros" Ziva-ism. She was concerned about him and EJ and whether Gibbs knows, and he responds like that? Geez, Tony. I don't ship Tiva, but I don't like it when they're mean to each other, either.
- So Ziva has completely cut off contact with Ray since they broke up? Geez, that's a little harsh, especially given how happy she seemed at the beginning of Two-Faced.
+ "I'm gonna send these to McAbby." Hahaha, Tony used their smoosh name! I also loved Tony and Ziva arguing over which method would be quicker to identify the man Mrs. Donner was having an affair with.
- Geez, that gray blazer outfit Ziva wore in the middle of this episode was pure UGH! Of course she still looked good in it because she's Cote de Pablo, who would look good in anything, but why is the wardrobe department putting her in these frumpy, unflattering clothes?!
I mean, just look at it! Isn't it awful? Just stop fighting it and let Cote be the sexy goddess that she is, wardrobe!
- McGee acting so jealous over Abby dating Cade. Ugh! Jealous McGee is not quite as old as jealous Tony, but it is old. She seems really happy with Cade -- is it so much to ask that he be happy for her? And Abby's smug little smile when she realized McGee was jealous made me want to smack her.
+ So Donner was already dead when Ross was murdered. Then how to explain the videotape? This was interesting twist.
- Tony zoning out and staring at EJ during a presentation again. I was amazed by how much disappointment and disgust Gibbs conveyed simply by not head-smacking him and walking away. Poor Tony.
+ Oh my gosh, the basement scene between Gibbs and Tony! I'm not if I can list everything I loved about it, but I'll try. I loved that Tony actually confronted Gibbs about his "my way or the highway" attitude. I love Gibbs, and so do his kids, but we all know what a jerk he can be sometimes. They put up with it because he's their father-figure and fearless leader, but now Tony is finally standing up to him and telling him that his personal life is none of Gibbs's business. Wow! Didn't you feel so bad for Tony in this scene? He really tries to talk and reason with Gibbs, who responds by shutting down and not listening. He's giving the poor guy too tough a time over EJ. I kept hoping McGee might say/do something sympathetic (Schenck & Cardea usually write good Tony/McGee moments) but he's probably too busy asking himself, "What does Abby see in Agent Cade? I lost all that weight for her!"
+ Tony using the photo he made of Abby back in Defiance for her calls on his cell phone. I'm glad Schenck & Cardea reused this. It was such a cute little touch!
+ Abby putting on voices for Ross and Donner when she read their lips in the video. Also cute.
+ I loved Tony and Ziva sharing breakfast and talking about his problem with Gibbs. I know the Tiva fans loved it too, but I managed to take it as a friendship-only and honestly, I think that's how the writers intended it. Ziva might not like EJ, so she could've used this scene to encourage Tony to end it with her -- but she doesn't. She just listens and acts sympathetic, because that's what a good friend does.
- EJ telling Tony that he's "intimidated" and "scared" by Gibbs. I really don't think she understands how the team works. I also think it was telling that Tony shared his breakfast croissant with Ziva, but EJ just snatched it from him.
- So Cade is multilingual, a genius, a jock, and has a photographic memory, too? Oh, please.
+ "You're sleeping with Special Agent Barrett?" "Catch up, Tim. The whole Navy Yard knows about it." I laughed so hard and watched this exchange over and over!
+ I loved the whole scene with Hogan, especially Tony getting so excited over the Alfred Hitchcock mask, Hogan's "Thank God for Caf-Pow!" and Tony's expression when McGee told him that he was already in enough trouble with Gibbs. Haha!
+ "Give me an excuse." Pretty cheesey line and shot.
+ And that final scene! The eyeball can open MTAC! I liked how EJ let Palmer hold it in front of the scanner because it was his idea. I could tell that the episode was going to end on that, but I was still starting up and yelling, "No, don't you go to freeze-frame! You tell us who that eye belongs to! Don't go to freeze-frame! So help me, if you -- dammit! Freeze-frame!"
The bad news is that after this, we have only THREE new episodes left of Season 8! Hard to believe, isn't it?
Notes for episode 8x21 Dead Reflection.
Third appearance of EJ Barrett, last seen in Two-Faced. First appearance of NCIS Agents Simon Cade & Gayne Levin.
Writers: George Schenck & Frank Cardea (Defiance).
+ It was a very spooky, ominous touch when the lights started flickering over the dead body in the opening scene. Nice.
+ "He's not smiling." "When is he?" Haha, so true. I liked this exchange, and the Three Musketeers talking about the eyeball in the ice cube.
+ Ducky letting Palmer take over surveying the body at the crime scene. I loved his cute smile when Ducky handed him the... thermometer (or whatever that thing was). Palmer is really starting to come into his own.
+ The lingering shot of Davenport looking at Ross's dead body at the crime scene. I should've known then that he knew more than he was telling.
+ "Why don't you tell him how many sides it has, Tim?" That was kinda mean of Tony, but I still lol'ed at that line.
- Ziva referring to EJ as "a real nidkevit." (I know I completely misspelt it. I might be studying to convert to Judaism, but I didn't know that word.) It's safe to say that it means something impolite. The writers are really overdoing the team's dislike for EJ. I wasn't surprised when Abby whined about her in Two-Faced last week because Abby can be very childish. But does Ziva really have any reason to hate her so much? This is another good example of how the writers can be sexist and won't let two women get along. Remember that awful pissing match between Ziva and Liat in Enemies Foreign and Domestic? Ugh.
- Tony zoning out and staring at EJ during the presentation. You could really tell how annoyed the rest of the team was with him, even though they didn't say so.
+ That yummy jacket and shirt when she and Gibbs visited the naval facility. I also loved when the camera panned up to the helicopter flying overhead, then back to Gibbs's face in that scene.
+/- It really irked me when Ducky acted annoyed with EJ for pushing for information on the eyeball. It doesn't seem at all like something Ducky would do, and again, I feel like the writers are forcing characters to hate EJ, even if there's no real reason to. Ugh. But I was pleasantly surprised when Gibbs actually defended EJ to him.
- Gibbs's expression when Ducky told him that Ross was pregnant when she died. Such good acting by Mark Harmon there.
- "Me big dumb oaf." Ugh. I hate it when the writers have Tony say/do something stupid just to get laughs.
- Tony harshly correcting Ziva's "rhinoceros" Ziva-ism. She was concerned about him and EJ and whether Gibbs knows, and he responds like that? Geez, Tony. I don't ship Tiva, but I don't like it when they're mean to each other, either.
- So Ziva has completely cut off contact with Ray since they broke up? Geez, that's a little harsh, especially given how happy she seemed at the beginning of Two-Faced.
+ "I'm gonna send these to McAbby." Hahaha, Tony used their smoosh name! I also loved Tony and Ziva arguing over which method would be quicker to identify the man Mrs. Donner was having an affair with.
- Geez, that gray blazer outfit Ziva wore in the middle of this episode was pure UGH! Of course she still looked good in it because she's Cote de Pablo, who would look good in anything, but why is the wardrobe department putting her in these frumpy, unflattering clothes?!
I mean, just look at it! Isn't it awful? Just stop fighting it and let Cote be the sexy goddess that she is, wardrobe!
- McGee acting so jealous over Abby dating Cade. Ugh! Jealous McGee is not quite as old as jealous Tony, but it is old. She seems really happy with Cade -- is it so much to ask that he be happy for her? And Abby's smug little smile when she realized McGee was jealous made me want to smack her.
+ So Donner was already dead when Ross was murdered. Then how to explain the videotape? This was interesting twist.
- Tony zoning out and staring at EJ during a presentation again. I was amazed by how much disappointment and disgust Gibbs conveyed simply by not head-smacking him and walking away. Poor Tony.
+ Oh my gosh, the basement scene between Gibbs and Tony! I'm not if I can list everything I loved about it, but I'll try. I loved that Tony actually confronted Gibbs about his "my way or the highway" attitude. I love Gibbs, and so do his kids, but we all know what a jerk he can be sometimes. They put up with it because he's their father-figure and fearless leader, but now Tony is finally standing up to him and telling him that his personal life is none of Gibbs's business. Wow! Didn't you feel so bad for Tony in this scene? He really tries to talk and reason with Gibbs, who responds by shutting down and not listening. He's giving the poor guy too tough a time over EJ. I kept hoping McGee might say/do something sympathetic (Schenck & Cardea usually write good Tony/McGee moments) but he's probably too busy asking himself, "What does Abby see in Agent Cade? I lost all that weight for her!"
+ Tony using the photo he made of Abby back in Defiance for her calls on his cell phone. I'm glad Schenck & Cardea reused this. It was such a cute little touch!
+ Abby putting on voices for Ross and Donner when she read their lips in the video. Also cute.
+ I loved Tony and Ziva sharing breakfast and talking about his problem with Gibbs. I know the Tiva fans loved it too, but I managed to take it as a friendship-only and honestly, I think that's how the writers intended it. Ziva might not like EJ, so she could've used this scene to encourage Tony to end it with her -- but she doesn't. She just listens and acts sympathetic, because that's what a good friend does.
- EJ telling Tony that he's "intimidated" and "scared" by Gibbs. I really don't think she understands how the team works. I also think it was telling that Tony shared his breakfast croissant with Ziva, but EJ just snatched it from him.
- So Cade is multilingual, a genius, a jock, and has a photographic memory, too? Oh, please.
+ "You're sleeping with Special Agent Barrett?" "Catch up, Tim. The whole Navy Yard knows about it." I laughed so hard and watched this exchange over and over!
+ I loved the whole scene with Hogan, especially Tony getting so excited over the Alfred Hitchcock mask, Hogan's "Thank God for Caf-Pow!" and Tony's expression when McGee told him that he was already in enough trouble with Gibbs. Haha!
+ "Give me an excuse." Pretty cheesey line and shot.
+ And that final scene! The eyeball can open MTAC! I liked how EJ let Palmer hold it in front of the scanner because it was his idea. I could tell that the episode was going to end on that, but I was still starting up and yelling, "No, don't you go to freeze-frame! You tell us who that eye belongs to! Don't go to freeze-frame! So help me, if you -- dammit! Freeze-frame!"
The bad news is that after this, we have only THREE new episodes left of Season 8! Hard to believe, isn't it?