Comments by Julia64

1. NCIS Round Table: "Double Blind"

   5/11/2013 1:46 PM
   
   @gatorgal Well at least if it's purely a Gibbs' rule the writers have the potential to write round it. I used to watch Stargate SG1 - the writers felt unable to follow through on the will they won't they relationship because in the Airforce they wouldn't be permitted to work together. Any hints at a potential relationship finally just fizzled out when Richard Dean Anderson left the series - leaving the situation disappointingly unresolved.....

2. NCIS Round Table: "Double Blind"

   5/11/2013 8:58 AM
   
   @gatorgal Though it certainly could be argued that Ziva should not have gone after Bodnar alone, not only was she not 100% fit and therefore at greater risk herself, but she had no one to watch her six, after all Bodnar might not have been alone.

3. NCIS Round Table: "Double Blind"

   5/11/2013 8:53 AM
   
   @gatorgal You're totally right - Tiva is fast approaching its sell by date. I only wondered if towards the end of the finale something might happen since if Cote doesn't return (and she's a young actress who may well just want to do something else now) this could potentially be a case of Tiva now or never. I've also seen GG state that if they did become a couple they'd have to split the team. Is that right? Other than Gibb's rule 12 can an NCIS couple not work together - no one said anything about marriage and unlike the oft quoted Moonlighting, they're not the sole leads - if imaginatively written I don't see why it couldn't work, as things stand their schizophrenic relationship (depending on who's the writer of the week) is now becoming more frustrating and unlikely by the minute.

4. NCIS Round Table: "Double Blind"

   5/11/2013 7:48 AM
   
   On a slightly different note does anyone find recent silly unnecessary mistakes annoying? In "Revenge" Tony said that Le Grenouille blew up his car. Not sure if he ever actually admitted it, but wasn't it assumed that Trent Kort was responsible, in any case it certainly wasn't Le Grenouille. Last week in "Double Blind" Tony says that he dropped Ziva at the airport, he didn't - he saw her off at the airport, bringing her gum and magazines. I'm probably just being pedantic but I just find it a little irritating particularly when made by the character who knows better - takes me out of the moment. Just saying…..

5. NCIS Round Table: "Double Blind"

   5/10/2013 7:56 PM
   
   Contd with the result that I'm not a bit surprised that despite a good episode "Double Blind's" audience dropped back again. Following the warehouse scene and the fact that Cote is still to re-sign it will be interesting to see what happens audience wise in the season finale, though I note there are no Tiva references in the promo, other than, as you mention, maybe that reference to "The Season Finale" "That Breaks All The Rules" - could one of those rules be Rule 12 ?

6. NCIS Round Table: "Double Blind"

   5/10/2013 7:55 PM
   
   @Claire You mention the audience figures - it has to be remembered that unless there is a particularly amazing promo then viewing figures are usually effected by the previous week's episode. In this case I note that "Revenge" picked up an additional million viewers on the previous week's episode, i.e. "Berlin", I suspect as a result of (a) Berlin's shocking cliffhanger (b) the prospect of future Tiva following the dance and the scene in the car pre-crash © a thrilling promo. Unfortunately though ultimately a good episode it failed to live up to Berlin's expectations on all these counts (a) the cliffhanger was a huge anticlimax (b) there was no follow up Tiva © the promo was totally misleading and a bigger work of fiction than the episode. A cliffhanger has to have a good resolution or you are setting your audience up for disappoint, likewise a misleading promo leads to both disappointment and annoyance, with the result that I'm not a bit surprised that despite a good episode "Double Blind's" audience dropped back again. Following the warehouse scene and the fact that Cote is still to re-sign it will be interesting to see what happens audience wise in the season finale, though I note there are no Tiva references in the promo, other than, as you mention, maybe that reference to "The Season Finale" "That Breaks All The Rules" - indeed could one of those rules be Rule 12 ?

7. NCIS Round Table: "Revenge"

   5/6/2013 3:16 PM
   
   Sue Ann Your cat does that too! :)

8. NCIS Round Table: "Revenge"

   5/6/2013 3:15 PM
   
   l'empress You've got a point about the different writers, though technically it's supposed to be the job of the showrunner to ensure a degree of consistency in terms of characterisation, plot and relationships.

9. NCIS Round Table: "Revenge"

   5/4/2013 6:16 PM
   
   @MCAL Tony's car was travelling slowly having just pulled away from the intersection, according to the producer/writers on the CBS "Berlin" Insiders Blog the SUV was supposed to be going around 80 mph, and in reality the stunt car was actually doing a very impressive 50 mph plus when it hit Tony's car.

10. NCIS Round Table: "Revenge"

    5/4/2013 6:04 PM
    
    @Ace Not necessarily true that in TV land the characters have only one brush with death, as I recall in "Bones", Booth has suffered both a life threatening gun shot wound and a brain tumour.

11. NCIS Round Table: "Revenge"

    5/4/2013 10:51 AM
    
    knowing full well how silly we'd all feel when the conclusion of the cliffhanger was revealed, but I've learnt my lesson - I'm staying away from the promo's - why set myself up for disappointment - and I don't care what cliffhangers they throw at us in future - I'm not getting sucked in like that again, it’s not worth it!
    
    Sorry everyone - I was on a roll! Feel better now!

12. NCIS Round Table: "Revenge"

    5/4/2013 10:50 AM
    
    It certainly had the desired effect - I for one spent the week in a state of nervous expectation. Now in my opinion in terms of keeping your audience happy, surely the resolution to a cliffhanger is as important as the cliffhanger itself and if there are no plans to deliver a satisfying resolution I suggest it's better not to have a cliffhanger at all, since whilst it's never going to be easy to live up to audience expectation following a cliffhanger, knowingly building your audience up for disappointment has got to be a bad idea, hasn't it? I don’t know about everyone else, my stomach was churning during that opening scene, but when they cut to Gibb’s announcing “they got lucky” and there they are fine – talk about anticlimax! It was as much as I could do to carry on watching the episode. I have this vision of the writers/producers sitting in a room having a good giggle over the fans getting their knickers in a twist over the fates of Ziva and Tony, knowing full well how silly we'd all feel when the conclusion of the cliffhanger was revealed, but I've learnt my lesson - I'm staying away from the promo's - why set myself up for disappointment - and I don't care what cliffhangers they throw at us in future - I'm not getting sucked in like that again, it’s not worth it!

13. NCIS Round Table: "Revenge"

    5/4/2013 10:48 AM
    
    Indeed I don't think a few angsty moments would have been too much to ask for. After all, other than McGee’s minor incident with a shard of glass in episode one, I really can't remember the last time one of our fab four received a serious injury and if they never get hurt then there’s no sense of jeopardy. Would have been nice to see Gibbs' and McGee's reactions to a hurt Tony too, and maybe given Michael Weatherly something to get his teeth into for a change.
    
    Finally the nature of the cliffhanger - on the CBS website blog the writers state that originally "Berlin" was going to finish a little later, ie, after Ziva fires at Bodnar, but they changed it to have a better cliffhanger. And what a cliffhanger it was -Tony's bloody hand reaching out for Ziva's combined with the most misleading preview ever - I always thought a preview was just that, a preview of what was to come, not a bigger work of fiction than the episode itself! It certainly had the desired effect - I for one spent the week in a state of nervous expectation. Now in my opinion in terms of keeping your audience happy, surely the resolution to a cliffhanger is as important as the cliffhanger itself and if there are no plans to deliver a satisfying resolution I suggest it's better not to have a cliffhanger at all, since whilst it's never going to be easy to live up to audience expectation following a cliffhanger, knowingly building your audience up for disappointment has got to be a bad idea, hasn't it? I don’t know about everyone else, my stomach was churning during that opening scene, but when they cut to Gibb’s announcing “they got lucky” and there they are fine – talk about anticlimax! It was as much as I could do to carry on watching the episode. I have this vision of the writers/producers sitting in a room having a good giggle over the fans getting their knickers in a twist over the fates of Ziva and Tony, knowing full well how silly we'd all feel when the conclusion of the cliffhanger was revealed, but I've learnt my lesson - I'm staying away from the promo's - why set myself up for disappointment - and I don't care what cliffhangers they throw at us in future - I'm not getting sucked in like that again, it’s not worth it!

14. NCIS Round Table: "Revenge"

    5/4/2013 10:47 AM
    
    The SFX guys gave us great interior shots of flying glass so why (other than Tony’s nose) did Tony and Ziva escape without a scratch. And what was the blood on Tony’s hand? After the crash there was no sign of injury, and if the blood was from his nose, ie, he’d slapped himself in the face, surely there would at least have been some bruising both to his hand and his face.
    
    Secondly – I could weep for the missed plot opportunities that “Berlin” set up. A crash of that nature is not something you can believably just drop into another episode at a later date. That's it - NCIS has done "the car crash" and they can't realistically repeat it. At the very least Tony could have been seriously hurt which would (a) have been more realistic (b) less of an anticlimax after a week of chewing my fingernails and © further fuelled the fire of Ziva's desire to go after Bodnar alone.

15. NCIS Round Table: "Revenge"

    5/4/2013 10:46 AM
    
    After the brilliant “Berlin” I too had a number of problems with this episode including all of those mentioned in your review: Tony and Ziva’s continuing schizophrenic relationship is not only becoming darned right frustrating but also unbelievable, and I was unconvinced by a lot of the Bodnar plot. I agree, he would most certainly have killed them after the car crash, and there’s no way Ziva should have beaten him in a fight.
    
    However, my main concerns were firstly the car crash – in terms of production it was a brilliantly executed stunt, incredibly realistic and absolutely shocking - hats off to the skills of the SFX and stunt coordinators. However, I don’t know much about car smashes, but I’ve read several reviews from other fans who do know, and you don’t just walk away from a crash like that. And whatever type of glass Tony had in his car I want it in mine, because obviously it’s not sharp. The SFX guys gave us great interior shots of flying glass so why (other than Tony’s nose) did Tony and Ziva escape without a scratch. And what was the blood on Tony’s hand? After the crash there was no sign of injury, and if the blood was from his nose, ie, he’d slapped himself in the face, surely there would at least have been some bruising both to his hand and his face.

16. NCIS Review: Fortune Favors the Bold

    5/3/2013 8:12 PM
    
    Anyone who felt similarly let down and cheated by events immediately following the crash, this is worth a read:
    http://ncisredteam.com/ncis-10x22-revenge-the-writers-missed-a-huge-opportunity/

17. NCIS Review: Fortune Favors the Bold

    5/3/2013 1:51 PM
    
    Why would Ziva have slept with Bodnar? But anyway, for the sake of argument let's say Hanks is asking if she slept with Tony? What business is that of his? It's not an NCIS rule that co-workers don't sleep together it's a Gibbs rule and frankly hypocritical since Gibbs slept with Jenny. Moreover Tony slept with EJ, and even Abby and McGee have at the very least "slept" together. And in the event it does turn out that Tony and Ziva have slept together I'll be even more annoyed with Gary Glasberg than I already am - we've waited years for a kiss, if it transpires they've done that and more and we've not seen it ..... Not sure about THE REVELATION. After last week I'm now endeavouring to the steer clear of the promos - they are so misleading and a greater work of fiction than the series itself. I don't know about Bardnor playing the team, I certainly felt played. A minute into "Revenge" and it was as much as I could do to watch the rest of the episode. I have this vision of the writers/producers sitting in a room having a good giggle over the fans getting their knickers in a twist over the fates of Ziva and Tony, knowing full well how silly we'd all feel when the conclusion of the cliffhanger was revealed the following week.

18. NCIS Review: Fortune Favors the Bold

    5/3/2013 8:34 AM
    
    My money is definitely on Ziva being asked if she slept with Michael Rivkin - which plot wise is the only thing that makes sense - ie, the investigators are interested in a lot more than just the Bodnar situation...

19. NCIS Review: Fortune Favors the Bold

    5/2/2013 8:58 PM
    
    Greg, I'm happy to stand corrected, but weren't Cote's remarks about the sweet moments and getting messy again with respect to "Berlin"? You certainly can't get much sweeter than that dance or the scene in the car prior to the car crash, and the car crash itself and subsequent events in "Revenge" could definitely be described as messy!

20. NCIS Review: Fortune Favors the Bold

    5/1/2013 8:35 PM
    
    @chellemaria Indeed I don't think a short angsty moment would have been too much to ask for. After all I really can't remember the last time one of our fab four was injured. Would have been nice to see Gibbs' and McGee's reactions to to a hurt Tony too, and maybe give Michael Weatherly something to really get his teeth into for a change. Really not sure what's happened between Tony and Gibbs these days, they used to have a bit of a Karl Malden/Michael Douglas relationship - for those of you old enough to remember The Streets Of San Francisco - but these days Gibbs just seems to be permanently annoyed with him.

21. NCIS Review: Fortune Favors the Bold

    5/1/2013 6:38 PM
    
    @gatoral And I agree, re the promo for Double Blind, I too suspect that old skeletons are being dragged out of the closet and Ziva is being questioned about her relationship with Michael Rivkin.

22. NCIS Review: Fortune Favors the Bold

    5/1/2013 6:33 PM
    
    Hugely disappointed that such an epic car smash was completely wasted. For reasons of both plot and logistics (such stunts do not come cheap) car smashes such as this cannot be repeated in a series and it just seems such a waste that there wasn't a more exciting resolution. After a week on tenterhooks (how misleading can the promos get?!) I was definitely looking for something more than a scratched nose and a sprained shoulder. I know this is TV land not reality but there needs to be limits or there's no jeopardy. I could weep when I think of the dramatic and emotional scenes that might have been explored. I would suggest that it was a plot line that should either have been saved for another episode when the aftermath could have taken centre stage, or maybe Tony could have had greater injuries thereby even further fuelling Ziva's desire to go after Bodnar alone.

23. NCIS Round Table: "Berlin"

    4/26/2013 9:29 AM
    
    Contd: ...... Tony wouldn't have been running anywhere, except maybe the bathroom!
    
    And I've been watching the extended promo - is McGee praying?

24. NCIS Round Table: "Berlin"

    4/26/2013 9:27 AM
    
    One of my favourite moments was on the dance floor - when Tony says "you realise you're going to have to be the girl, right?" It was great to see him literally taking the lead for once. Sadly a disadvantage of his playing the perpetual clown (which has this season reached the point of annoying) is that at times he comes across as weak. And whilst the writers have concentrated on Tiva they've forgotten that he used to have a great relationship with Gibbs. Now for the most part Gibbs just snaps at him. Gone are the basement chats and fireside steaks and beer - a real shame. And on the subject of beer, what was Tony doing launching into a tankard of Belgium beer?! He was on duty, anything could have happened and indeed it did. Ziva was drinking bottled water. I was either expecting Tony to say it was non alcoholic (as he did in Flesh & Blood when having a drink with his father) or not to drink it. Just as well Bodnar contacted them when he did or Tony wouldn't have been running anywhere, except maybe the bathroom! And I've been watching next week's extended promo - just dawned on me, is McGee praying?

25. Jim's Notebook: Arrow, NCIS, Scandal and More!

    4/19/2013 2:59 PM
    
    Oh and whilst I'm at it, a few good, competent Tony stories wouldn't go amiss. Sadly without any proof to the contrary anyone joining the show for the first time this series would frankly be bemused as to why the class clown was joining Ziva in Berlin for such a potentially dangerous mission anyway. I have trouble remembering any time during season 10 where we've seen him fire a gun? Involved in a confrontation with a suspect? Defended himself? Tracked down a suspect? Altogether really shown any real indication that he's the Senior Field Agent and the best young investigator Gibbs has ever known?