I used to love this show a lot. And I hope it changes for the better.I know nothing lasts forever, and I know stars outgrow their show. I don't know what was behind Weatherly's leave. But this show isn't GoT to lose characters at the beginning of their arc. And how Weatherly performed in this episode, makes it clear that the he had a lot of potential in him. That scene in the office pounding the desk was a great performance. It displayed the depth of Tony's character. The same guy was cool with two impersonators laughing at him, and telling him he has no life.He was having a meal with them at the end of the episode, all laughter and bantering, no hard feelings. I remember Tony being under the weather when Kate died, but I don't recall similar performance from him. He has unexploited potential in him.
It would have been better for the show to make Ziva recurring, changed by the events, valuing life more. She moves back to the US to Tony. Or Tony being a liaison officer to Mossad. Middle-East is still a hot spot, plenty of reasons for NCIS to be involved in there. With the involvement of British actors, it's clear that reducing the amount spent on salary is a priority. Likewise is the lack of any in car scenes recently. No more discussion in the car en route to the scene, again to save cost. Officer Reeves isn't a good character, in my opinion. Duane Henry seems to lack stage experience. Sticking his neck forward all the time, and his shirt and jacket looking like they hate each other. Goofy. Some times looking like Quasimodo. I want to watch people on screen, who I would idolize and be taken back meeting them in person. Not people on screen, I could meet in person on the street. To me he has barely any authority. Ducky is an interesting Briton, so were his old friends from a few episodes back. I even liked Ari more, even though he was a bad guy.
And now my biggest concern: Bishop. First of all I'm a guy in my thirties. But I can fake empathy better to a person in grief. She's flat out boring. I personally know women who fake random feelings, to not to make a conversation awkward or boring. They look like Bishop.
NCIS is a fairly conservative show. It might be a Bellisario trait. As I see it,all of his successful shows have one thing in common: DUTY. With Magnum he had a person emotionally harmed in the line of duty, who became a semi-dysfunctional opposite of former himself. Main characters displayed a whole new aspect of wars, trying to find what was lost: innocence. It was a hit because it wasn't a statue to war and duty, but a statue to men of duty. It helped society to get an understanding "their" side of the story, and how their life have changed. Higgins was the benchmark to Magnum and de facto father. Partly due to his age, he was able to have a more stable, balanced lifestyle. The three blokes wanted to enjoy life, cope with loss, and avoid responsibility as much as possible. Quantum Leap was fantasy with a person having the duty to correct derailed lives. It focused more on human emotions, than Magnum. JAG was another statue for US servicemen/servicewomen. It moved with the times and spoke about the challenges American society faced. Women allowed in new military roles was the theme of the very first episode. Even the Captain of the carrier said, he doesn't think women are suitable for the job, but he would keelhaul anybody who discriminates against them. JAG discussed homosexuality too, in one episode a SEAL threw himself into friendly fire, because he was ashamed being gay.
All of the above shows share sacrifice as a common feature too. The life of these men and women demands well above average sacrifices. Look at Magnum, it was about the sixth season, one of them had to fill a paternal role. Apart from Higgins. They had no stable relationships, no kids, and half of them had no financial stability. Quantum Leap was lost in time, so we didn't witness Dr. Beckett's life. In JAG they had it more stable than Magnum, and didn't go through the hardship of soldiers of war, they only had second hand experience. They served justice vigorously. I recall one case where Harm was defending a pilot who have mistaken the Russian flag for Serbian and killed civilians. Harm helped to acquit him, but afterwards sought legal action against his own defendant. He had done his job, but still served justice. They were each other's plan B for a partner. Harriet and Bud even had children together, and personal life. But in NCIS, they pretty much either lost it to duty (Gibbs, Ziva, Vance),or gave up on it (Ziva too, Bishop, Tony). NCIS was the one with a main character being gay (Dorneget). Although dying in the line of duty.
My point is that NCIS is a delicate mixture of duty, sacrifice, patriotism, and (the smallest) family. But with Bishop's appearance it's starting to deviate towards Friends. And if a show built up a brand, got a viewer base, it is very risky (I would say even stupid) to turn it into a new direction. It seems to me, it is trying to attract young females. From a business point of view, it makes sense to change the audience to the target market of advertisement. But I think having a spin-off where lab technicians, and people in duty are in focus might be better.
It would have been better for the show to make Ziva recurring, changed by the events, valuing life more. She moves back to the US to Tony. Or Tony being a liaison officer to Mossad. Middle-East is still a hot spot, plenty of reasons for NCIS to be involved in there. With the involvement of British actors, it's clear that reducing the amount spent on salary is a priority. Likewise is the lack of any in car scenes recently. No more discussion in the car en route to the scene, again to save cost. Officer Reeves isn't a good character, in my opinion. Duane Henry seems to lack stage experience. Sticking his neck forward all the time, and his shirt and jacket looking like they hate each other. Goofy. Some times looking like Quasimodo. I want to watch people on screen, who I would idolize and be taken back meeting them in person. Not people on screen, I could meet in person on the street. To me he has barely any authority. Ducky is an interesting Briton, so were his old friends from a few episodes back. I even liked Ari more, even though he was a bad guy.
And now my biggest concern: Bishop. First of all I'm a guy in my thirties. But I can fake empathy better to a person in grief. She's flat out boring. I personally know women who fake random feelings, to not to make a conversation awkward or boring. They look like Bishop.
NCIS is a fairly conservative show. It might be a Bellisario trait. As I see it,all of his successful shows have one thing in common: DUTY. With Magnum he had a person emotionally harmed in the line of duty, who became a semi-dysfunctional opposite of former himself. Main characters displayed a whole new aspect of wars, trying to find what was lost: innocence. It was a hit because it wasn't a statue to war and duty, but a statue to men of duty. It helped society to get an understanding "their" side of the story, and how their life have changed. Higgins was the benchmark to Magnum and de facto father. Partly due to his age, he was able to have a more stable, balanced lifestyle. The three blokes wanted to enjoy life, cope with loss, and avoid responsibility as much as possible. Quantum Leap was fantasy with a person having the duty to correct derailed lives. It focused more on human emotions, than Magnum. JAG was another statue for US servicemen/servicewomen. It moved with the times and spoke about the challenges American society faced. Women allowed in new military roles was the theme of the very first episode. Even the Captain of the carrier said, he doesn't think women are suitable for the job, but he would keelhaul anybody who discriminates against them. JAG discussed homosexuality too, in one episode a SEAL threw himself into friendly fire, because he was ashamed being gay.
All of the above shows share sacrifice as a common feature too. The life of these men and women demands well above average sacrifices. Look at Magnum, it was about the sixth season, one of them had to fill a paternal role. Apart from Higgins. They had no stable relationships, no kids, and half of them had no financial stability. Quantum Leap was lost in time, so we didn't witness Dr. Beckett's life. In JAG they had it more stable than Magnum, and didn't go through the hardship of soldiers of war, they only had second hand experience. They served justice vigorously. I recall one case where Harm was defending a pilot who have mistaken the Russian flag for Serbian and killed civilians. Harm helped to acquit him, but afterwards sought legal action against his own defendant. He had done his job, but still served justice. They were each other's plan B for a partner. Harriet and Bud even had children together, and personal life. But in NCIS, they pretty much either lost it to duty (Gibbs, Ziva, Vance),or gave up on it (Ziva too, Bishop, Tony). NCIS was the one with a main character being gay (Dorneget). Although dying in the line of duty.
My point is that NCIS is a delicate mixture of duty, sacrifice, patriotism, and (the smallest) family. But with Bishop's appearance it's starting to deviate towards Friends. And if a show built up a brand, got a viewer base, it is very risky (I would say even stupid) to turn it into a new direction. It seems to me, it is trying to attract young females. From a business point of view, it makes sense to change the audience to the target market of advertisement. But I think having a spin-off where lab technicians, and people in duty are in focus might be better.
