NCIS – Does Alejandro just get deported now?

I sat down last night to write my review of the season eight premiere of NCIS. I was all jazzed about the return of Gibbs and our favorite crew of government agents. Not only that, but we were blessed with the presence of Papa Gibbs (Ralph Waite) and the hit-or-miss Mike Franks (Muse Watson).

Then it dawned on me that the episode wasn’t very good. Add a dash of disappointment, and you can understand why I wasn’t able to put my thoughts together until today.

I had mostly enjoyed the last few episodes of season seven, with the build-up to Abby’s realization that Gibbs was the mystery shooter in her Mexico case, and Paloma Reynosa (Jacqueline Obradors) and Alejandro Rivera (Marco Sanchez) gunning for revenge for their father’s murder. But the cat-and-mouse game that the plot devolved into in the season eight premiere just wasn’t a very fun story.

I enjoyed the showdown between Papa Gibbs and Paloma. I’m not surprised that she blinked first by turning around (not literally) and walking out the door. And she should be ashamed of herself for not shooting up the storefront herself. But where were all the people you could hear shouting as soon as Papa Gibbs fired off his shotgun? How poor is the human response time to automatic weapon fire?

McGee up at the Canadian border was hilarious; he looked like he belonged in a Russian winter more than anything else. I recall that Sean Murray was mostly absent in the season seven finale; was that due to the contract dispute he only recently resolved?

The episode also had two side mysteries that were dropped on us somewhat inconspicuously. First there was Vance and Mossad Director Eli David, who was first on the phone for NCIS Director Vance, and later texted him a cryptic message: “I found him.” The second was an IM Tony received from his father, desperate to talk. Are we due a visit from Robert Wagner soon? He was great last season as Tony’s dad, and it would be awesome to see him back again.

But as for the main story, I just wasn’t so into it. I think there was simply too much happening. If Paloma was in town to hunt down Gibbs, fine. But that she was also crisscrossing the country on a drug expansion tour made the relevant story somewhat murky. What, so she was squeezing terrorizing Gibbs in between underground meetings?

It was exciting when brother Alejandro popped up at NCIS, but he felt all-bark-and-no-bite in his confrontations with Gibbs and Vance. And would he really be dumb enough to threaten Abby right in front of all those alpha males? From what we’ve seen he’s more tactical than that.

Reviewing it in this fashion, I guess the premiere was decent. Maybe I just wasn’t crazy about the way the case shifted the usual team dynamics that I so enjoy on this show. The episode was top-heavy with Gibbs, Vance, Franks, and Papa Gibbs. While that’s all well and good in general, for a season premiere I’d expect more Tony/McGee ribbing, and less Franks/Vance stare-downs.

But with the case resolved (I hope), next week should get back to the basics. I know I’m psyched for a new season of NCIS! How about you?

Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Sep 22, 2010 @ 11:00 EST5EDT