NCIS – Who’s the low man on your totem pole?

I feel like I’ve been lulled into expecting a certain thing from the opening scene of NCIS, namely a creative way in which someone finds a dead body. In fact, we’ve talked a lot over the last few episodes about how good the ideas have been lately. So I was thoroughly surprised — and impressed — last night when, instead of the discovery of a body, we were witness to a murder. That was cool in how ill-prepared I was for it. Plus, you know, the creepy baby doll drawing the poor sap’s attention long enough for him to be sliced and diced.

And while I continued to enjoy the serial killer nature of the story, I was a little disappointed in how much the team was treading into Criminal  Minds BAU profiling territory. I enjoy that kind of thing just fine, but there’s a time and place for everything; Gibbs would likely make for an awesome profiler, but that’s not what he does.

And he also shouldn’t be subjected to dealing with annoying, egotistical babies like EJ (Sarah Jane Morris), who returned last night from wherever it was that she went. I suppose I can see the jurisdictional battle that Gibbs and EJ were waging over the case — if this is, in fact, one in a line of related murders — but shouldn’t she also have wanted to benefit from the skill and experience that Gibbs’ team brings to the table?

She and Tony, meanwhile, have no chemistry whatsoever except for the fact that we’re being told that they have chemistry. In truth I think that EJ’s around to be a cog in some wheel … I just haven’t identified the vehicle that the wheel is on just yet.

I almost always enjoy the personal focus in the weekly tales, but last night I just wanted it to stop. The problem with team romance on this show is that it’s usually treated in the most immature, high school crush sort of way. Ironically it’s Abby and McGee who do it a lot better, and I think that their pairing would be a catastrophe. But at least they don’t bide their time with jealousy and teenage angst like some other people that we know.

When CI-Ray Cruz (Enrique Murciano) popped up it was Tony who burned with jealousy; when EJ returned it was Ziva’s turn. And can someone explain to me what Ziva flew off the handle about? Because I certainly don’t get it.

But I do wonder this: could CI-Ray be the killer? It would seem likely that he was in every city where a murder occurred. And it might help explain why, once Gibbs’ team was assigned to the investigation, he still didn’t mention being the CIA’s liaison to EJ’s team. Anything’s possible with a “To be continued” story, right?

And I hope you’ll excuse how dark this sounds, but I thought the funky ice cubes were really cool from a creative perspective. I don’t know how anyone gained access to sneak an eyeball into Tony’s drink, but that actually could make for a great opening next week — people out for drinks find a finger encased in ice in their glass. That would work.

Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Apr 06, 2011 @ 13:00 EST5EDT