NCIS premiere

[xparrot]

I'm plugging away at the drabbles commentfic - thanks much for the great prompts, and if you want one for your very own, all you gotta do is ask!

As for NCIS 7x01:

Loved it! NCIS is so my safety show, the one I know isn't going to let me down. I don't ask anything of it but adorable team-as-family dynamics, funny with a touch of angst, and it pretty much never fails to deliver. And if it delivers me Tony!whump and McGee!whump in the same ep, well who am I to argue? Not to mention Gibbs being utterly badass - I like Gibbs best this way, from Tony's POV, when he's more superhero than man, a force of silver-fox badassery who can do anything - not that I don't like his more vulnerable moments (especially with his dad!) but when he's portrayed as human he can be almost MarySue-ish; as a superman he's just awesome.

Plus Abby!hugs! And Gibbs-Vance alpha-wolf posturing! And gratuitous Tony/Tim dinner-dates complete with red-leather-pants jokes! (Tim was totally taking care of Tony all summer, wasn't he?) And Ducky (even if his David McCallum-ness still weirds me out...I haven't fanned on an actor with a 45-year spread before, it's disconcerting...)

And they got Ziva back! <333 Love my girl Ziva, even battered but not quite broken.

I also have to confess that for all my enjoyment of Tony/Tim (and how they keep handing it to us on a shiny platter) I am totally, 100% on board with Tony/Ziva. Which is just - I don't know how they're doing it. Abby/McGee's adorable geek-love is the sort of low-key 'ship I often like, no surprises there; but Tony/Ziva is a kind of relationship that usually I'd be rolling my eyes and gnashing my teeth over how it's interfering with team dynamics or how annoying it is that the female character needs to be paired off or how it's wasting screentime or whatever. Except that I'm not. I think it's partly because the show has been remarkably cagey about actually defining their relationship as UST or true love or possibly deep friendship (it plays more like really blatant subtext than actual text - more like slash than a standard het 'ship, really. See also: Mulder/Scully); and partly because the team dynamics are so solid between all the chars that it's not interfering with anything. Or whatever - all I know is that I'm not just tolerating it, I'm actually enjoying it. That bit where Tony loses it? Oh, yeah, loved it.

(Though I can't really call it an OTP because it's obviously not stopping me from shipping Tony/Tim. Or Abby/Ziva. Or Tony/Gibbs (only because it's well-nigh impossible not to). Or pretty much any other combination (though the ship of my heart remains the Tony/Ziva/Tim/Abby OT4).)

So, yup, loving it - can't wait for the rest of the season!


There's also NCIS: LA, which I haven't watched yet...got enough other shows on my plate, and I hate getting into things in their first season, when their future's uncertain. But let me known how it goes!

Comments

[edna-blackadder.livejournal.com]

I've seen only scattered episodes of NCIS, but I have to say, re:

Tony/Ziva is a kind of relationship that usually I'd be rolling my eyes and gnashing my teeth over how it's interfering with team dynamics or how annoying it is that the female character needs to be paired off or how it's wasting screentime or whatever. Except that I'm not. I think it's partly because the show has been remarkably cagey about actually defining their relationship as UST or true love or possibly deep friendship (it plays more like really blatant subtext than actual text - more like slash than a standard het 'ship, really.

Yes yes yes. On all of that. I like Tony/Ziva much more than I would have ever expected to, for all the reasons you mentioned. Blatant-subtext, almost-like-slash het ships are always much more fun than blatant-whack-you-over-the-head-official-couple het ships. (I have a feeling I'm going to incite a massive wave of eye-rolling if I go into yet another Avengers-related digression at mfu_canteen, but Steed and Mrs. Peel are an excellent example.)

Also, re: your proffered drabbles...would you mind if I turned this into a meme of sorts and stole it? I'm in need of prompts myself.

[snarkydame.livejournal.com]

Tony in that ep -- I loved that part, when he first thought Ziva was dead. ♥ And Tim being all cool and calm. ♥

NCIS: LA -- I'm not entirely sure about yet. It seems pretty cool -- a little flashier than the original, a bit more farfetched -- but the characters seem likeable, so far. I do LOVE Linda Hunt, and LL Cool J and Chris O'Donnell have some mad slashiness going on *g*. I'll give it a shot and see how it goes, I think.

[tgabrielle.livejournal.com]

While I've always liked Ziva, it took me a good long while to warm up to Tony. I think I got to like him as himself, not his character, in the Season Five DVD extras, when the cast is at dinner and fields questions from YOU OUT THERE. I found him charming. The premiere held my interest. The what we did on our summer vacation back story amused me, even if much of what happened proved fraught. It was a Tony show, the Tony show this time. "NCIS" works best when it uses the entire ensemble, particularly when Ducky and Abby have more to contribute. But it will get there, I'm sure. What makes it popular is the cast can be thrown together in almost any combination and shine, one big reliable family really.

[trystings.livejournal.com]

Oh! *relieved* I'm so glad you liked it!

I haven't seen 7.01 yet and I was afraid to watch, because the first reactions were terrible. But I love the team, love the Tony/Ziva subtext, love the silliness, love everybody on this show ever since Vance replaced Jenny. Now I have something to look forward to this weekend. :D

[I finally got my hands on MUNCLE s2-4! *pom-poms*]

[topaz-kat.livejournal.com]

I thought it was a good episode, and I agree with how "Gibbs as superhero" seems to just make the whole character shine in a lot of ways. The only thing I fear is how the dynamics of the Ziva/Tony relationship might overdo itself and spill into the rest of the team. I always loved that while Kate had a strong will and would look at Tony and just sigh in disappointment, Ziva doesn't seem disappointed in Tony's behavior or attitude to most things, but will "play back" with him. I just don't want that to dissolve into some kind of awkward love affair thing.

As for the LA version of NCIS, it is flashy and in a lot of ways, it's just not as satisfying to me. However, that could be simply because it's early. There are some very cute characters and when the Chris O'Donnell character tells his partner that he doesn't want him to think he's cheating on him, I have no problem giggling.

[trienne-hovus.livejournal.com]

Sometimes Tony *is* so obnoxious I want to shake him like a martini. But I've always loved his interactions with Ziva, precisely because they're so ambiguous. It's a very honest ambiguity, by which I mean it feels like the characters themselves are having a lot of trouble figuring out how they feel about each other, and in a way that is in fact true to their reality. So if they do connect, it will at least be organic within their characters' development. (I'm much more concerned with how they're going to handle what Ziva's been through over the summer. PTSD is going to be the least of it; I really don't see how she comes back without a LOT of counseling.)

Re NCIS: Los Angeles, my reaction was "meh." I like strong female characters, so I missed Macy who for some reason isn't going to be a regular (who's their commanding officer, then?). Though I was pleased as anything to see Linda Hunt, whom I've adored since "The Year of Living Dangerously" - enough that I even forgave her for being in David Lynch's godawful "Dune." She's an extraordinary actress, and it'll be wonderful to see her regularly. Other than that... I don't see shows for slash. I want them to be good shows. I'll certainly give NCIS:LA a chance to win my heart, but it's gonna have to work for it.