S17.E07: No Vacancy

[thewhiteowl]

While investigating a murder the team uncovers a labyrinth of live-streaming spy cams hidden in the rooms of a Virginia motel.

[CrazyMoon]

That's gonna make me want to stay in a motel....

[Magnumfangirl]

The Marine Staff Sergeant was the best thing about this otherwise gross episode.  

[twoods]

I don’t ever want to stay in a motel again. How freaky. I didn’t guess the killer so kudos for keeping me interested. I thought that Torres’s gf would be involved since I recognized the actress in General Hospital, and her son was the same age as Richard. I wasn’t expecting them to double date, but I guess it was necessary to show that Torres and Bishop don’t like seeing each other dating people. I guess with Torres telling Bishop that she’s like a younger sister will continue dragging out this will they/won’t they relationship  (and did the writers purposely have Palmer talk about Ziva and Tony to show the fans that they are aware they are doing this again to us?) but I’m sure at the pace they are going I will lose interest soon.

[laredhead]

My favorite part of this episode was the last scene with Gibbs and the neighbor boy making the volcano.

[BookWitch]

I thought Bishop and Torres had a friends with benefits thing going. God forbid they actually talk to each other. I'm not liking the bell bottom pants they've been putting Bishop in. 

The crime scene was gross. I wonder what the pigs were actually eating. 

[mommalib]

I am not feeling this Bishop and Torres stuff. I don't need Tony and Ziva part 2. Not to mention I don't see the chemistry anyway. I think they missed an opportunity for Bishop when agent Reeves was around.

Edited November 13, 2019 by mommalib

[enoughcats]

In my closest to  Villanelle voice, "Boring". 

[buckboard]

11 hours ago, twoods said:

.... I guess with Torres telling Bishop that she’s like a younger sister will continue dragging out this will they/won’t they relationship  (and did the writers purposely have Palmer talk about Ziva and Tony to show the fans that they are aware they are doing this again to us?) but I’m sure at the pace they are going I will lose interest soon.

Kinda hypocritical of Palmer to be warning about office romances when he was having sex with Agent Lee in the back of the autopsy room.

[transitfan]

24 minutes ago, buckboard said:

Kinda hypocritical of Palmer to be warning about office romances when he was having sex with Agent Lee in the back of the autopsy room.

Exactly what I was thinking!  Maybe the producers were being ironic 😉

[valen]

Bishop is terrible. She never apologized to Torres. She is by far the worst part of the show for me, and I used to really like her. Her whole weirdness about Ziva was terrible too.

[buckboard]

40 minutes ago, valen said:

Bishop is terrible. She never apologized to Torres. She is by far the worst part of the show for me, and I used to really like her. Her whole weirdness about Ziva was terrible too.

What did she need to apologize to Torres about?

[HurricaneVal]

On the one hand, Torres was kind of sweet to think of getting presents for his girlfriend's son who was away to camp.  But on the other hand, it was also probably a calculated move on his part to bribe the kid into liking him--and make the mom all gooey-eyed about it.  The fact that the "kid" turned out to be a handsome special forces kind of very grown-up guy was a nice twist.   Though, I did not buy the mom's disingenuousness about the whole thing.  She's got some complicity there, for sure.  While moms may still refer to their baby boys by their childhood diminutive nicknames like "Ricky", I really don't see even the most desperate apron string strangler implying that Marine training camp is equitable to "sleepaway camp" Winnamucka or the like.  Torres needs to dump her, that's some shades of crazy right there.

Ellie dating the marine?  Yeah, too far Ellie,, too far.  Unless it is twu wuv, but I don't see that.  That was full-on Torres baiting.  Knock it off.  Tony could get away with crap like that, but you're no Tony!

[kazza]

4 hours ago, valen said:

Bishop is terrible. She never apologized to Torres. She is by far the worst part of the show for me, and I used to really like her. Her whole weirdness about Ziva was terrible too.

I think the issue with Bishop is that her character development hasn't had a defined arc. In the 5-6 years she's been on the show, we've seen her as quirky, from Oklahoma, and unlucky in love - all of which could have been explored further - but the character hasn't really evolved. As a result, I don't find myself rooting for her, and so it's easier for me to find her annoying.

By contrast, Kasie has only been around for 2 seasons, but I want her to do her thing and thrive at NCIS. 

[LuvMyShows]

On 11/13/2019 at 8:54 AM, BookWitch said:

I'm not liking the bell bottom pants they've been putting Bishop in. 

IKR...truly awful.

On 11/13/2019 at 8:54 AM, BookWitch said:

The crime scene was gross. I wonder what the pigs were actually eating. 

I thought it was completely inappropriate, unnecessary, and far too graphic, especially for the time of day that NCIS is shown, and I am generally not a fan of those sorts of regulations and broadcasting restrictions.

On 11/13/2019 at 1:42 AM, twoods said:

I wasn’t expecting them to double date, but I guess it was necessary to show that Torres and Bishop don’t like seeing each other dating people. I guess with Torres telling Bishop that she’s like a younger sister will continue dragging out this will they/won’t they relationship

19 hours ago, HurricaneVal said:

Ellie dating the marine?  Yeah, too far Ellie,, too far.  Unless it is twu wuv, but I don't see that.  That was full-on Torres baiting.  Knock it off.  

Gotta disagree about the Torres baiting part.  She looked smitten when they showed her in the office having met him.

And I think the entire writing staff should be taken out back and severely dealt with.  Both Torres and Ellie are coming off like the most immature of teenagers.  No way would they have been bickering behind their menus like that at dinner.  And it's just gross that the writers are having a flirty 'will they/won't they' thing, while also mentioning a sisterly relationship.  Ugh.

19 hours ago, HurricaneVal said:

On the one hand, Torres was kind of sweet to think of getting presents for his girlfriend's son who was away to camp.  But on the other hand, it was also probably a calculated move on his part to bribe the kid into liking him--and make the mom all gooey-eyed about it.  The fact that the "kid" turned out to be a handsome special forces kind of very grown-up guy was a nice twist.   Though, I did not buy the mom's disingenuousness about the whole thing.  She's got some complicity there, for sure.  While moms may still refer to their baby boys by their childhood diminutive nicknames like "Ricky", I really don't see even the most desperate apron string strangler implying that Marine training camp is equitable to "sleepaway camp" Winnamucka or the like.  Torres needs to dump her, that's some shades of crazy right there.

Having once upon a time been the divorced mother of little boys, I can say that if anyone I was newly dating inundated them with toys at the first meeting (and having no idea what kind of toys they like!), that would probably be it for the relationship.

Also, how do you date someone that you know is older and not ask early on if they have kids?  What I find off-putting about Torres is that they portray him for the most part as very self-involved and lacking in interest in other people...and they confirmed it by his own admission that he was drunk and probably not paying attention to what the woman was saying about her kid.  Yet we are supposed to root for a relationship between him and Ellie?  No thanks...I don't hate Ellie that much. -- 

[nittany cougar]

On 11/13/2019 at 8:54 AM, BookWitch said:

I thought Bishop and Torres had a friends with benefits thing going. God forbid they actually talk to each other. 

I was under that impression as well.  There were multiple instances last season of sexy dialogue, which made it seem like there was a thing going on.  Now we are to think that it is very awkward for them to be attracted to each other?  I don't get it.

Also, speaking as a woman with brothers, it is gross to have a flirt like Torres telling Bishop that she is like a sister.  Does he crack sexy jokes with his sister? That was a really weird line for Torres, given some of their prior actions.

[ForReal]

Not much to say here, I'm in agreement with everything above. The pig scene took me back to the days of Bones and corpse discovery, and that's not something I expect on NCIS.

I skipped through the Bishop and Torres parts, I don't care for it and don't want a relationship between them. Bishop went from happily married to divorced, happily in love to having the guy killed, and now she's playing footsie with a colleague? It doesn't work for me. This situation brings both characters down.

I knew when Gibbs got the explosives and the book that he was doing something for the kid. Definitely the best part of the episode.

Edited November 15, 2019 by ForReal

[valen]

On 11/13/2019 at 3:19 PM, buckboard said:

What did she need to apologize to Torres about?

They both should have apologized to the other. He did. She didn't. I also think, given their friendship, it would have been nice of her to give him a heads up that she was going out with his girlfriend's son. It was all weird. She seems to have regressed in maturity.

[ForReal]

On 11/18/2019 at 11:12 AM, valen said:

It would have been nice of her to give him a heads up that she was going out with his girlfriend's son. 

Or maybe have chosen to go to a different restaurant.

[SG11]

On 11/13/2019 at 7:40 PM, kazza said:

I think the issue with Bishop is that her character development hasn't had a defined arc. In the 5-6 years she's been on the show, we've seen her as quirky, from Oklahoma, and unlucky in love - all of which could have been explored further - but the character hasn't really evolved. As a result, I don't find myself rooting for her, and so it's easier for me to find her annoying.

By contrast, Kasie has only been around for 2 seasons, but I want her to do her thing and thrive at NCIS. 

I have to disagree. Bishop reminds me a lot of a young female agent we had start in our squad. Super bright, quirky, small town but had to learn about working with people and doing the job. A couple years in, she started to demonstrate a real maturity personally and on the job, again reminding me of our agent. Bishop  went through the changes personally with the divorce as well. I like her character a lot, shes my favorite after Gibbs. Unlike Torres, who is the same childish narcissist with the same curious overconfidence and self regard that’s hard to even understand.

And I’ll say i despised Kasie at the start. No, not due to some loyalty to Abbey (I had none). She was so off the charts obnoxiously crazed every week we actually stopped watching the show. Tonight I had to acknowledge that the writers must have realized this and fixed her personality back from 110 to 30. She doesn’t bother me any more. Palmer remains the only one I hate.

On 11/13/2019 at 9:31 AM, mommalib said:

I am not feeling this Bishop and Torres stuff. I don't need Tony and Ziva part 2. Not to mention I don't see the chemistry anyway. I think they missed an opportunity for Bishop when agent Reeves was around.

I definitely would have stopped watching if they did that. I thought they might, too.

[mommalib]

On 11/27/2019 at 2:31 AM, SG11 said:

I have to disagree. Bishop reminds me a lot of a young female agent we had start in our squad. Super bright, quirky, small town but had to learn about working with people and doing the job. A couple years in, she started to demonstrate a real maturity personally and on the job, again reminding me of our agent. Bishop  went through the changes personally with the divorce as well. I like her character a lot, shes my favorite after Gibbs. Unlike Torres, who is the same childish narcissist with the same curious overconfidence and self regard that’s hard to even understand.

And I’ll say i despised Kasie at the start. No, not due to some loyalty to Abbey (I had none). She was so off the charts obnoxiously crazed every week we actually stopped watching the show. Tonight I had to acknowledge that the writers must have realized this and fixed her personality back from 110 to 30. She doesn’t bother me any more. Palmer remains the only one I hate.

I definitely would have stopped watching if they did that. I thought they might, too.

If they did what? Put Bishop with Reeves? Why would you have such a problem with that?

[immortalfrieza]

On 11/13/2019 at 12:42 AM, twoods said:

I don’t ever want to stay in a motel again. How freaky. I didn’t guess the killer so kudos for keeping me interested. I thought that Torres’s gf would be involved since I recognized the actress in General Hospital, and her son was the same age as Richard. I wasn’t expecting them to double date, but I guess it was necessary to show that Torres and Bishop don’t like seeing each other dating people. I guess with Torres telling Bishop that she’s like a younger sister will continue dragging out this will they/won’t they relationship  (and did the writers purposely have Palmer talk about Ziva and Tony to show the fans that they are aware they are doing this again to us?)

On that note, really Palmer? Going on this whole spiel about the rule "don't date a coworker" and then using Tony and Ziva's relationship as the ur example of how badly it can go? Tony and Ziva's relationship was obviously inappropriate for the workplace but there wasn't anything worse about it than any other relationship on network TV.

You know, borderline if not outright abusive occasionally physically from the female since that's funny and the male couldn't possibly get away with it, emotionally from both, highly inappropriate and probably against the rules, and between two people who in reality would hardly be able to spend 5 minutes together in the same room not to mention actually get together. All things considered, Ziva and Tony got off lightly and whatever issues they had (namely the whole leaving and faking her death part) were beyond either one's control.

Also Palmer? A blind and deaf brain damaged monkey could see there was a thing going on between Tony and Ziva from day 1, a sixth sense wasn't needed. I'm hoping he was just screwing with Torres and just avoiding stating the obvious (like with Mcgee a bit later with Bishop) rather than actually oblivious to Torres and Bishop.
 

On 11/14/2019 at 9:41 PM, ForReal said:

Not much to say here, I'm in agreement with everything above. The pig scene took me back to the days of Bones and corpse discovery, and that's not something I expect on NCIS.

I had the same thought when I saw the kids run across the body. Having seen Bones from beginning to end (and loved every minute of it) the only thing that shocked me about it was seeing that kind of thing in an NCIS episode. Bones got more and more over the top with body reveals that by the end I barely even noticed anymore so this didn't bother me. I wonder if a Bones writer or two got on the NCIS production crew recently.

[SG11]

9 hours ago, mommalib said:

If they did what? Put Bishop with Reeves? Why would you have such a problem with that?

I couldn’t stand that guy. Pairing Bishop with him would have only been a half-degree better than having her date Palmer.

[SG11]

7 minutes ago, immortalfrieza said:

On that note, really Palmer? Going on this whole spiel about the rule "don't date a coworker" and then using Tony and Ziva's relationship as the ur example of how badly it can go? Tony and Ziva's relationship was obviously inappropriate for the workplace but there wasn't anything worse about it than any other relationship on network TV.

You know, borderline if not outright abusive occasionally physically from the female since that's funny and the male couldn't possibly get away with it, emotionally from both, highly inappropriate and probably against the rules, and between two people who in reality would hardly be able to spend 5 minutes together in the same room not to mention actually get together. All things considered, Ziva and Tony got off lightly and whatever issues they had (namely the whole leaving and faking her death part) were beyond either one's control.

Also Palmer? A blind and deaf brain damaged monkey could see there was a thing going on between Tony and Ziva from day 1, a sixth sense wasn't needed. I'm hoping he was just screwing with Torres and just avoiding stating the obvious (like with Mcgee a bit later with Bishop) rather than actually oblivious to Torres and Bishop.
 

I had the same thought when I saw the kids run across the body. Having seen Bones from beginning to end (and loved every minute of it) the only thing that shocked me about it was seeing that kind of thing in an NCIS episode. Bones got more and more over the top with body reveals that by the end I barely even noticed anymore so this didn't bother me. I wonder if a Bones writer or two got on the NCIS production crew recently.

Well, a blind and deaf brain damaged monkey would be a better character than Palmer every day of the week, so there’s that. I think when he said that to Torres, the writers decided they can use Palmer to deliver any idiotic message needed or desired, with no risk of loss of status to the character. That’s got to be why he’s still on the show.

And I’m thinking that the graphic opening is another example of the writers trying to “keep up” with other shows. They did such a terrible job trying to keep up with Criminal Minds they made Ducky into a mail order Profier over night, and this feels like more of the same. Although I am surprised at the sensitivity of some reactions to this. It was that disturbing?

[mommalib]

8 hours ago, SG11 said:

I couldn’t stand that guy. Pairing Bishop with him would have only been a half-degree better than having her date Palmer.

I liked Reeves and prefer him to Torres.

[SG11]

50 minutes ago, mommalib said:

I liked Reeves and prefer him to Torres.

I don’t have much use for Torres either. I’d like to see a decent match for Bishop.