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S12.E13: We Build, We Fight


MyAimIsTrue
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Gibbs and the team investigate when a Navy Lieutenant who is set to be the first openly gay service member to receive the Medal of Honor is murdered. Also, as his wife’s due date approaches, Palmer prepares for fatherhood with a NCIS baby shower.

 

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I thought that he episode was somewhat "overly convoluted", but I knew that there was NO WAY  that the SeeBee would not get the Medal of Honor. (Not on NCIS).

 

I wonder if/for how long Hollis Mann will be around, if at all. I liked her interaction with Gibbs years ago (admittedly not a super popular opinion), and tonight she seemed spot on in her using her knowledge of Gibbs' psyche to try to get through to him as he grieved the loss of Diane.

Question: I recall that she got married while in Hawaii, is she still married?

Edited by MDL
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Jimmy and Breena (sp?) naming their baby girl after Ducky's mother was adorable. So glad the birth went well.  I figured it would when it got to 7 minutes left in the show.

The overall plot line was reminiscent of Shooter in some ways, including the guilty party and the circumstances, but the episode was a good one.

They addressed Gibbs' feelings over Diane's death much better in this episode than the previous one (as mentioned Hollis was there to draw it out), although I also wondered if they were going to go back to the reason for his doctor visit in that episode.   Apparently  nothing came of that, fortunately.  He was back on the coffee.

Edited by roseha
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Oh Palmer, your naivete in rejecting DiNozzo's gift just screams first time parent. In three months you will be so grateful for ear plugs, wine, and cash for take out. But yay for Palmer's baby-- at least it took at least two days and not a typical TV 2 hr labor.

Liked Hollis back and liked her approach to Gibbs's grief over Diane. I also liked her shutting down his usual "it's all on me, you're not safe" bologna.

Agree that the case was way more convoluted than it needed to be-- I feel the Admiral underhandedly disgracing gay servicemen wasn't needed. While I'm sure things like this happened (and are maybe still happening) I feel like their were other shout-outs to the hardships that gay service members face.

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I kinda like the fact that the mystery behind the murder had nothing to do with the guy being gay.  Not too long ago, it used to be that no gay character appeared on TV or in the movies unless the only point to him or her was that they were gay.  I like that even NCIS (which, let's face it, is not the most progressive show on television) has now moved beyond this.  Of course, the only reason that they were really interested in the case to begin with is because he was gay, but hey, baby steps.

 

I also did like Hollis making Gibbs say out loud what he feels about Diane's death.  I've always liked Hollis, and her relationship with Gibbs.  Is this a minority opinion?  I've never really followed the fandom, but she is so straightforward, for the most part, that they seemed a good match (even with he annoying addiction to blond hair ;)

 

Of course, he is right, on a basic level, that a lot of the people (and particularly women) whom he has loved have died because they were associated with him.  But they also died because they were who they were, and he is who he is, and how the hell are you going to unravel your entire personality and history?  Sometimes you just need to accept that you are who you are, and they are who they are, and bad people are bad people.  That's what I liked about that episode where he actually had to confront the fact that even if Kelly and Shannon had survived, maybe his (and their) life wouldn't have been all rainbows and unicorns.  Maybe he needs a refresher.

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Of course, he is right, on a basic level, that a lot of the people (and particularly women) whom he has loved have died because they were associated with him. But they also died because they were who they were, and he is who he is, and how the hell are you going to unravel your entire personality and history? Sometimes you just need to accept that you are who you are, and they are who they are, and bad people are bad people. That's what I liked about that episode where he actually had to confront the fact that even if Kelly and Shannon had survived, maybe his (and their) life wouldn't have been all rainbows and unicorns. Maybe he needs a refresher.

I've never really understood what the reasoning behind Gibbs thinking he was responsible for Kelly and Shannon's deaths. I can see a lot of risky decisionmaking there - Shannon not sending Kelly away when she knew they were the target of a mexican drug cartel, Shannon not insisting on protective custody or witness protection, the cops not insisting on protective custody or witness protection, Shannon agreeing to testify in the first place (admirable, obviously, but painted a target on both her and her daughter) - but neither Shannon nor the cops is responsible for what happened. That would be the people who actually ordered and carried out the killings.

So I have to admit, I can sympathize with him not being too impressed with Shannon's fridge speech, because I kinda wasn't either, but I still don't get how being trapped in the middle of a war on the other side of the world somehow makes the whole thing Gibbs' fault.

Edited by Julia
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I, too, enjoy Hollis' relationship with Gibbs. I appreciate there's a woman out there who will call out Gibbs on his B.S. and make him listen (and not come out looking shrill in the process). It's only logical that Gibbs would feel responsible for the deaths of the women in his life, but it's also a false assumption. Bad things happen to good people, sometimes for no good reason at all. All the angst in the world won't bring Shannon or Diane or Kate back, and Gibbs changing the way he is won't help things, either. So, bravo to Hollis for showng him the light.

 

Only thing I want to add to the Jimmy baby love is that I loved the touch of his picking the pink balloon as his way of announcing his daughter's arrival.

Edited by BigBeagle
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I was waiting for Palmer to say he named his daughter "Donna" (close as he could get to "Donald") or "Mallory" (for "Mallard"), in honor of Ducky, but naming her after Ducky's mom was nice too.   :)

Edited by sinkwriter
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But yay for Palmer's baby-- at least it took at least two days and not a typical TV 2 hr labor.

 

I don't mind a short labor on TV -- seeing TV's drawn-out melodrama approach for it is sometimes way too over the top, so I'm glad they didn't make it go on and on. Also, some labors are really fast. My sister had an agonizing labor with her first child (at least 1 very painful day), but her second child came in under 5 hours. And I believe my mom has said that the labor for my younger brother went so fast she was afraid she wouldn't make it to the hospital in time. She got to the hospital and had him, like, 15 minutes later, tops. Compare that with my sister-in-law who had something like 24+ hours of labor and then it got so bad she ended up having to have a c-section at the last minute... you just never know. So I don't mind a quick labor on TV.

 

The broken fingers part was over the top, but still cute. Especially because Jimmy was just so darn cheerful about it. LOL.

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I guessed Donna as well.

 

Me too. 

 

I like that while the show focused on the victim being gay, that in itself wasn't the central issue.  It was still about solving a murder.  There was still homophobia involved, and from what I've seen of the NCIS Facebook page, that phobia is alive and well with viewers, too.  Yet in end it was a murder like other murders this show has solved and they focused on the heroism and good deeds of the victim more than his sexuality.  

 

I enjoyed seeing Hollis Mann again.  She's a straight talker and but not annoyingly so.  

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I suddenly found myself expecting them to name the baby something like 'Birdy' or maybe even 'Donalda' when they said they were naming her after Ducky. That pause had me cringing, so it was a relief that they went for something normal.

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When did "Colonel" Mann become Hollis to everyone, she did retire and retaiethe honorarium. How does someone with an other than honorable discharge get hired by any police department?

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When did "Colonel" Mann become Hollis to everyone, she did retire and retaiethe honorarium. How does someone with an other than honorable discharge get hired by any police department?

Yes, she retired in season five. It was all offscreen, though when she was still with Gibbs, she talked about retiring her commission.

Then an episode or two later, we saw Jenny reading an article about Hollid retiring and moving to Hawaii. We never got Gibbs' reaction or why they broke up considering they were in a good place.

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I'm wondering if they dropped the thread about the leak?  Someone let the media know that the victim had drugs in his garage, and I wonder if that will come up in other episodes.

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Oh Palmer, your naivete in rejecting DiNozzo's gift just screams first time parent. In three months you will be so grateful for ear plugs, wine, and cash for take out.

 

 

I don't even have kids and I thought the gift was brilliant.

 

I may have misheard, and this is nitpicky, but did Mat offer up a "whole wheat" and "gluten-free" roll?

Edited by funkymunky
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Oh Palmer, your naivete in rejecting DiNozzo's gift just screams first time parent. In three months you will be so grateful for ear plugs, wine, and cash for take out.

 

Cash is awesome, but many would probably think it was a little impersonal. Still, it's always helpful, and the ear plugs were funny.

 

I think for me it was the wine that was a little insensitive. I've never had a child but my sister and sister-in-law often bemoaned not being able to drink while they were nursing, so it was cruel when they wanted to be able to enjoy a drink with all the other adults but couldn't do it. I can't remember, so for any mothers or fathers out there, how long does a nursing mother have to wait before they're able to drink alcohol again?

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Cash is awesome, but many would probably think it was a little impersonal. Still, it's always helpful, and the ear plugs were funny.

 

I think for me it was the wine that was a little insensitive. I've never had a child but my sister and sister-in-law often bemoaned not being able to drink while they were nursing, so it was cruel when they wanted to be able to enjoy a drink with all the other adults but couldn't do it. I can't remember, so for any mothers or fathers out there, how long does a nursing mother have to wait before they're able to drink alcohol again?

http://www.motherisk.org/women/updatesDetail.jsp?content_id=347

It seems to be a similar concept to drinking and driving.

It's not a matter of waiting until you can drink alcohol again - as long as you're nursing (or driving), you shouldn't really drink. But, if you do drink, then you should wait until your body has cleared the alcohol before nursing (or driving :P).

I thought the gift was pretty funny though, and typical of Tony. Palmer was being a bit too crazy for my liking, though. He should know better. Maybe they were going for funny, but to me it just made him seem dumb.

Edited by secnarf
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Jimmy Palmer's wife is close to her due date. The Baby Shower was cute and Breena going mad at Jimmy who's trying to make everything so safe for her and the future little Palmer. But her Beltway Burger visit sent her into labor maybe. It took the Gibb's slap to Palmer to get him on his way to the hospital. They have a daughter. She is named after Ducky's mom, Victoria Elizabeth Palmer. Very nice. Not wanting Tony's gift made me think that wasn't very nice. I did like the pink balloon selection by Jimmy, and the broken finger labor talk. My wife did almost the same thing! She squeezed my hand, and I kept telling her she should use the handles on the bed.

 

I liked how Lt.Col. Hollis Mann finally got Jethro to talk about Diane. She had to go to his man cave in his basement. He is working on a new boat. Gibbs blames himself for Diane's murder. He is also worried about Hollis. She says she is a big girl.

 

It did seem that Commander Xavier Meade was a bit harsh on gays. Must be old school. Even though Gibbs isn't against it. He gave sub-par ratings to the gay soldiers. He tried to say he was going to get Gibbs in trouble, and then Gibbs said he would testify against him at his Court Martial. Very nice Gibbs!

 

Eric Kutzler was a true hero. He deserved the Metal Of Honor! I am so glad he wasn't killed over being openly gay. He jumped on a live hand grenade to save others. Vince saw it. He helped Vince Armstrong, and Vince will carry on for Eric. Eric took Davis Riley's stash, and went to confront Mat. Mat Jebson did seem odd to me, but I didn't suspect him until the end. Selling drugs at a AA meeting. Eric was again doing right and got killed. Tony's quip to Mat,"Spoiler Alert! Herstenburgh(sp), It doesn't end well for you!" That was cute. It was nice that Vince apologized to Gibbs team.

Tony and Bishop made a nice team. Bishop is fitting in much better now.

 

I liked Gibbs asking Abby about the surveillance tapes and she replied, "It's not the 1990's!" The way the team talks to Gibbs sometimes about the differences in his thinking compared to today sometimes seems quite rude.

 

My wife was not happy about the "husband" name, but she still liked the episode.

 

Not sure if Gibbs had his Dr. appointment. Maybe with the death of Diane, he cancelled or rescheduled it.

 

With the Shannon and Kelly story, I think the reason Gibbs feels responsible is because he wasn't there to protect them. The man of the house should protect it's family, and he wasn't here to do that. So Gibbs feels responsible.

Edited by webruce
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.

 

It did seem that Commander Xavier Meade was a bit harsh on gays. Must be old school. Even though Gibbs isn't against it. He gave sub-par ratings to the gay soldiers. He tried to say he was going to get Gibbs in trouble, and then Gibbs said he would testify against him at his Court Martial. Very nice Gibbs!

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So he was only a Commander at the time. That makes more sense. As a Lieutenant in most cases would only have a Commander/Lt Col as his senior rater. It begged the question who where all these gay soldiers in available for an Admiral to rate lower then their contemporaries? The Commander would only be rating about 30 officers all told. Admirals would be rating Captains and Commmanders

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Using Hollis instead of Colonel by the characters other than Gibbs does show that NCIS is moving away from its JAG roots of getting such details mostly right. I am half expecting a staff NCO Marine to be called "sarge" soon.

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Using Hollis instead of Colonel by the characters other than Gibbs does show that NCIS is moving away from its JAG roots of getting such details mostly right. I am half expecting a staff NCO Marine to be called "sarge" soon.

Isn't she currently a civilian?

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Isn't she currently a civilian?

If she's retired, and it is almost impossible to make Lt Colonel without getting her twenty years in she remains "Colonel" when you address her. Especially among soldiers, sailors and those in a military linked organization. Just like "Colonel" Oliver North (retired) or the man who made his second career advising military based shows other than JAG, Captain Dale Dye (retired). Columnist "Lieutenant Colonel"  Ralph Peters (retired) who insist on Lieutenant Colonel because of the grief given Colonel North upon his saying "Colonel" in a charged political climate of Iran Contra. Or any retired officer now serving as an expert commentator on television news. British NCOs and American Sergeants Major retain their honorarium in retirement thus military characters on Magnum PI will always say Sergeant Major Higgins, while inactive reservist Magnum who resigned his commission and did not retire was not Lieutenant Commander unless called to active duty in an attempt to keep him out of spy games. For Gibbs, DiNozzo or Director Vance to introduce Lt Col Mann to a probie, especially one with little experience in the military as "Hollis" is the same as not introducing Special Agent Gibbs but Jethro, it is just wrong.

Edited by Raja
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