S12.E14: Cadence

[MyAimIsTrue]

Tony returns to the military academy he attended as a teen after a murdered Marine, who was an alumnus of the school, is found clutching the photo of a current student. Bishop and her husband invite Gibbs and the team for a special dinner.

 

[sinkwriter]

I love seeing glimpses of Tony's past, so this was a really interesting episode to me. (And I loved how Bishop kept texting McGee with details about Tony as a 17-year-old. Heee.)

 

The only thing that seemed strange was... I feel like we didn't get the whole story. Tony seemed to get some good things from going to school there, and -- as far as we know -- Honor Guard never bothered him after that one incident, so I'm not sure why he wants the past to stay the past in this case. I can understand him wanting to keep some things private, and not have his past become fodder for McGee and Bishop to tease him (especially because being a good student is slightly at odds with his "presentation" of himself as a party boy and a playboy and a free spirit who doesn't follow the rules, except Gibbs'). But I feel like there were some things he wasn't saying about his experience there, and it made me curious.

I liked that Jake found Gibbs easy to talk to, but I feel like he is the most naive guy ever who works for the NSA, because clearly Gibbs was using him to get intel about Russia and the guy who killed Diane.

[catray]

I was disappointed that Tony's former coach might be involved with the murder/suicide-- I guess he was tangentially by allowing the honor corps to continue, but I'm glad he didn't actually commit or cover up the murder.

I thought the flashbacks were just right here-- not too much so as to overpower the episode but enough to give us some insight into Tony's background and character. I thought young Tony was cast well. The only thing I'm not sure about is how Tony got on the Ohio State basketball team after playing one year of varsity bball, unless it was as a walk-on. (I am probably overthinking it just a bit, as well.)

I thought Jake being all "what happens in the diner stays in the diner" about his talk with Gibbs was hilarious. I think Jake feels out of step with Bishop's new job, but I think Gibbs's approaching him about intel helped them feel more on a level.

[twoods]

They keep knocking it out of the park this season. Loved all the Tony flashbacks, and happy that they didn't make Tony's mentor the killer. I might have thrown something at the screen!

Jake continues to be awesome. So happy we finally get a stable couple (please don't die!).

[brgjoe]

Yep, I also pretty much liked everything about this episode.  The flashbacks were well done, but not overdone.  And while I think Tony can see where such an environment helped him become who he is today, I can also see why he wouldn't want to talk about it much.  That it reminds him of a time in his life where he wasn't really happy about where his life was going.  And he could also be a bit embarassed to talk about a time where he might have been a bit of a jerk.  And other than Piggy (sorry!), he also didn't appear to have made many friends there.

 

The Gibbs/Jake dinner scene was unexpected.  But I liked it as well.  Including McGee ducking out.  :)

 

I thought the coach/mentor (who's name escapes my feeble brain) was a bit hypocritcal as well.  That the honor guard thing was "tradition" and that he helps "weed out the weak" and stuff -- yet he wouldn't allow them to mess with his players.  It's apparently good enough for others but not for his own guys, I guess.

 

And darnit, I liked the ending.  With Bishop giving him the picture and Tony putting it on his "wall".  And the phone call as well.  Nicely done. 

[sinkwriter]

 

The Gibbs/Jake dinner scene was unexpected.  But I liked it as well.  Including McGee ducking out.  :)

 

That cracked me up. He ducked in, saw it was only the two of them, and ducked right back out. And I said, "McGee, you chicken!" LOL.

[immortalfrieza]

I thought the coach/mentor (who's name escapes my feeble brain) was a bit hypocritcal as well.  That the honor guard thing was "tradition" and that he helps "weed out the weak" and stuff -- yet he wouldn't allow them to mess with his players.  It's apparently good enough for others but not for his own guys, I guess.

Of course it's hypocritical of the coach, this kind of thing shows up countless times on TV. All that talk was just him trying to justify to himself and others the fact that he chose to do nothing and/or was unable to do anything about what he knew to be wrong. The coach making sure the Honor Guard was stopping at his own players was just the two sides making a compromise to avoid dealing with the inevitable hassles that either trying to mess with the other would have caused. Ironically by now the coach would probably have been around long enough and have enough friends and other backing to actually do something about it, but he decides to resign instead, blowing any chance of that.

[Autumn]

I liked this episode.  More about Tony is always good.  Bishop has really grown on me.  I like her relationship with Tony.  She teases lightly but it doesn't seem mean spirited.  I love Jake.  They better not kill him off.

 

I liked that Tony called Piggy at the end and suggested dinner.  It makes me happy that Tony has friends outside of work.  I was also happy that Abby has been going out to do couples things with Bishop and Jake.  The whole thing they did for years with her working around the clock and spending any free time doing charity work was getting old.  She is much more balanced and calm.

[MyAimIsTrue]

I was nodding off during the entire episode so I pretty much missed everything.  Who was the killer and why?  Please and thank you.

[Julia]

The guy who funded the dead kid's ride at the school apparently has the world's longest-lasting case of Stockholm Syndrome and wanted to protect the culture of felony peer abuse for future generations.

Edited February 11, 2015 by Julia

[sinkwriter]

I felt really bad for Tony that his mentor/coach let him down like that. I'm really glad it turned out the coach didn't kill those kids, but he still managed to disappoint Tony because he let that kind of "Honor Guard" behavior continue. And he even let it continue while Tony was there -- the great mentor apparently only protected those on his sports teams, not those who really needed the protection, the students who weren't as strong, the ones who couldn't fight back. That has to be so crushing to Tony, who had finally found something positive at that school.

 

As I mentioned above I do wonder, though, why he still seemed negative about the experience overall, when it seemed he was doing so well there. That's why I feel like there's a piece of the puzzle still missing.

 

Also, it's got to trouble Tony that other kids like Trevor were still getting tormented. If memory serves, he knows what that feels like. I still remember that episode where Tony kept talking about how he'd tormented some kid all year, played terrible tricks on him, humiliated him, etc., and at the end we find out it was actually the other way around, that Tony had been the victim and for some reason over the years (perhaps his mind's way of protecting himself) he'd turned the story around as if he hadn't been the tormented one. So it's got to weigh on him that someone else was suffering as much as he once had.

 

Interesting and sad, but I do love the insights into Tony. I love seeing more layers to him.

[AimingforYoko]

Was it me or did the whole "Honor Corps" thing remind anyone of the Pat Conroy book/movie Lords of Discipline?

[sinkwriter]

Either that, or the creepy "code red" discipline that gets doled out in A Few Good Men.

[Trey]

 

Was it me or did the whole "Honor Corps" thing remind anyone of the Pat Conroy book/movie Lords of Discipline?

While I was watching, I thought it was more of a Lord of the Flies reference, given that they called the one boy "Piggy" - and I've never read Lords of Discipline. But after looking up Lords of Discipline it is more likely what they were going for.  There was also a character called "Pig" in that book too.  And it had the whole military school thing going on too:)

Edited February 12, 2015 by Trey

[itsmeyousee]

I really loved this ep. I especially loved the relationships. Abby didn't need to go to dinner, cause she already knows Jake. Gibbs and Tony and the only time you see Tony be open was with Gibbs and the "hand convo" about not going to the school. And Tim ignoring Tony's advice about asking the "couple" things then being the one who really didn't want to go to the dinner, shoulda listen to Tony LOL. And i love Tony and Bishop's relationship but i have from the start. Everyone just really clicked well in this ep.

 

I also loved the difference in the people with the whole "honour" thing. One side honour should mean taking care of each other,, the other side it was about taking care of themselves. But we didn't need yelling about or it explained it was just how the people acted.

[Betweenthisandthat]

As I mentioned above I do wonder, though, why he still seemed negative about the experience overall, when it seemed he was doing so well there. That's why I feel like there's a piece of the puzzle still missing.

 

It wasn't said but I assumed it was because he was a troubled kid. Being in six schools in four years, the last one he was in just a month or two, with this academy being his last chance, that would be something I wouldn't want to talk about.  He did well there, but he had to or else he'd be who knows where.  That's what struck me, that for all his bravado, he might have been a lost kid.  Makes sense why he'd identify with the students who died and later on tried to reach out to "Piggy."  

 

I keep being surprised by how everyone is acting like an adult on this show.  That will never get old with me.  Nice to see Jake casually making a return and I had to laugh at McGee almost running out of that dinner.  

Edited February 14, 2015 by Betweenthisandthat

[betsyboo]

I thought the flashbacks were just right here-- not too much so as to overpower the episode but enough to give us some insight into Tony's background and character. I thought young Tony was cast well. The only thing I'm not sure about is how Tony got on the Ohio State basketball team after playing one year of varsity bball, unless it was as a walk-on. (I am probably overthinking it just a bit, as well.)

 

Ditto on both counts! I thought young Tony was very well cast, and had some of the same mannerisms. And i spent more time than was warranted on how he made it to D1 basketball with one year....