NCIS: Unpopular Opinions

[betsyboo]

Since I always seem to be odd man out on other shows' threads, I thought this would be a safe haven for NCIS peeps. 

 

My UO: I don't want Tony to end up with Ziva. I have never believed their love story. I think she treated him like crap. Actually - let me rephrase - I think they did love each other the best they could. But it wasn't necessarily good for either of them. 

 

I'd like to see Tony exit by getting his own team. If it has to be romance-based for a dramatic flair, then I'd like Jeanne to realize Tony has always been her one true love and she parts amicably with Dr. Husband. (Hey, a girl can dream!)

[pally]

I'm with you.  I don't want a Ziva storyline overshadowing the story that belongs to Tony/Michael Weatherly.   If he leaves to go chase Ziva AGAIN then the story becomes about her. I don't know exactly how he should leave but I want it to be a happy move with the last scene being of him getting a group hug from the team (including Gibbs) before he gets on the elevator or maybe him standing in the bullpen as Gibbs calls "gear up" and the team leaves and Tony says his goodbye to the orange walls.

[AshleyLyn]

I don't see the big issue with Bishop. I like her more than Ziva and more than Kate. In truth I barely liked Kate and Ziva kind of started annoying me around her second season. Something aboht Bishop makes her refreshing.

[betsyboo]

I don't see the big issue with Bishop. I like her more than Ziva and more than Kate. In truth I barely liked Kate and Ziva kind of started annoying me around her second season. Something aboht Bishop makes her refreshing.

i don't mind her either. But I get why some think she's a mary sue. I liked Kate because she wasn't intimidated  by Gibbs, but didn't like how she treated Tony. Of course, Ziva didn't treat him any better.  I will say that even tho she saved Gibbs from Ari, I never understood why he gave her carte blanche. Altho, I guess if someone killed the person about to shoot me, I'd give them a pass on just about everything.

[GHScorpiosRule]

I, for ONE, do NOT want Tony riding off into the sunset with Jeanne, who was, when we last saw her, a Happily MARRIED woman.

 

I don't want Tony's departure to have anything to do with his fucking love life. But for career reasons.

[Julia]

I don't want Tony's departure to have anything to do with his fucking love life. But for career reasons.

 

Thank you.

 

Although, if he does leave over his love life, can he elope with Bishop? Because I was willing to let bygones be bygones at the beginning of the season, I truly was, when they started backing off the Wesley. We got a season of her turgid marital trauma (which did not show her to great advantage) instead. And now she's going back to being super-agent Bishop, who Gibbs quietly ignores going rogue, screwing up, and endangering herself on a regular basis, only with weekly reminders of her tragic bereavement.

 

I really don't know if I can watch the adventures of super-woobie action girl without dilution. I'm already fast-forwarding through scenes. This season may be it for me if it keeps up.

Edited February 17, 2016 by Julia

[camussie]

i don't mind her either. But I get why some think she's a mary sue.

 

 

I don't even see why some think she is a Mary Sue.  Maybe in her first season on the show but since they have shown in almost every episode that, while she is competent at her job, she still has much to learn either about how Gibbs works or about doing an investigation.  

 

As far as her going rogue - all of them do it.  Most especially Gibbs and after him Ziva.  Even more it is a tired trope on every procedural I watch for someone in law enforcement to go off on their own to handle the bad guy of the week.  It is a contrived way to "create drama" that writers of procedurals use time and again.

[Julia]

As far as her going rogue - all of them do it. 

 

Yes, they do. But all of them don't have to be saved every time.

[catray]

My UO is that I actually really liked Ziva and I'm still ticked that her character was completely fucked up by TPTB. FUCK YOU SHANE BRENNAN! (I least, I think it's his fault.) That said, I don't really want her coming back or Tony running after her because I think the time for that has passed (another UO: it's also passed for Jeanne/Tony as well). Unless the writer's decide to kill off Tony (please don't, guys) and Ziva returns in a dream/flashback/deathbed appearance, but otherwise, let's just not go there.

Add me to the list of people that want Tony to leave NCIS because of his career, not because of his love life.

[stinkogingko]

Why not have him leave for career and romantic reasons? Perhaps to a job that would let him be married to a person as well. I hate to think of him as Gibbs, with nothing but work to keep him warm. Gibbs at least had years of happiness with Shannon and Kelly.

Maybe Jeanne is happily married. Or maybe she was happily married but the stress is the South Sudan disaster has damaged the marriage. Maybe he wants to keep going to dangerous places and she wants a normal life. Maybe it's always been a marriage based more on esteem than passion. I bet her husband has always known that she had a traumatic break up with/betrayal by a man she loved. He may already know who the man is. Maybe he's bonded with/fallen for the nurse that was with him.

So long as Tony and Jeanne didn't hook up before she left her husband, there are a dozen ways that this could be presented that left both Tony and Jeanne looking admirable. If they want to do it, it can be done.

My unpopular opinion: I loved Tiva. I wanted it to happen. I was terribly disappointed when the actress left. And yet even while she was there, the imbalance in the relationship bothered me. I think Ziva truly believed that she was a better person than Tony, ethically and morally as well as intellectually. In season 7 she was shaken out of that complacency but then fell back into it.

Had the character stayed, I think the relationship could have been reset. But the actress left, and for whatever reason they've chosen to present her departure as a clean break. We're to believe that she's been gone for over two years, with no contact.

I want Tony to get the big shiny happy ending: a job where he's challenged but respected, and the family life he wants. I don't think there's time (or inclination) to bring Ziva back and work that into a good ending. Zoe? EJ? Wendy? Someone completely new? Jeanne is the one character we know for certain loved Tony, and she's one that we know for certain Tony loved. And the actors work so well together, and Tony's allowed to be his best self around Jeanne. So I'm hoping they find a way to put these two together, or at least let us know they're on the way.

[betsyboo]

I want Tony to get the big shiny happy ending: a job where he's challenged but respected, and the family life he wants. I don't think there's time (or inclination) to bring Ziva back and work that into a good ending. Zoe? EJ? Wendy? Someone completely new? Jeanne is the one character we know for certain loved Tony, and she's one that we know for certain Tony loved. And the actors work so well together, and Tony's allowed to be his best self around Jeanne. So I'm hoping they find a way to put these two together, or at least let us know they're on the way.

All of this ^^. I would LOVE an EJ do over. I still don't know where she is in show-verse. Did she take on a new team and relocate? I have no memory after her storyline ended.

 

I also feel compelled to share my other UO (at least, as far as I can tell reading back threads) - I LOVED Diane. Every down and dirty, cat-fight, flirt-with-McGee, claws out part of her. She was right for both men during the time she was with each. Until she realized Gibbs was her Shannon.

[MyAimIsTrue]

My unpopular opinion: I loved Tiva. I wanted it to happen. I was terribly disappointed when the actress left.

 

Same here.  All of it.

[Julia]

I reacted to Tiva more or less the way I react to most ship teases, which is that in the course of keeping the couple orbiting each other long past the point where they would have gotten together, the relationship turns into a mess where they spend half the time brooding. I wouldn't have minded the ship, if the tease hadn't turned them into people who made each other unhappy.

 

Also, i hate the way women in this show are written so that they're either bigger bros than the bros or wildly irrational in that special female way (because of course public servant Diane would blackmail her ex over a private matter with a malicious audit in front of a horde of pissed-off cops at a crime scene). Because no, neither of those are what a strong woman looks like.

Edited February 18, 2016 by Julia

[pennben]

My UO:  I'm not really a fan of McGee.  To be more specific, I think I'm not a fan of the actor playing McGee. I don't think he's a strong enough actor when playing against the other leads, which means I don't really buy anything the McGee character is selling in any episode.  I'm sure the actor is a lovely person, but he has always been a weak link for me on this show.

[MyAimIsTrue]

I agree with what you're saying about Sean Murray as he truly is a weak acting link, and I've wondered how much nepotism came into play with him getting the role (since Donald Bellisario is his stepfather.)  Even so I find the character of McGee rather endearing.

[betsyboo]

My UO:  I'm not really a fan of McGee.  To be more specific, I think I'm not a fan of the actor playing McGee. I don't think he's a strong enough actor when playing against the other leads, which means I don't really buy anything the McGee character is selling in any episode.  I'm sure the actor is a lovely person, but he has always been a weak link for me on this show.

I really didn't like the character when the show started - it was clear to me he was added as comic relief - bumbling agent (role to be filled later by Dorny -RIP). But he's gotten less annoying as he has gotten more confident in his abilities as an agent. In the past couple of years he hasn't bothered me. I like how he can now go back at Tony without angst. But I get your point - a little milquetoast.

[pally]

I can't see the character Tim McGee or the actor Sean Murray taking over as Gibbs #2.  Sean is a perfectly fine actor but he really just doesn't have enough charisma to carry off as much screen time as Michael Weatherly had.  They are going to have to be very careful casting the new characters wto make sure the personalities are balanced.  

[JessDVD]

I don't dislike McGee but I see the point too. I also wholeheartedly agree that the character doesn't have the right stuff to replace Tony. I'm not even sure what I think is the best approach, go the complete opposite direction from Tony or aim for similar but not identical... who knows. All I know is that my enjoyment of the second half of this season has gone down knowing that Tony is leaving since the current version of Tony is my favorite part of the show. I'm sure I'll still watch next season but assuming there's only a few seasons left, I can see my future re-watches ending around now. Like how I watched Numb3rs all the way though initially but when I re-watch, I usually stop around the part where Megan leaves.

[stuckin60s]

I really do like McGee.  I was glad when they brought him on the show.  Not just Kate and Tony show any longer.

 

I think since he is a computer person, the role is not for a "strong forceful male"  I think McGee is a great balance to the strong Tony.

 

I do agree that the McGee character would not be a good replacement for Tony.  They have  had a year to find a replacement character, hopefully they will/did

 

I think it is time for Abby to grow a little older, I LOVE Ducky, I love Mike Franks, I cant stand Bishop ( bad decision all around in this character).

 

this has been one of my favorite shows for a long time.  I have watched the characters come and go.  Tony will be missed

 

 

[BigBeagle]

 

I also feel compelled to share my other UO (at least, as far as I can tell reading back threads) - I LOVED Diane. Every down and dirty, cat-fight, flirt-with-McGee, claws out part of her. She was right for both men during the time she was with each. Until she realized Gibbs was her Shannon.

Oh, me, too. I really looked forward to episodes when Diane was in the promos ... She was bright, feisty, funny and a beauty, to boot. Sure, she was strong coffee, but I like strong coffee.

[Runningwild]

My UO - I love Sr. I love RJ and the resemblance with Michael Weatherly is really uncanny.

[selhars]

My UO is I can't stand Gibbs. I've only seen a very few episodes of this show -- like maybe five, the shows entire run. And that was when I was at someone's house who likes the show and I had to watch it  because they were watching it.

 

I hate Gibbs' smug ass. Please tell me that at least once in the show;s run SOME character has made him eat his words, and eat his arrogance.

He's always putting his hands on people, making them sit, telling them to stay. One I'd like to see someone tell him to fuck off and he can't do anything about it.

And I don't mean he gets yelled at by the boss, in front of someone , and them the boss, give him a wink and says good job. I mean a time when he really got handed his ass.

[Julia]

The only ex-wife he hasn't been handed his ass by is the dead one, and she's done it in flashbacks.

[selhars]

I mean at work. He's always getting in people's faces with threatening talk. the episodes I saw "Requiem" and "Designated Target." In one episode a colonel comes over from the pentagon, and He and Lauren Holly get in her face. Really? They jump bad with  a colonel from the Pentagon? You'd think that person would say "watch your tone" or "watch your step" or give some kind of push back.  And this was rally a cooperative interview. Maybe it's me. I jut don't' respond well to arrogance. And would like to see them get it wrong and make them eat and choke on it. and least once in a while.

[Julia]

Well, the Lauren Holly character used to slap him down a lot, but that lost a lot of its impact when they made her into Captain Ahab in a pantsuit. SecNav's told him to back off once or twice.

[GHScorpiosRule]

So I got drawn into watching this on USA, presently airing season six, and I know I'll get all ragey when it gets to the end of the season, but seeing Tony makes me miss him ALL THE MORE. Weatherly leaving really left a BIG hole for me. It's not the same show. And many here know how much I disliked Ziva, but damned if the show wasn't better with her too! MINUS all that emasculating Tony and forced romance, of course. 

Hey! This is the Unpopular Opinion thread, after all!?

Speaking of which, we really need to come up with a witty title! How about...Jennie was the BEST Director? Or The OTP: Tony and Ziva!

?????

Edited July 9, 2017 by GHScorpiosRule

[MissLucas]

On 7.7.2017 at 6:18 PM, GHScorpiosRule said:

Speaking of which, we really need to come up with a witty title! Hey about...Jennie was the BEST Director? Or The OTP: Tony and Ziva!

?????

Jump the Frog!

[JuliaJenkins]

On 2/22/2016 at 7:28 PM, pennben said:

My UO:  I'm not really a fan of McGee.  To be more specific, I think I'm not a fan of the actor playing McGee. I don't think he's a strong enough actor when playing against the other leads, which means I don't really buy anything the McGee character is selling in any episode.  I'm sure the actor is a lovely person, but he has always been a weak link for me on this show.

McGee started out as the babyfaced probie. That part didn't seem much of a stretch in the beginning for any actor so Sean Murray fit right in. Later, when they gave McGee more of a life it didn't ring true for me. His dad was an admiral, he was a writer, his sister got in trouble and Tim was hiding that from the team. Sean was rather bland for the grown up McGee.

I also don't like the name McGee. It's too close to Gibbs with the capital G and short name, just my opinion. 

I don't like Bishop. She's totally wrong for the team. Everything becomes about her. 

[JuliaJenkins]

On 7/7/2017 at 11:18 AM, GHScorpiosRule said:

So I got drawn into watching this on USA, presently airing season six, and I know I'll get all ragey when it gets to the end of the season, but seeing Tony makes me miss him ALL THE MORE. Weatherly leaving really left a BIG hole for me. It's not the same show. And many here know how much I disliked Ziva, but damned if the show wasn't better with her too! MINUS all that emasculating Tony and forced romance, of course.

HUGE hole! This isn't the same show, at least not for me. Too many new characters plus I think Bishop was a mistake. Abby, Tim, Ducky, Jimmy are mostly side characters and window dressing now. I'm not a regular watcher now. 

Edited September 11, 2017 by JuliaJenkins

[GHScorpiosRule]

I'm sure I'm going to Burn In Hell for this, but I don't give any figgedity fucks about McGee, Delilah or their baby.

[brgjoe]

Well...I like both McGee and Deliliah.  But don't give two shakes about the baby's name or any drama surrounding said baby.

[enoughcats]

When somebody adopts a dog and takes that dog to work, it's over. 

(I'm intentionally forgetting the Abby-dog episode, and the dog dander and hair that got into all of her sterile equipment}

[Gothish520]

On 2/17/2016 at 11:43 AM, AshleyLyn said:

I don't see the big issue with Bishop. I like her more than Ziva and more than Kate. In truth I barely liked Kate and Ziva kind of started annoying me around her second season. Something aboht Bishop makes her refreshing.

Agree 100%

[Gothish520]

My unpopular opinions: I don't miss Tony, at all. And I really like Torres.

Edited November 5, 2017 by Gothish520
spelling

[IrishPirate]

Speaking of dropped storylines, whatever happened to McGee being a successful writer? This is what happens when I run across old episodes.

[kassygreene]

He didn't write another book (and/or stopped writing), and then lost his money in a hedge fund.

[GHScorpiosRule]

6 hours ago, kassygreene said:

He didn't write another book (and/or stopped writing), and then lost his money in a hedge fund.

I think he decided to stop writing after that fan went all Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs and started killing real people who McGee based his characters on, and Abby nearly being killed, convinced him to give it up.

[Laina]

My unpopular opinion, is that I multiship Tony. 

Another unpopular opinion is that Ziva is my favorite female on NCIS.

I can see him with Kate, and I can see him with Ziva. Both of which are/were characters that I like/liked. (I'm only on season 7. Have been binge-watching the episodes from the beginning, but was spoiled on FB about the shitty Tiva ending.)

While, yes, I do like Kate, I like Ziva better and felt like it was a shitty way to end her character.

I mean seriously, if they were going to end Tony's role on the show with Tiva stuff, they didn't have to kill Ziva. They could have said that they thought she died in the attack on the farmhouse, have whatsherface bring Tali to Tony, and then have Tony receive a cryptic anonymous text from a phone Ziva stole, telling him and Tali to meet her in Paris. The last 5 mins of the episode could've been a few hour timeskip to get Tony and Tali to Paris, where they track Ziva down, and show up wherever she was staying. We didn't even need to see Cote/Ziva. Just a single shot of Tony holding Tali and her bag in his arms as he knocks on the door, it opens and the camera focuses on him and Tali, as he says, "Thank God you're okay, Ziva," I mean, damn. They wouldn't have even had to pay Cote or have her come back, and that would still have pleased the shippers a HELL of a lot better than the trash storyline they actually went with. (Why yes, I AM bitter as hell. All the flirting, feelings, and teasing from seasons 3-11 and all of it amounted to NOTHING. What a crock.)

Edited January 21, 2018 by Laina

[Driad]

I’m ready for this show to be over. Maybe not an unpopular opinion.  In my head:  Ducky will have a long pleasant retirement with occasional lectures etc.  Abby will go to a great new job.  Tim will find a position with a reasonable schedule.  Gibbs will leave with Allison Janney. 

[llewis823]

On 11/5/2017 at 1:03 PM, Gothish520 said:

My unpopular opinions: I don't miss Tony, at all. And I really like Torres.

I do miss Tony, but I also like Fez...I mean Torres. And since they both can't be on the show, Torres will do.

[GalvDuck]

I like Nellie.  If they put Bishop and Torres together, I'm ALL kinds of for it.

[slf]

While I didn't enjoy certain story lines for Tiva (him killing whatshisface and her getting mad about it) but otherwise I didn't think those two were even all that unhealthy or ill-suited for one another. I don't think Ziva licking Tony's ear was any more inappropriate than Tony having pictures of her in a bikini taped on the wall in his room. (On this show, like so many others, the joke comes first. The picture was meant to be funny, Tony's little freakout over the ear-lick was supposed to be funny.) Certainly nothing like engaging in a sexual relationship with someone who doesn't know your true identity. I don't think she thought he was dumb, I think she thought he made dumb and often sexual jokes as part of his playboy facade (which drove her nuts) and recognized that he was a very intelligent, capable detective. Just like I think he understood that certain aspects of her persona (specifically the Super Mossad Killer thing) were exaggerated.

Edited May 17, 2018 by slf

[Linderhill]

My unpopular opinion is that I don't give a crap about Jimmy, period.  Nothing about him interests me in the least and I resent every time they foist him on us.  

[ForReal]

On 5/15/2018 at 12:30 PM, slf said:

I don't think Ziva licking Tony's ear was any more inappropriate than Tony having pictures of her in a bikini taped on the wall in his room. (On this show, like so many others, the joke comes first. The picture was meant to be funny, Tony's little freakout over the ear-lick was supposed to be funny.) ... I don't think she thought he was dumb, I think she thought he made dumb and often sexual jokes as part of his playboy facade (which drove her nuts) and recognized that he was a very intelligent, capable detective. Just like I think he understood that certain aspects of her persona (specifically the Super Mossad Killer thing) were exaggerated.

Yes, yes, yes! I was talking about the show with my cousin yesterday who is watching on Netflix and is on the third season, and she was complaining about Tony and how sexist and inappropriate he is and how unacceptable it all is. I tried to tell her that the whole point of Tony's "playboy facade" is that he's kind of goofy and sweet underneath, but she wasn't buying it. I think you hit the nail on the head about their relationship.

[scorpio1031]

I used to binge on this show on Netflix and I haven't done that since the ep where Clayton died, and I didn't even watch that.  I haven't watched any eps since the one where Gibbs was protecting the young girl.  I don't know if I will even watch next season.

I don't think that the show currently is what Gary Glasberg had in mind.  I am also sick of all the back stage drama.

[LynneH]

Personally, I think the show should have ended when the Ziva character left.  The show has been on for 15 years and the characters had hardly "evolved" since the first couple of seasons.  I would have liked to have seen Gibbs be in an honest to goodness supervisor position in the office and allow new characters to be added under the leadership of the other agents.  Now, with the high turnover rate in the last few years, there's really no reason, storyline wise, to even continue it.

[Dr.OO7]

USA and Oxygen have been rerunning Season 1-2 episodes and I think I like Kate more than Ziva.  Not that I dislike the latter.

[scorpio1031]

On ‎6‎/‎11‎/‎2018 at 7:51 AM, Camille said:

USA and Oxygen have been rerunning Season 1-2 episodes and I think I like Kate more than Ziva.  Not that I dislike the latter.

It would have been interesting to see Kate and Tony's relationship play out over the years.  Would they have gotten married?  Or were they too much like a brother and sister?  I always liked how Tony still thought of her with the fish and the pictures.

Ziva - some seasons, she is a little too obsessed with Tony and what he is thinking, or who he is dating or trying to date.

[slothgirl]

17 hours ago, scorpio1031 said:

It would have been interesting to see Kate and Tony's relationship play out over the years.  Would they have gotten married?  Or were they too much like a brother and sister?  I always liked how Tony still thought of her with the fish and the pictures.

Ziva - some seasons, she is a little too obsessed with Tony and what he is thinking, or who he is dating or trying to date.

The writers on this show never knew how to write actual women. The closest they got was Colonel Mann, and even she had her moments of being absurd (not many, but at least one). Early-seasons Abby was an interesting character that I could believe, but the character "development" was to devolve. There was NO WAY that someone with Kate's credentials and experience would have let someone like Tony get under her skin the way she did. Delilah is great and so was Coast Guard lady (the character name escapes me) but they appeared far too little. As much as I didn't like her in the beginning, Bishop is actually becoming one of the most believable female characters, but I wish they'd let her and Jake have a good marriage. I think the fact that she was married and obviously too young for Tony gave a much needed break to the constant attempt to create sexual/romantic tension for Tony and his co-workers, which was a driving force in the silly writing for Ziva and Kate.

As a side note to the fish... pet peeve/unpopular opinion. The fish thing bother me. Tony obviously keeps buying fish and naming them all Kate, because a goldfish will only live about 2 weeks in a stereotypical "goldfish bowl". And if he kept it in a properly sized aquarium, the original Katefish would be at least 10" long by now and would need at least a 50 gallon tank. I have the same pet peeve with The West Wing with the goldfish CJ (Allison Janney) had on her desk supposedly given to her by Danny... I guess Danny kept buying her new fish. I don't like shows perpetuating improper animal care beliefs, even if it is just goldfish. Goldfish are a LOT of work.

Popular opinion: Please get Allison Janney on NCIS as a love interest for Gibbes or at least a guest star for an episode!

Edited June 17, 2018 by slothgirl

[Wheels08]

I don't really miss Tony all that much. Or any of the characters that we've lost for that matter. I mean they were fine when they were on the show but I didn't feel to emotionally connected to them.

 

And I like the new team.