S14.E22: Beastmaster

[MyAimIsTrue]

After a Marine Sergeant is found murdered in a National Park, Gibbs and the NCIS team partner with Mounted Police Sergeant May Dawson to solve a string of related crimes in the park.

[honeydo7]

No new episode until 5/2/17......that stinks!   Why all the re-runs.....no Kennedy Center Honors, in the spring, March Madness is over, the World Series  is played in October, no Superbowl until next February & CBS never airs the Stanley Cup? 

[rainsmom]

Unless they're doing a weird number of episodes, this will be the last episode this season. So I expect TPTB wanted it to air in May to get sweeps ratings.

[kassygreene]

NCIS has 24 episodes this season, as they have had every season since 7.  NCIS LA & NCIS Nola also each have 24 episodes this season.

April 25 at 10E/9C is the premiere of 48 Hours: NCIS, which will be six episodes bouncing around in the schedule (as 48 Hours Mothership does), hosted by Rocky Carroll.  I assume the scheduled repeat is to keep NCIS & NCIS Nola sync'd.

Anyway, S14E23 is titled "Something Blue" on May 9, and the finale (S14E24) is "Rendezvous" on May 16.

[honeydo7]

Hate to be picky, but haven't NCIS writers used this same plot line where the body of a member of the military  is discovered in a park  at least twice before and  the cause of death was originally thought to be : mauled to death by a bear & mauled to death by a big dog........until Gibb's team started investigating?

[enoughcats]

30 minutes ago, honeydo7 said:

 

Hate to be picky, but haven't NCIS writers used this same plot line where the body of a member of the military  is discovered in a park  at least twice before and  the cause of death was originally thought to be : mauled to death by a bear & mauled to death by a big dog........until Gibb's team started investigating?

 

The related crimes rings at least one episode bell for sure.  (Hicks in ??West Virginia) 

Maybe there's an NCIS roulette wheel that is spun three or four times for the bones of the story.

[twoods]

It is the 14th season so some plot recycling has to happen sooner or later. The spouse or loved one death is getting tedious-I want team to have a little happiness in their life. 

[love2lovebadtv]

On 4/26/2017 at 1:24 AM, twoods said:

It is the 14th season so some plot recycling has to happen sooner or later. The spouse or loved one death is getting tedious-I want team to have a little happiness in their life. 

Agreed. And I really wish that all three newcomers didn't have such trauma in their lives. Then the not-so-newbie bishop had the husband drama followed by a brief, mostly off-screen romance that ended tragically. What is the point of all this? In my opinion, it doesn't allow us to focus on McGee at all. I would have loved for his nice relationship with Dahlila to be featured more. It also takes the focus away from lame, recycled plot lines. 

But I'll still watch. It's not to the point of hate watching for me because I do still enjoy the show. Just confused by and disappointed with some of the choices. 

[betsyboo]

TV Line preview: *VIDEO CONTAINS SPOILERS*

Quote

 

NCIS Sneak Peek: Elisabeth Röhm Is Wowed by Abby's 'Science Police' Work

By Matt Webb Mitovich / May 2 2017, 6:00 AM PDT

This week on CBS’ NCIS, insect genocide just might help solve a homicide.

In the episode “Beastmaster” (airing tonight at 8/7c), after a Marine Sergeant is found murdered in Rock Creek Park, Gibbs (played by Mark Harmon) and the NCIS team partner with Mounted Police Sergeant May Dawson (the ever-ubiquitous Elisabeth Röhm) to solve a string of related crimes in the park.

In the exclusive sneak peek above, NCIS’ Abby (Pauley Perrette) is introduced to Dawson, then promptly draws a connection between a distinct insecticide and a bag of human skulls that had been discovered.

As NCIS co-showrunner Frank Cardea previously shared as part of TVLine’s May Sweeps Preview Spectacular, the team-up with a Mounted Police Sergeant means “horses are involved,” and Boss himself is set to saddle up. “Mark [Harmon] is a great horseman himself, and he actually rides in the episode. He looks good on a horse!”

 

[MyAimIsTrue]

Did anyone else notice the filming mistake at the beginning of the episode when the camera was on Tim and behind him people were walking down the stairs, the camera cut away, and upon returning to Tim the background people were walking down the stairs again?

[Linderhill]

Its really sad that they don't even try to make pretend that they aren't filming in California.  No way would that area ever be mistaken for Rock Creek Park.  Especially there at the end while they were horseback riding.

[enoughcats]

3 minutes ago, Linderhill said:

s really sad that they don't even try to make pretend that they aren't filming in California.  No way would that area ever be mistaken for Rock Creek Park.  Especially there at the end while they were horseback riding.

I like the idea of wide open fields near Alexandria with an abandoned cabin.  And mountains, lots of mountains and dry grasses with very few weeds on open soil surfaces.  Oh, and the spraying for pine bark beetles but they forgot the tiny little thing...didn't show any pine trees. 

[Linderhill]

hee! true!  I've been in Alexandria and Rock Creek Park, neither looks anything like that area they filmed.  I remember back during the first or second season when they showed a beach with a cliff!  that was supposedly Virginia Beach.  

[stonehaven]

The episode didn't wow me..bored me a little..but I didn't hate it..so, there's that..Still, Mark Harmon on horseback was sweet....next week's preview does not look good..

[MyAimIsTrue]

At first I was impressed with the fact there was some actual greenery in what was supposed to be Rock Creek Park but then they lost me again when it became so obviously southern California.

I liked the park police officer as her no-nonsense vibe reminded me of Agent Borin.

[GHScorpiosRule]

58 minutes ago, Linderhill said:

Its really sad that they don't even try to make pretend that they aren't filming in California.  No way would that area ever be mistaken for Rock Creek Park.  Especially there at the end while they were horseback riding.

JEEBUS CRIPES!!!!!! No FUCKING WAY is there ANY PLACE to do any kind of Horse back riding in Rock Creek Park. Virginia? Yes. But Virginia close to the Carolinas border! Or close to horsie racing country.?????

BUT....❤️?❤️?HORSIES!!!!!!!!! ❤️?❤️?

All I cared about are the ❤️?❤️?❤️ horsies!!! ❤️?❤️?❤️So what'shisface can just STFU about his "confusion" and disdain of HORSIES! ?Those were some VERY BOOTIFUL horsies they had on tonight's episode!

Wow, Rohmbot wasn't a...bot here. It's the MHE, a.k.a. the ????Mark Harmon Effect.?????

What?

Edited May 3, 2017 by GHScorpiosRule

[enoughcats]

43 minutes ago, MyAimIsTrue said:

I liked the park police officer as her no-nonsense vibe reminded me of Agent Borin.

I was hoping for a three for one trade there, but the showrunners have a 3 newbie investment to protect.

Spoiler

First time my husband has ever reacted to a teaser in the preview for next week, and boy is he upset.

[pally]

45 minutes ago, MyAimIsTrue said:

I liked the park police officer as her no-nonsense vibe reminded me of Agent Borin.

 

When one Law & Order alumni flames out just switch her out with another!  Of course Mark Harmon had better chemistry with Elisabeth Röhm than with his brand new agents.  Tim not worthy of being part of the investigation anymore?

[Packerbrewerbadger]

Elizabeth Rohm's acting bugged the heck out of me in L&O and continued to bug here.  I can't put my finger on it, just seems very wooden. But she continues to get roles so what do I know?

[MrWhyt]

1 hour ago, Packerbrewerbadger said:

Elizabeth Rohm's acting bugged the heck out of me in L&O and continued to bug here.  I can't put my finger on it, just seems very wooden. But she continues to get roles so what do I know?

She never made much of an impression on me in L&O but boy was she bad tonight, the whole episode was not good either but she was the worst of it.

[MortysCleaningLady]

Does anyone else feel that for the past two or three seasons the show has gotten a bit obsessed with charity plugs?  

And I cannot agree enough that Mark Harmon had better chemistry with the park ranger than any of his agents.   And Tim was underutilized.   Of course, Bishop is trotted out repeatedly (gag).  

Let's go ahead and kill off Bishop in the season finale, please!!!! We can work with the rest.

[BookWitch]

2 hours ago, MortysCleaningLady said:

Does anyone else feel that for the past two or three seasons the show has gotten a bit obsessed with charity plugs?  

No kidding. I was waiting for a PSA at the end with websites. Sheesh.  Again, barely any McGee. Well, we get a bunch of him next week. 

[Calamity Jane]

14 hours ago, Packerbrewerbadger said:

Elizabeth Rohm's acting bugged the heck out of me in L&O and continued to bug here.  I can't put my finger on it, just seems very wooden. But she continues to get roles so what do I know?

What always struck me about her was her incredibly flat voice.  No matter what her expression (usually also flat) or body language, the voice is just so gratingly - flat, is the best word I have for it. Droning.  I would think there are ways to overcome that, but she never has, and it seems very unlikely she would now.  Clearly other people don't agree as she has had steady work since 1998, some on fairly big shows (Angel, L & O).  

Edited May 3, 2017 by Calamity Jane

[Katy M]

This is the first episode I've enjoyed since at least Christmas break.  Maybe longer.  I don't know how much is due to the fact that I love horses, but either way, it's the first time I've felt engaged in the show for ages. 

5 hours ago, MortysCleaningLady said:

Let's go ahead and kill off Bishop in the season finale, please!!!! We can work with the rest.

I'll take Ellie over either of the newbies.  Kill one of them off.

[betsyboo]

17 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Wow, Rohmbot wasn't a...bot here. It's the MHE, a.k.a. the ????Mark Harmon Effect.?????

see - i *thought* she WAS a Bot. I just can't like her. L&O. Now on JTV she's the evil Sin Rostro. I canNOT warm up to her.

16 hours ago, Packerbrewerbadger said:

Elizabeth Rohm's acting bugged the heck out of me in L&O and continued to bug here.  I can't put my finger on it, just seems very wooden. But she continues to get roles so what do I know?

Seconded.

I didn't mind the ep. MH was a dreamboat as usual - esp with the horse. they'd better NOT hook him up with her. #BRINGBACKBORIN. (Actually, i renew my call to set him up with pretty lawyer lady Carrie. Bring her back!)

the pepper spray thing was stupid.

Abby bugs.

FREE FORNELL.

Edited May 3, 2017 by betsyboo
spelling counts.

[GHScorpiosRule]

4 minutes ago, betsyboo said:

see - i *thought* she WAS a Bot. I just can't like her. L&O. Now on JTV she's the evil Sin Rostro. I canNOT warm up to her.

Seconded.

I didn't mind the ep. MH was a dreamboat as usual - esp with the horse. they'd better NOT hook him up with her. 

I didn't say I liked her; more than likely it was the MHE on ME and the Gorgeous Horsies!??

[enoughcats]

1 hour ago, betsyboo said:

MH was a dreamboat as usual - esp with the horse.

I really don't want this to foretell Mark Harmon riding off into the sunset on his new job as a Park Ranger.  With his getting misty talking openly about his daughter and finding joy with the horse, and in the background I assume he's still visiting the mental health professional.  And she's helping him.......

Edited May 3, 2017 by enoughcats

[MissLucas]

I like Elisabeth Röhm *ducks* but lady has still unfinished business over at Five-0. This episode felt pretty crowded. There was Gibbs finding solace in horse therapy. Then there was the whole bushmeat-plot and the stupid pepper-spray plot.

The bushmeat story was interesting though it felt as if show was bending over backwards to not step on any toes. I'm still not sure why the ambassador had to be such a massive jerk to Reeves. I liked the dope-head, the actor had an easy charm too bad he turned out to be one of the bad guys.

The pepper-spray plot seems to have been tagged on to give us some comic relief and team interaction. It's a trick show has deployed many times this season and it's not particularly well working. It actually focuses on the most problematic aspect of this season: the team's overcrowded and that leaves no room for proper character development - hence the gimmicky writing.

I like Valderama and I like Esposito but their characters are not really working for me - if push comes to shove I'd say let's keep Reeves as his character got the best writing - YMMV. I don't think we'll get rid of Bishop soon.

Edited May 3, 2017 by MissLucas

[buckboard]

10 hours ago, BookWitch said:

No kidding. I was waiting for a PSA at the end with websites. Sheesh.  Again, barely any McGee. Well, we get a bunch of him next week. 

I was, too.  But then there was no PSA and I realized that "Veterans Animal Patrol United," is a fictional organization.  (It didn't sound very likely, but I looked it up and found no such group.)

[ForReal]

I agree with so much of what's been said!

I felt like I was getting hit over the head with the public service aspect -- it was so heavy it stopped being entertaining. The push toward animal love -- and I do love animals, especially horses -- was just too much this episode, it got in the way. I thought the pepper spray story was poorly done; McGee seems so clueless. He should have been more on top of things in the first place (or cared more that he wasn't) and he should have been more apologetic when he realized his mistake. I'm starting to miss the way Tony messed with him. I used to think it was mean sometimes, but at least it kept McGee on his toes. Now he's just...ineffective.

I tolerated Elizabeth Rohm better than I did on Law & Order, although I'm still not a fan, and I loved Gibbs with the horse!

[Katy M]

8 hours ago, ForReal said:

I tolerated Elizabeth Rohm better than I did on Law & Order, although I'm still not a fan, and I loved Gibbs with the horse!

I feel just the opposite. ER is so bland and emotionless.  It didn't bother me on L&O because I saw her as a detached ADA (whether she was supposed to be or not). But, here she was supposed to be worried, and then upset, about her colleague and his horse, and I got nothing.

[ChiefWiggum9-1-2]

I haven't watched any of the Quinn-centric, Fez-centric or Bishop-centric episodes this year, and the comments here and elsewhere seemed to confirm I'd made the right decision. I skipped (and deleted) this week's episode in the first 5 minutes after that terrible forced banter among the bloated team.  There are just too many people on the show now,  and they only seem to be focusing on the new people.  There is no chemistry among these people.  Two of them have mush-mouths and you can't understand what they're saying,  and everyone else just seems to be pushed into the background  with nothing important or interesting to say or do.

[ForReal]

I tolerated Elizabeth Rohm because I knew it was only for one episode, although I did have a momentary pang when I thought they might be introducing her as a possible love interest for Gibbs. Shudder.

I thought it was odd that Abby wasn't reprimanded for telling her friend unpublicized details about the case. It looks like for a minute she was going to be, but then suddenly it was okay.

Something seems to be missing this season...

[HansMoleman742]

2 hours ago, ForReal said:

Something seems to be missing this season...

Yes, something is missing - cohesion.  What was once was a well-oiled team headed by a strict authoritarian, is now five or six individuals running roughshod over a now wishy-washy Gibbs.  Where is the old NCIS?

[betsyboo]

3 hours ago, ForReal said:

I thought it was odd that Abby wasn't reprimanded for telling her friend unpublicized details about the case. It looks like for a minute she was going to be, but then suddenly it was okay.

YES! Thank you for reminding me. Why does precious snowflake Abby get the pass???

[MissLucas]

He! Because precious Snwoflake Torres got a pass for keeping secrets and placing evidence? Because special snowflake Bishop got a pass for pulling a mini-Ziva and going roguue?

[betsyboo]

1 hour ago, MissLucas said:

He! Because precious Snwoflake Torres got a pass for keeping secrets and placing evidence? Because special snowflake Bishop got a pass for pulling a mini-Ziva and going roguue?

Point! lol

[enoughcats]

Because the secret of this season is that someone dastardly performed a lobotomy on Tim and everyone thinks they are the only one who noticed and each one is secretly looking for his brain?

[Clanstarling]

The longer Fornell is missing from the show, the more I worry about Joe Spano, since his IMDB page doesn't show any other recent credits.

I enjoyed the episode well enough. I agree there's a lack of cohesion, though. I rather liked the interactions between Vance and the Ambassador.

I've only seen ER on Hawaii 5-0 as a psycho killer (where her flat affect is perfect), I never had anything to compare her to. I thought she was okay, but not great. Harmon with the horses, on the other hand, was wonderful. I was waiting for the tagline about Kelly and the horse though (given that she died). Glad they didn't really go there.

[Katy M]

32 minutes ago, Clanstarling said:

I've only seen ER on Hawaii 5-0 as a psycho killer (where her flat affect is perfect), I never had anything to compare her to.

TBH, at the beginning of the show, I was kind of expecting her to turn out to be the bad guy, because she was so flat.  She didn't seem to care about anything she was saying she cared about.  Including the horses. 

[Linderhill]

On 5/4/2017 at 8:27 AM, ChiefWiggum9-1-2 said:

Two of them have mush-mouths and you can't understand what they're saying,

These two enunciate perfectly compared to the Elena character that was introduced on Without A Trace years ago.  I could never understand a word she said.  I could understand the actor, Roselyn Sanchez, in other projects she was in but could never understand her in WAT.

I do believe that the Park Police stables are in Rock Creek Park but I could be wrong.  I have never seen them patrolling in the park although that is one of their assigned patrol areas (not that I get much time in Rock Creek Park, I usually just drive thru).

Fun fact from a couple of years ago.  I was talking to an NCIS agent at a retirement party for a friend of mine and he was telling me that the last time Pauly Perrette had been in town (the cast does a lot of promo work for the agency, I got to meet David McCallum at an event) she wanted to go to Rock Creek Park because of al of the cases the show had take place there.

Mark Harmon with the horse was definitely the highlight of the episode.  

[GHScorpiosRule]

Personally, I would have liked to have seen how Gibbs got the horsie to start eating again!?

[Katy M]

11 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Personally, I would have liked to have seen how Gibbs got the horsie to start eating again!?

he slapped him on the back of his head and told him to knock it off and start eating again.

[GHScorpiosRule]

4 hours ago, Katy M said:

he slapped him on the back of his head and told him to knock it off and start eating again.

Gibbs only head slaps humans.

[VinceW]

On 5/4/2017 at 7:49 AM, Katy M said:

I feel just the opposite. ER is so bland and emotionless.  It didn't bother me on L&O because I saw her as a detached ADA (whether she was supposed to be or not). But, here she was supposed to be worried, and then upset, about her colleague and his horse, and I got nothing.

ER was at her worst on The Last Ship (TNT).  When she took over as faux US President at the end of last season, her role was so contrived that she just ruined the finish. I skip any of the L&O with her as ADA. 

Edited June 17, 2017 by VinceW