S15.E15: Keep Your Enemies Closer

[MyAimIsTrue]

NCIS strikes a deal with convicted murderer Paul Triff, giving him a 48-hour furlough at his former residence, now McGee's home, in exchange for information that can convict his former cellmate, Gabriel Hicks, the murderer who deceived Gibbs and Fornell.

See you after the Olympics.

[GHScorpiosRule]

Preview:

[Packerbrewerbadger]

Once again the NCIS team show how totally inept they are against an intelligent criminal.  There isn’t another person at NCIS to Help Bishop look at video so they pull the British guy at Mcgee’s apartment when we all know Hicks is going after his cell mate for “ talking” ?  And McGee answers the door without checking and then walks out. Duh!!!  And Hicks always a step ahead- where have we seen that before?  I could go on and on.......

Fornell was great tho and a spin-off with him and Gibbs coukd have possibilities. 

[enoughcats]

24 minutes ago, Packerbrewerbadger said:

There isn’t another person at NCIS to Help Bishop look at video so they pull the British guy at Mcgee’s apartment

Because a way to look at a video over a computer screen in two different locations hasn't been invented yet.  Hey, I know they could call it the internet.

[stonehaven]

McGee was beyond idiotic. I am tired of them killing his character's brain cells. It's like the writers they have now don't realize how smart he is.  Seriously, stepping out of a doorway...and then leaving McGee alone in the apartment? Really NCIS? I wanted to like this episode but it was so frustratingly dumb in spots I couldn't....although Fornell and Gibbs made it watchable...Yeah, a spin off please....

I also noticed NO interaction between Gibbs and Abby again......not sure what they are doing there...and no hint of how Abby will leave the show.

[VinceW]

2 hours ago, stonehaven said:

McGee was beyond idiotic. I am tired of them killing his character's brain cells. It's like the writers they have now don't realize how smart he is.  Seriously, stepping out of a doorway...and then leaving McGee alone in the apartment? Really NCIS? I wanted to like this episode but it was so frustratingly dumb in spots I couldn't....although Fornell and Gibbs made it watchable...Yeah, a spin off please....

I also noticed NO interaction between Gibbs and Abby again......not sure what they are doing there...and no hint of how Abby will leave the show.

A real nonsensical and tortured premise in order for the writers to give viewers some kind of update on McGee and his ghost family life taking care of the twins.  McGee would move his disabled wife and twin babies out of his home to accommodate a criminal case? Makes no sense. Once again, Fornell easily ambushed and overtaken by the bad guys. The whole season has been overdone with a designated profile link to every case. IMO.  I am hanging on for now to watch the Abby departure.

Edited February 28, 2018 by VinceW

[Kelda Feegle]

So lame in so many ways - it makes me sad.

As if any enforcement agency would ever put a 3 murder sentence etc criminal in the apartment where he used to live, cannot suspend disbelief over that. McGee taking stupid pills. Token appearance by Jimmy. As if Abby would not have been there helping (or in charge of) dismantling the van.

GAHHH!!!

[basiltherat]

Oh, I get it -- this is a primer on what NOT to do against a fiendishly brilliant serial killer!  Otherwise, it is yet another glorification of the criminal and a how-to on how to fool Our Inept Law Enforcers.  If I were Delilah, I would insist on moving to someplace safer -- like the Middle East or North Korea.

My Timmy wouldn't be so stupid as to say yes to letting Frenchie stay in his crib -- and he would NEVER have mentioned his wife and babies BY NAME.

Sorry for all the caps, but that's a "probie" mistake.

[GHScorpiosRule]

11 hours ago, stonehaven said:

McGee was beyond idiotic. I am tired of them killing his character's brain cells. It's like the writers they have now don't realize how smart he is.  Seriously, stepping out of a doorway...and then leaving McGee alone in the apartment? Really NCIS? I wanted to like this episode but it was so frustratingly dumb in spots I couldn't....although Fornell and Gibbs made it watchable...Yeah, a spin off please....

I also noticed NO interaction between Gibbs and Abby again......not sure what they are doing there...and no hint of how Abby will leave the show.

I was just about to type the same thing! They've dumbed down McGee to almost ridiculous lengths. And that he would whine about how hard it is getting sleep now that he has twins with a three time murderer? PUHLEAZE. That he would carelessly open his door, when in the past, even when Tony would barge in, before letting him in, McGee would check the peephole thingie?

Yeah, if this show is cancelled at the end of this season, I want another SPIN-OFF STAT! With Fornell and Gibbs.

"I gave you the Friends and Family Discount" says Fornell to Gibbs when he handed over an itemized bill!

Me: ???????

As for Pauley, IF the reason for practically no scenes between her and Mark* are due to her, I don't give a flying fuck. And Good Riddance.

*Yeah, I'm Mark Harmon's BITCH. And I won't apologize for it, nor am I ashamed to admit it.

Edited February 28, 2018 by GHScorpiosRule

[preeya]

So Triff was made out to be a novice Hannibal Lechter. How did he get the cage unlocked???

Very poor writing, especially with McGee's character. And Fornel escaping the trunk of the car through the backseat, in the dark, after removing yards of duck tape. Give me a break.

[TheGreenWave]

Wow.  This one was pretty terrible.  Why do these types of shows take an interesting plotline and then tie it up with the most lame bow ever?  The arc started off with so much potential, but then tries to sell us that a charming, creepy, highly intelligent serial killer suddenly decides to blow his former attorney up in a car bomb, do some weird kidnapping with an old lady that instantly identified him, and then kidnap a former FBI agent?  To what end??  Then have his former cellmate of 6 months from 10 years ago who just so happened to be the former owner of Megee/Tony's apartment channel Hannibal Lector and feed a bunch of idiotic acting NCIS agents tidbits about Hicks?  And manage to unlock the cage he was in (by the way, I hate things like that.  I mean, how in the hell was the guy supposed to go to the bathroom? Come on) luckily after Megee was left alone and opened the fucking door to the apartment after knowing that Hicks was on the run with Fornell.  Sweet Jebus.

[GHScorpiosRule]

1 hour ago, TheGreenWave said:

Wow.  This one was pretty terrible.  Why do these types of shows take an interesting plotline and then tie it up with the most lame bow ever?  The arc started off with so much potential, but then tries to sell us that a charming, creepy, highly intelligent serial killer suddenly decides to blow his former attorney up in a car bomb, do some weird kidnapping with an old lady that instantly identified him, and then kidnap a former FBI agent?  To what end??  Then have his former cellmate of 6 months from 10 years ago who just so happened to be the former owner of Megee/Tony's apartment channel Hannibal Lector and feed a bunch of idiotic acting NCIS agents tidbits about Hicks?  And manage to unlock the cage he was in (by the way, I hate things like that.  I mean, how in the hell was the guy supposed to go to the bathroom? Come on) luckily after Megee was left alone and opened the fucking door to the apartment after knowing that Hicks was on the run with Fornell.  Sweet Jebus.

Simple answer: Plot Contrivance.

And it's McGee.

[enoughcats]

Which of the perps knew Fornell's daughter's name?  That caught my attention because it was left hanging.

The suggestion that there was someone stuccoed in the apartment wall....the old McGee would have side scanning radar (the kind used for shallow underground searches) going over the entire apartment before his wife and children returned.  Frenchie would have known the identity of Tim's Father and could have made educated guesses about how the two men got along.  (Some stereotypes are stereotypes because they are true.)  And what about the subsequent cell mates of both perps? 

The problem we saw last season (too many characters) came on full force last night....too many people each one not doing very much.  (I did see both Abby and Ducky in the opening credits and IIRC Abby was second in the opening credits although that was the last time we saw her.)

[GHScorpiosRule]

7 minutes ago, enoughcats said:

Which of the perps knew Fornell's daughter's name?  That caught my attention because it was left hanging.

Hicks, the serial killer who was actually guilty, and killed his lawyer, blah, blah, blah.

[Rambler]

16 hours ago, Packerbrewerbadger said:

There isn’t another person at NCIS to Help Bishop look at video so they pull the British guy at Mcgee’s apartment when we all know Hicks is going after his cell mate for “ talking” ?

Yep because apparently Abby and Jack are useless for looking at videos. Also Bishop, you couldn’t be bothered to pick up the phone to warn McGee once you found out that Hicks car was parked outside? At least Triff was somewhat amusing. I laughed at his concern about staining the hardwood floors with his blood.

[HurricaneVal]

5 hours ago, basiltherat said:

he would NEVER have mentioned his wife and babies BY NAME.

No.  Kidding.  And:

1 hour ago, enoughcats said:

The suggestion that there was someone stuccoed in the apartment wall....the old McGee would have side scanning radar (the kind used for shallow underground searches) going over the entire apartment before his wife and children returned.  Frenchie would have known the identity of Tim's Father and could have made educated guesses about how the two men got along.  (Some stereotypes are stereotypes because they are true.)  And what about the subsequent cell mates of both perps? 

Sigh.

 

But...even though there were plot holes you could float an aircraft carrier through, I did love this episode.  I think Triff is a great foil, and French Stewart plays him with such slimy, gleeful, horrific abandon that I'll tolerate any plot hole to keep Triff on my screen.

 

Yes.  I like Triff better than Senior.

[Ohmo]

2 hours ago, HurricaneVal said:

I like Triff better than Senior.

I like Triff, too.  French Stewart plays an excellent baddie, and I like that this is a baddie tied more to McGee than he is to Gibbs.  Spreads it around a bit.

I would TOTALLY watch a Fornell/Gibbs spin-off...or even a 2-hour Gibbs/Fornell-centric TV movie (a la Jesse Stone (Tom Selleck).  Totally.  That and I still want a Young Ducky TV movie with Adam Campbell and DMc voiceovers (done from the comfort of DMc's home, if necessary)  I don't want much, do I?  LOL!

I tried to like it, but I would not be sad if Sean decided to shave.  Some guys are "beard" guys, but I think Sean is a "clean-shaven" guy.

[enoughcats]

Whoever is writing French Stewart's part has an excellent feel for the character he or she is developing.  

4 hours ago, Rambler said:

I laughed at his concern about staining the hardwood floors with his blood.

I smirked at this because I've refinished stained (not with blood, to my knowledge) hard wood floors in our town house in the French Quarter, and hardwood really lets the liquids penetrate.  

The character reminds me of the guy on Monk, who held the key to Monk's wife's murder, although French is being painted to have more potential dimensions.

Whoever is writing McGee ......may not be the original who gave him a depth of character with interesting family who we could see making him the man he is.  Now, if I didn't know better, I'd swear they're turning McGee into a vapid blond equivalent.

[ForReal]

16 hours ago, enoughcats said:

Now, if I didn't know better, I'd swear they're turning McGee into a vapid blond equivalent.

ITA. At the end, when Triff "accepted" being Godparent to the twins, McGee was all baffled -- "What just happened?" Uh, dude, you don't have to let a serial killer be your kids' Godparent if you don't want to. Pretty simple.

I confess I skipped through a lot of the bad guy conversations. It felt a little too dark for me for this show. Not that it was bad, but just not my taste. I just feasted on the Gibbs and Fornell parts.

[GHScorpiosRule]

16 hours ago, enoughcats said:

 

Whoever is writing McGee ......may not be the original who gave him a depth of character with interesting family who we could see making him the man he is.  Now, if I didn't know better, I'd swear they're turning McGee into a vapid blond equivalent.

 

5 minutes ago, ForReal said:

ITA. At the end, when Triff "accepted" being Godparent to the twins, McGee was all baffled -- "What just happened?" Uh, dude, you don't have to let a serial killer be your kids' Godparent if you don't want to. Pretty simple.

I confess I skipped through a lot of the bad guy conversations. It felt a little too dark for me for this show. Not that it was bad, but just not my taste. I just feasted on the Gibbs and Fornell parts.

I agree with this. And it's particularly egregious because the guys that are running the show now have been here since DAY ONE. They KNOW this character. And they're just fine with how he's being written as a clueless, wussy idiot? Not that McGee is a favorite character, but he showed the most growth from the eager to please, bumbling, naive agent to the confident, smart, can finally hold his own with Tony special agent. He's been dumbed down ever since Tony left, it seems like.

And on a slightly off-topic note, let me just say now I know why they brought in Robert Wagner to play Senior. They talked about it being great since Weatherly had played Wagner in that tv movie, but I'm currently watching Hart to Hart and DAMNED if Weatherly and Wagner don't have the same smile/grin!

[Chaos Theory]

On 2/27/2018 at 9:27 PM, Packerbrewerbadger said:

Once again the NCIS team show how totally inept they are against an intelligent criminal.  There isn’t another person at NCIS to Help Bishop look at video so they pull the British guy at Mcgee’s apartment when we all know Hicks is going after his cell mate for “ talking” ?  And McGee answers the door without checking and then walks out. Duh!!!  And Hicks always a step ahead- where have we seen that before?  I could go on and on.......

Fornell was great tho and a spin-off with him and Gibbs coukd have possibilities. 

Well in their defense all the people who probably would have helped have already left or been murdered.  It takes time to hire qualified Red Shirts.

Also I was genuinely worried that this was Fornell’s death episode so good for you show for at least that.

Edited March 1, 2018 by Chaos Theory

[enoughcats]

Correction:  Abby's picture wasn't just used in the canned intro, it was also used in a grayed clip with Bishop about fifteen minutes in.  No words, but several seconds. 

And I rewatched the part after Abby's picture and she did have a speaking roll this episode- identifying the different blood types to Bishop, and Bishop was the only one to visit her.

Edited March 1, 2018 by enoughcats
eta Abby DID have a speaking roll, briefly

[Ohmo]

5 hours ago, ForReal said:

It felt a little too dark for me for this show

Nothing's darker than "Meat Puzzle," IMO, and since the current showrunners have been around since Day One of NCIS, the darkness didn't surprise me.  My recollection of NCIS is that every once and awhile, the writers toss in a really dark episode.  This one happened to be it, and it was sort of balanced out with the banter of Gibbs/Fornell and the fact that French Stewart manages to make Triff creepy in an amusing sort of way (in my opinion).  The line about the hardwood floors was funny.

[JessDVD]

I'm not a huge fan of dark shows/episodes but I've usually been OK with the occasional ones that NCIS throws in because they're usually pretty well-written (Meat Puzzle, that one with the psychopath daughter, the one with the wife and her eyes suddenly turning dark - all leap to mind). But this one was all sorts of idiotic dumbing down of our heroes. I could have rolled with the ineptitude of McGee if leading up to it, there had been some episodes showing him clearly being exhausted and not quite "with it" and Gibbs telling him, you can take some leave, it's fine, and McGee insisting he's OK, leading up to this episode of him acting like an idiot several times, and then Vance saying "I'm putting you on 4 weeks' paid leave" or something. The only ONLY way I would have agreed to having that guy in my home is if there were at least one and preferably two other agents with me and McGee letting Reeves go, completely dumb.

The cage was unlocked? Really? I just can't even. And they never addressed if it actually had been or not. I know that in real life, law enforcement/investigators are people who, on occasion, make legitimate mistakes because they're fallible humans. This seems like an egregious error that could not ever have happened because about 6 people should have checked the security on the cage. And how was he supposed to go to the bathroom, anyway? Or sleep?

[betsyboo]

On 2/27/2018 at 9:27 PM, Packerbrewerbadger said:

And McGee answers the door without checking and then walks out. Duh!!! 

 

this made me batshit crazy. He's not that dumb.

[Clanstarling]

On 2/28/2018 at 4:47 AM, basiltherat said:

Oh, I get it -- this is a primer on what NOT to do against a fiendishly brilliant serial killer!  Otherwise, it is yet another glorification of the criminal and a how-to on how to fool Our Inept Law Enforcers.  If I were Delilah, I would insist on moving to someplace safer -- like the Middle East or North Korea.

My Timmy wouldn't be so stupid as to say yes to letting Frenchie stay in his crib -- and he would NEVER have mentioned his wife and babies BY NAME.

Sorry for all the caps, but that's a "probie" mistake.

I can handwave Frenchie's stay in the apartment, but never in a million years would he confirm that he had a wife and kids, much less provide their names.

On 2/28/2018 at 9:10 AM, GHScorpiosRule said:

Hicks, the serial killer who was actually guilty, and killed his lawyer, blah, blah, blah.

I don't think he actually said her name, I believe he just said "your daughter's more my type" - which in and of itself is a stupid thing for him to say, as the people he killed (with the exception of the lawyer) were all men (and according to the profile - middle age men in positions of authority). But of course, he was trying to get a rise out of Fornell.

On 3/1/2018 at 6:54 AM, GHScorpiosRule said:

And on a slightly off-topic note, let me just say now I know why they brought in Robert Wagner to play Senior. They talked about it being great since Weatherly had played Wagner in that tv movie, but I'm currently watching Hart to Hart and DAMNED if Weatherly and Wagner don't have the same smile/grin!

Being old enough to have watched Hart to Hart when it was on, I knew Wagner was a perfect choice when they brought him in. (I'm MUCH younger than Wagner - was a mere child...really!)

But I concur, it was not a great episode by any means. Gibbs and Fornell, PIs, that's a show I'd watch.

Edited March 10, 2018 by Clanstarling
because nsmrd isn't a word, and names is.