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Celebrating 1,000 NCIS-franchise episodes

S06.E10: Gintars

formerlyfreedom

By formerlyfreedom
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Mockingbird

Mockingbird

Dr. Yee = Holt and Amy’s Lil Sebastian. Rosa was particularly great this episode. 

And Nicolaj with his delight over Jake’s super long receipt proved he truly is a Boyle. Also, it’s been said a million times before, but Jake and Charles’ friendship is just one of the reasons why this show is so great. Most other shows would make Boyle the butt of most jokes, but Jake genuinely cares about Charles, even if having Gintars arrrested was morally questionable...

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Athena5217

Athena5217

(edited)

Despite Holt and Amy nerd crushing on Dr. Yee, this episode was a big fail for me. Shaving off his eyebrows is something Scully would do but not Terry.

Charles’s comment about not being Nicolaj’s “real dad” was clearly written by someone with no personal experience with adoption. Describing a biological father as a “real father” is so offensive to the adopted child and adoptive parent. It implies that their relationship is somehow not “real” because it fails to meet a certain level of common DNA. A rare miss from a show that usually does a good job with social issues.

Edited by Athena5217
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formerlyfreedom

formerlyfreedom

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9 minutes ago, Athena5217 said:

Charles’s comment about not being Nicolaj’s “real dad” was clearly written by someone with no personal experience with adoption. Describing a biological father as a “real father” is so offensive to the adopted child and adoptive parent. It implies that their relationship is somehow not “real” because it fails to meat a certain level of common DNA. A rare miss from a show that usually does a good job with social issues.

As someone who has experience with adoption, I STRONGLY agree with you on this - when Boyle said it, I cringed, and was a little mad at the show. But I did love Jake's reaction - how he told Charles he was Nikolaj's father. BECAUSE HE IS.

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Mockingbird

Mockingbird

20 minutes ago, saoirse said:

As someone who has experience with adoption, I STRONGLY agree with you on this - when Boyle said it, I cringed, and was a little mad at the show. But I did love Jake's reaction - how he told Charles he was Nikolaj's father. BECAUSE HE IS.

I cringed, too. I could see it coming from a place of insecurity, but it seemed like Boyle had come to terms with Nicolaj hanging out with Gintars. Sure, Nikolaj gets to decide what he calls people, but the “real” father bit was ugly. It felt like a set-up for Jake to step in and make up for setting Gintars up. 

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tennisgurl

tennisgurl

(edited)

Not my favorite episode, to be honest. I still got lots of laughs from it, especially from the Holt and Amy plot and their ridiculous levels of fanboying. 

Really, I found the whole thing with Nicolaj’s bio dad to be full of weird, cringy choices. Not only did it have that kind of "see, its a guy from a foreign country! Weird!" that is rarely that funny to me, I thought Jake having the guy deported seemed pretty petty and mean for Jake (although, yeah the guy really was totally breaking the law) and worst of all was Boyle saying how he isnt ever going to be Nicolaj`s son, which just isnt true. At least Jake told him that he was his father, but I wish that it was more of how it landed, and they didnt leave in the idea that his son might grow up one day to not want to be his son anymore, like he is just his extended babysitter. And why hasn't this been more of a thing before this? Boyle seems to be totally cool with his role as dad, why does he suddenly feel like he isnt his "real" dad just because he was adopted?  Its just a weird way to handle an issue that many people are very sensitive about, in a show that normally does those really well. 

Ike Barinholtz is a great fit for the show though, its a bit surprising that he hasn't been on the show before, and he was funny even with not great material. "That much denim, he is either not American, or deep American. Either Ukraine or Kentucky." 

I do like seeing how much Jake cares about Boyle, even when he gives him crap about his odd works. Even if it leads to some questionable stuff. And I dont just mean the hats...

Edited by tennisgurl
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thuganomics85

thuganomics85

I definitely laughed quite a bit in this episode, but after thinking about it, I do admit that it was one of the more broader, over-the-top episodes of the show, which isn't always a bad thing, but I did feel like it came at the expense of the characters.  In particular, while I got a kick out of how much crazier Terry changed/shaved his hair, that was a bit much for him.  He can be an overly-emotional guy a lot of times, but I don't think he would let get out of hand for something as trivial as a fear of bugs (which I don't remember him ever mentioning having a fear of them.)

I was glad to see Jake and Boyle take front and center, and see more of their friendship and interactions.  Even when he messes up, I do love that Jake truly sees Boyle as a friend, and wants what is best for him at all times.  But while I understand Boyle's concerns with how Nikolaj will see him going forward, they really should have found a better way for him to express it without the "real father" remark.  I know it was mainly a set up for Jake to tell him that will never happen, but I feel like the scene would have been just as effective if Boyle had said "birth father" or something to that nature.  Overall, the plot seemed to have a lot of good ideas, but it just didn't come together at the end.

I remember not being wild about Dr. Yee's first appearance, but I always enjoy Reggie Lee, and I was certainly cracking up over Amy and Holt going insane for him again.  Amy in fan-girl mode is always a hoot, but seeing Holt acting like a giddy fan was hilarious.  I continue to like how the show allows Holt to have goofy and even petty emotions in his own way.  And Rosa was the perfect character to be all "You two are idiots!" about it, and I'm glad she ended up being right AND solved the case: especially after Holt/Amy got all high and mighty with her.  At least they apologized for it (well, Amy apologized first and then they had to have a thirty minute meeting until Holt came around!)

A step down from the last few episodes, but it still had its moments.

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Lady Calypso

Lady Calypso

I also agree that this was definitely one of their weaker episodes. Not Four Movements bad (which I have decided is my least favourite episode of the series) but definitely not a great episode by any means.

I mean, there ARE still positives to it. Gintars was an alright character. At least for the first half of the episode, he was fairly entertaining to develop that plot. I loved seeing Jake/Boyle get a plot together. I get WHY they had Boyle call Gintars Nikolaj's "real" father instead of birth father, but I agree that it fell flat, especially since, up until that last minute, they did use the term "birth father" from both Jake and Boyle not even a minute earlier. I didn't like how easily Jake went to getting Gintars deported. I mean, sure, Gintars was shady and was doing some manipulative stuff, and Jake WAS doing it for Boyle, but it really didn't feel like it was a good look on Jake. 

I did like seeing Amy and Holt geek out over Dr. Yee. I'm not really a fan of Dr. Yee, but I loved seeing Holt/Amy get something to do together. They don't often get plots together, despite being very similar. But other than that, the Terry stuff was a little too weird.

So yeah, not a great episode. 

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Linny

Linny

I spent the whole episode waiting for Charles to have the realization that his role as Nikolaj's father could not be threatened by Nikolaj bonding with another man (be that Gintars, Jake, or anyone else he may be close with), so to have him say he wasn't Nikolaj's "real father" was hugely disappointing. It doesn't matter that Jake corrected him; by allowing Charles to feel inadequate that he's not a biological father, then the show is perpetuating the notion that DNA is what makes a parent a parent. That's a patently false premise belying any understanding of adoptive parents, including Charles' established relationship with Nikokaj (walking him to school, singing him lullabies, etc.), and I can't believe the show dropped the ball by including it at all. 

I didn't like that Jake set up Gintars to be arrested. Actually, what I really didn't like was that Gintars was a criminal at all. The whole depiction of Gintars as the wacky foreigner ('cause anywhere other than America is weird, right?) who's conducting illegal activity and gets booted out of the country was over-exaggerated and lacking sensitivity.

The Amy/Holt pairing was fun (mine that opportunity more often, show) and the Terry stuff was nonsensical yet visually amusing, but none of it was enough to save this episode for me. I guess I just expect more from this show and there wasn't enough good to hide the fact that this week, the show let me down.

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Loandbehold

Loandbehold

I agree that this was not the strongest episode, especially on reflection re Boyle's reaction to Gintar. That being said, I did laugh quite a bit. Holt and Amy geeking out over Dr. Yee. Terry's more and more overreaction to the bugs in his eyebrows and mustache (and nose hair!). 

This was the third straight episode where Jake played the supporting role. Not many other shows would have their star doing that. 

11 hours ago, Mockingbird said:

Nicolaj

Nicolaj. 

6 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Nikolaj

Nikolaj.

1 hour ago, Linny said:

Nikolaj

Nikolaj.

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Sandman

Sandman

(edited)
On 3/15/2019 at 2:06 AM, tennisgurl said:

Not my favorite episode, to be honest. I still got lots of laughs from it, especially from the Holt and Amy plot and their ridiculous levels of fanboying. 

My favourite part of that plot thread was Holt and Amy's little crypto-fistbump. I'm not sure Fanboy Holt works for me, really; at least not entirely. It seems undignified for him -- especially the "I'll answer to anything" bit. Uh, you really won't, Raymond Holt (except possibly "Daptain"). And berating Rosa and Terry for "common fools" seemed unnecessarily nasty. Ehh. Maybe I'm just not feeling this episode. 

On 3/15/2019 at 2:06 AM, tennisgurl said:

Ike Barinholtz is a great fit for the show though, its a bit surprising that he hasn't been on the show before, and he was funny even with not great material. "That much denim, he is either not American, or deep American. Either Ukraine or Kentucky." 

I did like that line -- like, A LOT, a lot. Barinholtz is really great, and I agree he made the most of oddly out-of-tune material. I thought the "real dad" line was weirdly retrograde, but also probably consistent with Charles's own sense of insecurity, which can be extreme.

The moment that made me laugh the most was the expression on Charles's face on putting on the Pal #1 and Pal #2 hats. ("They hurt.")

On 3/15/2019 at 4:24 AM, thuganomics85 said:

And Rosa was the perfect character to be all "You two are idiots!" about it, and I'm glad she ended up being right AND solved the case: especially after Holt/Amy got all high and mighty with her.  At least they apologized for it (well, Amy apologized first and then they had to have a thirty minute meeting until Holt came around!)

Hee. That made me laugh, too. I loved that Rosa was proven right in the end.

Edited by Sandman
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Lugal

Lugal

This was an OK episode, I thought Ike Barinholtz was a good fit, although I still cannot sort out the relationship between Gintars and Dragomir.  Jake getting Gintars deported was kind of crappy but I can see how he came to that conclusion.  The "Real Father" line, I can see how it came off, but I saw it as coming out of Charles's insecurities, more than anything else.  The same with Terry.  He's shown enough almost OCD tendencies in the past I can see him going overboard (and he did have a tarantula on his head a few seasons ago).  And I give credit to Terry Crews for being to go there for the joke. The same with fanboy Holt, we don't see it often, but it's there, like when he took the case of John Henry Weischelbraum.  That's what I like about this show, even the not as good episodes the characters still feel consistent.

The parts with Doctor Yee (always good to see Reggie Lee) were my favorite parts of the episode, with Holt and Amy fanboying over him and Rosa's annoyance.  I also laughed that despite her adulation, Yee referred to Santiago as Aly.

"The flies don't lie, no wait that's Santiago's!"

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Maelstrom

Maelstrom

(edited)

This one missed the mark I'm afraid. Not as bad as Four Movements, as Lady Calypso said, but not one of their better episodes. What's odd is that everyone's actions stemmed from previously established traits, yet still felt... flat, somehow. I don't know how to describe it. Yes, Holt and Amy have both been known to nerd-out/go all superfan on their idols, but would they really jeopardize a case? Holt has a petty, petulant streak that cracks me up, but would he really be so continually insulting to Terry and Rosa? Terry's been known to be on the fussy at times ("SUVs roll, baby! They roll!") but would he go that far to avoid micro bugs? Granted, the whole concept of micro bugs and dust mites and the like are really freaking disturbing, but still. And why wouldn't he get Sharon to draw on decent eyebrows for him? Charles is insecure but would he really suddenly doubt the two years he's spent raising and loving Nikolaj? (or is that Nikolaj?) I don't know... nothing was entirely out of character, but nothing felt quite as sharp as usual.

Except for the fact that Hitchcock continues to walk around the station with random bloody wounds and no one bats an eye. Heh.

Also, Reggie Lee! Now with hair! He was the only thing I liked about Grimm that they didn't manage to ruin by the end. And I just remembered - wasn't there an early episode where Jake reminded Charles not to watch Grimm because it scares him too much? Hee.

Well, this season has had a lot of gems, so I can forgive one weaker episode. And hey, no Gina, which is a huge plus in my book.

Edited by Maelstrom
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peeayebee

peeayebee

I really liked this ep, esp all the stuff with Holt and Amy. The long laughing, the in-sync speaking, the behind-the-back fist-bump... All great stuff. Loved Holt's huge laugh when Yee made the 'arrest' joke, and Holt saying, "We made a joke together!"

Terry and his eyebrows and van dyke was funny, esp everyone's reaction to him. My favorite was Holt saying, "The only thing that's a little much around here are your scrawled on eyebrows. Yeesh." 

Terry [holding up finger to forehead]: Who looks stupid now?

I also liked the story with Gintars. Loved his Nikolaj pronunciation duel with Charles, since Charles has had to with others.

"Nikolaj is my sex result."

Now I know what to do with those CVS receipts. "WHEEEEEE!"

I don't have any trouble with Charles saying "real father" since Gintars made him feel scared and insecure.

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kili

kili

(edited)
Quote

This was an OK episode, I thought Ike Barinholtz was a good fit, although I still cannot sort out the relationship between Gintars and Dragomir.  

Gintar is Dragomir's half-brother and step-father. Gintar and Dragomir have the same father, but different mothers. Dragomir and Nikolaj have the same mother, but different fathers. Let's see if if this comes out in ASCII.

M1      F1             M2            
  |_____|  |________|  |
       |             |          |          
 Gintars  Dragomir  |
       |_______________|
                   |
               Nikolaj


Technically, Dragomir is Nikolaj's half brother, but they really share 3/4s of DNA since Nikolja's grandfather is Dragomir's father. 

Edited by kili
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iMonrey

iMonrey

Quote

I don't have any trouble with Charles saying "real father" since Gintars made him feel scared and insecure.

Well they didn't adopt him as a newborn, he was already speaking. I can't remember how old he was but Boyle said at first he called him Mister America. So in the beginning Nicolaj did not recognize Boyle as his father, per se. It took Boyle a while to get Nicolaj to think of him as his father. I think that's what they're getting at here. No need for smelling salts just because he uttered the words "real father." 

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hendersonrocks

hendersonrocks

I think the “real father” line was so jolting in part because 99 is typically so good at discussing what can be sensitive and/or difficult topics with skill. My hunch is that’s because they have writers and actors who have the lived experience that inform their approach to topics, and adoption is an area that just might not be represented in the same way.

Also glaring to me was the total absence of Genevieve from the conversation. Maybe it didn’t work to have the actress on for the episode, but to essentially make it seem like Charles was navigating this alone (and with Jake as his main source of support) by not even mentioning her was just weird.

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Ilovepie

Ilovepie

On 3/14/2019 at 11:06 PM, tennisgurl said:

That much denim, he is either not American, or deep American. Either Ukraine or Kentucky." 

My favorite line of the episode. I also thought the hearty laughing with Amy and Holt was funny - they really sold it to the point I started laughing too....

Jake’s response to Gintar re:his penis at the end was funny “It’s perfect”.....

That receipt with 10,000 coupons was truth. I hate those things - I never use them!

Terry’s eyebrows bit was funny but it felt too similar to Rosa’s changing hairstyles a few episodes ago.

I think Charles calling Gintar his “real father” was insecurity. I think he does know he is Nikolaj’s father and he defended his position as such when he was listing all the ways he takes care of Gintar’s sex result.

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TimothyQ

TimothyQ

(edited)
3 hours ago, Ilovepie said:

I think Charles calling Gintar his “real father” was insecurity. I think he does know he is Nikolaj’s father and he defended his position as such when he was listing all the ways he takes care of Gintar’s sex result.

Agreed. I didn’t take it as the show saying Boyle wasn’t Nikolaj’s real father. It was Boyle himself, in a moment of insecurity, questioning whether he really was and recognizing the reality that there might be tough times ahead as Nikolaj comes into his own. I appreciated that Jake was comforting him, saying that he was Nikolaj’s real father. And Boyle saying that all he could do was give Nikolaj love and support? - that IS being a father. 

Edited by TimothyQ
Typos
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Sandman

Sandman

8 hours ago, ZuluQueenOfDwarves said:

Well, given the fact that Nikolaj is a Boyle, they still kind of are. 

Okay, but maybe the Latvian branch of the family tree has a few extra twists (and a ... loop).  

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Trillium

Trillium

3 hours ago, TimothyQ said:

Agreed. I didn’t take it as the show saying Boyle wasn’t Nikolaj’s real father. It was Boyle himself, in a moment of insecurity, questioning whether he really was and recognizing the reality that there might be tough times ahead as Nikolaj comes into his own. I appreciated that Jake was comforting him, saying that he was Nikolaj’s real father. And Boyle saying that all he could do was give Nikolaj love and support? - that IS being a father. 

Boyle is always irrationally insecure.  Every time Jake so as much mentions another male acquaintance, he gets all jealous and insecure that he’s not Jake’s best friend. It’s a very Boyle way to react. 

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Calvada

Calvada

Usually I keep a B99 episode on my DVR since I enjoy a re-watch; I deleted this episode after watching it once.  In a series with A episode after A episode, this was a C, maybe a C+ because of Rosa.  Not the worst thing ever, but I know they can do better.  

The Latvian branch was like so many of the European royal families with the intermarrying.  Most of these royal families are now extinct or no longer on their thrones - I wonder why?

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Panopticon

Panopticon

I don’t disagree with the comments about how artlessly the “real father” comment was handled, but I enjoyed a lot about this episode.

I enjoyed Holt/Amy as the geek team.

I enjoyed Rosa’s reaction to the Holt/Amy geek team.

 I enjoyed Rosa kicking butt and being right.

I enjoyed the CVS receipt joke. I swear the last time I was in CVS there was this long, awkward moment where the clerk and I were waiting and waiting for the receipt to finish. When it finally did he handed it to me and said “enjoy your book.”

I enjoyed the reveal that Nicolaj has a soap-opera-esque family tree, because of course he does, he’s Boyle’s kid.

I enjoyed the shout-out to Mad About You. 

I enjoyed the Nicolaj/Nicolaj pronunciation debate.

I enjoyed how much Jake relishes Boyle’s friendship rather than treating him as a lacky hanger-on.

I enjoyed seeing major characters find themselves in the wrong, admitting it, and apologizing... which brings me to the thing I enjoyed most:

There’s still no Gina!

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iMonrey

iMonrey

I got a kick out of Boyle borrowing the same verbal tic that Jake always uses when Gintar first showed up: "Coolcoolcoolcoolcoolcoolcoolcoolcoolcoolcoolcoolcoolcoolcoolcoolcoolcoolcool."

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Sandman

Sandman

On ‎3‎/‎18‎/‎2019 at 12:40 PM, iMonrey said:

"Coolcoolcoolcoolcoolcoolcoolcoolcoolcoolcoolcoolcoolcoolcoolcoolcoolcoolcool."

You forgot the ::clunk:: from when he passes out.

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jhlipton

jhlipton

On 3/15/2019 at 9:58 AM, Lugal said:

He's shown enough almost OCD tendencies in the past I can see him going overboard (and he did have a tarantula on his head a few seasons ago).  And I give credit to Terry Crews for being to go there for the joke.

"Too many eyes and legs!"

On 3/16/2019 at 11:03 AM, Ilovepie said:

My favorite line of the episode. I also thought the hearty laughing with Amy and Holt was funny - they really sold it to the point I started laughing too..

The synchronized sigh pushed it from funny to FUNNY!

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whateverdgaf

whateverdgaf

I loved how Holt's and Amy's response to Rosa using the flies to frighten the suspect was to ring Yee and celebrate the good news, delighted that they would be able to cheer him up after he was caught deceiving him. It felt very true to fan culture.

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BoogieBurns

BoogieBurns

On 3/16/2019 at 12:01 PM, hendersonrocks said:

Also glaring to me was the total absence of Genevieve from the conversation. Maybe it didn’t work to have the actress on for the episode, but to essentially make it seem like Charles was navigating this alone (and with Jake as his main source of support) by not even mentioning her was just weird.

Why don't they show her more? I know the actress is available because she mentioned on twitter how hard of a time she's having finding work. We could use some Genevieve!

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