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Tuesday, May 17, 2011

NCIS Season 8 Finale

An excellent finale for NCIS season 8 tonight - even if the much-heralded second death proved to be someone who was pretty clearly killed last week.   Any death of a good guy is bad, notable news, but Special Agent Levin - whom we just became aware of a few episodes ago, as a member of E. J.'s team - was clearly the least known member of NCIS operations (though it was good to see Alimi Ballard, last seen on Numb3rs, back on the screen).   This is why I don't like spoilers, and should try harder to steer completely clear of them.

The story tonight was nonetheless outstanding.   Each scene carried a shock or surprise.   Even the angry-turned-tender moment between Abby and McGee was memorable.    Other good surprises included E.J. the SecNav's niece and not dead (I've grown to like her), Ziva taken prisoner by Cobb (rare to see her taken prisoner by anyone), and back to E.J., removing some kind chip or transponder or whatever from Levin's wrist (I'm still not clear what that is or why she removed it - maybe it will be explained next year).

I thought, when Palmer was in the elevator with E.J. and Cobb, that Palmer's might be the death disclosed in the spoilers, and I'm glad it wasn't.  I was sure, though, as soon as that elevator door closed, that Cobb was going to break out and take someone along with him.

In the end, Mike Franks, who left us last week, is more than a big enough loss to end this season.  He was a unique character on this show - as only a former boss of Gibbs could be - and, trite as it to say, he will be missed (trite because it's true).

Good set up, too, for next year's season.  Clearly DiNozzo isn't the one selling information.  And likely not Leon either.  That leaves ... well, you know who, and I'll see you here this Fall with reviews of Season 9.

See also NCIS Back in Season 8 Action ... NCIS 8.2: Interns! ... NCIS 8.3: Tiff! ... NCIS 8.4: Gary Cooper not John Wayne ... NCIS 8.5: Dead DJ, DiNozzo Hoarse, and Baseball ... NCIS 8.6: The Written Woman ... NCIS 8.7: "James Bond Movie Directed by Fellini" ... NCIS 8.8: Ziva's Father 
... NCIS 8.9: Leon's Story ... NCIS 8.10: DiNozzo In and Out ... NCIS 8.11: "The Sister Went Viral" ... Bob Newhart on NCIS 8.12 ... NCIS 8.13: The Wife or the Girlfriend ... NCIS 8.14: Kate ... NCIS 8.15: McGee and DiNozzo's Badges ... NCIS 8.16: Computer Games ... NCIS 8.17: Budget Cuts ... NCIS 8.18: Gibbs vs. the Kid ... NCIS 8.19: The Deadly Book ... NCIS 8.20: CIRay ... NCIS 8.21: Mask and Eye ... NCIS 8.22: "I'd Rather Have a Lead" ... NCIS 8.23: Answers and Questions

And see also NCIS  ... NCIS 7.16: Gibbs' Mother-in-Law Dilemma ... NCIS 7.17: Ducky's Ties ... NCIS 7.18: Bogus Treasure and Real Locker ... NCIS 7.21: NCIS Meets Laura ... NCIS Season 7 Finale: Retribution



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1 comment:

KatieMac said...

Did anyone by chance catch who the text to Brad (Ziva's boyfriend) was from in the final moments? The one that said something about "Cort is in Tel Aviv. Handle ASAP." I read the message but didn't think to read if we could tell who it was from.

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