Episode Review: 7x01 - Truth and Consequences
There are many things I should be doing right now, including writing up my learning journal from last week's uni class, and also general work, seeing as how I am in the office and all.
But, NCIS is on in America tonight, and I really should put down some thoughts about the premiere of a week ago because otherwise I'll get all wrapped up in the squee (hopefully) and forget anything vaguely interesting I had to say when I get the new episode tomorrow morning and watch it that night - although my dad and I are watching Full Metal Jacket first, so it'll be late. But, because I have no willpower, I'll have fully spoiled myself on Wednesday, so it all works out fine!
7x01 - Truth and Consequences
I have no idea how to structure this, so I'm going to go with the always pleasing, anally retentive numbering.
1) It was totally Tony-centric, which is just the way I like my episodes. MW rocked the house, too, which seems to be universally accepted - I think reading the gleeful reviews of how awesome he was made me almost as happy as all the pretty, pretty closeups of his face did! Seriously, though, he was amazing. When he was under the truth serum, I really couldn't tell when he was resisting it and when he wasn't - which is great for fic, because it's totally possible to interpret what he says either way. Ambiguity is the way this show needs to go, pairing-wise, if the small areas of shipping wars I've strayed into is any indication.
But back to Tony, Tony, Tony: his face! When he's all drugged up, his jaw clenches and twitches like he's physically holding back the words. I wonder if he expected truth serum to come into play, at all. I went and did a little research (read: typed it into Google) on sodium pentathol afterwards, and it listed all the usual effects of chattiness and lack of inhibition, but one article did say that an accomplished liar would probably still be able to fight back. At first, I was like, well, Tony's a pretty good liar, so that ruins my theory that sometimes he was fighting it and I can use whatever lines I want to justify whatever ship I'm in the mood for - but then I thought a bit more and I don't think Tony's a liar as much as he an expert deflector and obfuscator: he dances around the truth with a lot of words but it's usually hidden somewhere in what he says, if you look hard enough. That's not to say he can't or doesn't lie (Jeanne and S4?) but he's not comfortable doing it outright. He's more a hider of the truth, and I think he thinks quite carefully about what he's going to say before he says it so that it masks whatever the real truth is. Or, in short: Tony's an onion.
2) Tony/Tim - excuse me while I flail! I've pretty much always loved the relationship between these two - I never got really angry at McGee when he was snappy and arrogant despite my blatant Tony favouritism, but it always made me a little upset just because when they're friends, and bantering, they're hilarious and adorable and this episode really showed them at their best. Mostly in a friendshippy way, but with oh my god so much slash potential! They went out to dinner! McGee tried to get Tony's attention by mentioning leather and his butt in the same sentence! McGee tells Tony he doesn't have to do this alone!
Mostly, I just enjoyed the way McGee seemed really supportive of Tony when he was clearly not at his best, and the teamwork rapport they had, with the opening banter where Tony offers to repay McGee with essentially, his idea of a perfect date - a movie. The pizza and possible candlelight are only implied. ;-) And the fact Tony volunteers McGee because he trusts him, and the soft, worried way he asks if McGee is okay, and the sharp "Stop! Stop!" when Salim points a gun at McGee. (Also, straying slightly from my Tony-obsessed POV for a moment, Sean Murray looked really petrified when that gun was pointed at him, I was genuinely shocked by his expression. Awesome acting.) There's also a moment at the end, when Gibbs says, "Let's go home," where Tony turns and smiles and looks at McGee specifically.
3) Tony/Ziva - ooh, the tricky one. Not because I dislike the pairing, but because since poking my rambly little nose (actually, not so little, I have genuine worries about my nose spreading and getting larger as I age) into fandom, I didn't realise before that Ziva can be quite such a contentious character - and the people who aren't keen on her give really good reasons for it. I'm pretty open to different opinions, and though I've watched the show for ages, I've never really thought about characters in as much depth as I am now - which I'm loving, but it does mean that my opinions waver and haven't yet solidified. Except on Tony, because he's awesome.
So: I've always really quite liked Ziva. I think her manglings of idioms is funny, I find her threats quite hilarious because I myself often go into fits of anger where I yell about my co-worker and list all the inventive ways in which I could murder him un-noticed, and - without going into too much detail because really, I don't tend to think about her character anywhere near as much as I do Tony's - I find the issues I see her as having with her emotions quite interesting, or potentially interesting if written well. Even in those last episodes of S6, I never disliked her, because although she did turn on Tony both emotionally and physically (that one sits less well with me, although: Tony!whump!), she had just lost someone she maybe loved, definitely had deep feelings for, and she had a load of crap to deal with regarding her father. Which, BTW, they better deal with next week, because her storyline is the one that has me most confused: were her orders back in Kill Ari to, um, kill Ari? Therefore invalidating the unconditional faith Gibbs has had in her since then? Did her father know she was alive and abandon her? Generally, WTF?
And just how badly was she treated down there? I posted a comment sometime last week about Ziva and how badly injured she looked - or didn't look, in this case - like, she was a bit pale, her hair was messy, and there was definitely yellowing bruising around her left eye. But that could have easily been from the healing of that hideous injury from last season - and that in turn might not have been from being beaten, but from the sinking of the Damocles. In the comment, I was a little bit mean about Ziva, and was all, please, not too much PTSD malarkey, a lot of which was borne out of my general preference for any big storylines to be centred on Tony. And it was unfair of me, because if Tony had been the one captured for four months, I'd be all over his PTSD and injuries like a rash. I love me some Tony h/c. But I still stand by not wanting to have a massive big story arc over Ziva's mental pain, even if it is because I just prefer Tony to get the painful storylines.
Not wanting to see too much of her pain also relates to the Tiva pairing, which I am not against in any way at all except that I don't want to see it actually played out on screen. I don't mind hinting, and innuendo, and I'm actually all for flirting because it's usually funny and Tony is really hot when he flirts. But I'm only for all of those things because they can easily be written around. I like the Tony/Ziva pairing when someone writes it well - not that I read a lot of it, because essentially I'm a slash fan - and I think they're an unbelievably gorgeous couple and there are moments when I'm watching the show when I think, OMG, I love them! (I watched Undercovers last night, which is a great episode because from the description, it sounds like it's going to be Tony/Ziva centric, but actually there's plenty of Tony/Gibbs and Tony/Tim, too.) What I liked about last night, and this goes back to the way MW played Tony under the serum, is that I can either take the, "Couldn't live without you, I guess," line as a declaration of his feelings for her, or as an expression of his guilt that one of the team died. There are lots of other ways to read that line too, I'm sure, but I think one thing that's undeniable is that with or without a shipper outlook, Tony's first loyalty is to Gibbs, then to the rest of the team, and he's always had a tendency to take on guilt. So it makes sense that he totally loses it when Ziva dies - when she dies, I noticed, not just when she's gone - because she was one of his team, and so his revenge is justified.
4) That seems as good a time as any to break off from what is turning into an unbelievable ramble [skip to the end, where all I'm going to talk about is how hot everyone looked (and by everyone I mean TONY TONY TONY)] and talk about broken!Tony. Because he really was a mess in parts of this episode. I found it mesmerising, but hard, to watch him with the truth serum, but I actually found the hardest bit to watch the bit with lovely, funny, cool Heather Kincaid (is she coming back? I liked her) where he says with this horrid, bitter, defeated half-laugh, "It's ridiculous." Tony just called his job ridiculous, and Tony loves his job. He sounds closer to burnout in that bit than I've ever heard him. And the other bit that just made me feel quite sick, actually, is when he's with Salim, and he says, "I don't care about your team. I don't care about my team." And the thing is, I know I said before that I thought he could, sometimes, resist the serum, and MW adds this awesome eye squint after that line that makes him look like he's in pain saying it, but there's still the fact that he's on truth serum, and his tone when he says that breaks me. Really. Um, Tony needs a hug. Many hugs. I think I need a hug. Or at least some Valium. I didn't realise I had this much to say. Jules, move on.
5) Tony/Gibbs - yay! I love super-sniper Gibbs, ridiculous as he is, and I love that he was all Wookified and still managed to be wicked cool. It's been said by everyone, but "Functional Mute" is the funniest, most accurate and hilarious description of Gibbs ever. I really like the kind of difference/similarity play they do with Gibbs and Tony, even if it's not always intentional or consistent. I adored them saying the same thing in front and behind the observation glass, because they're both awesome at their jobs and on the same wavelength, and I liked their conversations, too, which involved Gibbs not saying a lot, but Tony probably not saying much more, only with many more words, if that makes sense. They're both so very private and insular, in such remarkably different ways, which IMO means they're probably a better fit together than most of the other characters. ;-)
I loved the desert desert conversation, because Gibbs adores Tony, you can see it, with the tiny little eye rolls and quirked eyebrows he uses when he's baffled/beguiled/charmed by him. And the "women" comment made me smile as much as Gibbs, because it ties in with this weird ficlet I have in my head that I probably won't write where Tony mentions to Gibbs what Tara's advice was in Knockout, and Gibbs is all like, "The right woman? Screw that, DiNozzo, your track record with them sucks," and then they totally have hot sex. And the long looks between them, the fact that Tony is totally okay with Gibbs not doing much talking, and that first, soft "hey" Gibbs uses when he calls after Tony when they leave Vance's office. I'm not too sure about the necessity of that scene, like, if Vance was probably going to capitulate to Gibbs anyway, why bother making a big show of not doing so in front of Tony? He's a senior field agent, not an enemy or a particularly disrespectful minion. IDK. It got me the soft "hey", so I'm happy.
6) Funny!Tony! Because he was competent as all hell this episode, and I love serious Tony because MW does this amazing eye-acting, all smoky and sexy and sincere, but I love it even more when he keeps the funny up too. Which he really does. I especially like the "pah" scene, where he's non-stop moving and does this hilariously entertaining slide-back move on the camera. And I liked him interviewing the girls, um, "Pantsuit Girl," LOL!? Also enjoyed the gorgeous nose-scrunch he did when he was talking to Claire. The view of the team when he's all out of it (and this really doesn't go in this category, but I forgot to mention it earlier and I have just talked about his eyes, so when Gibbs said there were no survivors and Tony just looked numb, and then looked away, I just about died it was so sad and real and brutal) is funny, too, "blah blah blah computer stuff blah" will never not make me laugh, and I think Tony snarking about how crappy Yale's sports teams are and still referencing movies while stuck in a chair in a life-threatening situation totally encapsulates his character. And is funny.
7) Hotness! And fashion watch! Let's get the others out of the way first: Abby looked cute, as usual; McGee is getting hotter and hotter; Gibbs looked pretty much as awesome as Gibbs always does, all broad shoulders and ridiculous eyes; I thought Ziva looked absolutely beautiful, her curly hair and big eyes; but Tony. OMG, Tony. He gets better, I swear. I loved him in the magical shoulder holster, and that shade of pale blue always makes him look good. His grey suit was a great colour on him, and the darker suit later was even better, and he wore a denim jacket! I thought his t-shirt could have fitted better, but he also didn't disobey my Rule #1: never wear double denim! My favourite outfit was the torture outfit, because he really suits that style of shirt and that dark, not-quite-black colour, and at the end walking out the buttons at the bottom were undone just enough that we got a flash of tummy. Cute! Also, he looked ridiculously hot all tanned, and his features are the most expressive and strong in town. His hair: very important. I liked it. It was very expressive. When he was being tortured under the truth serum, it was all spiky and conflicted and struggling, and when he was in the office it was very neat with a slightly vulnerable side-fringe and some rebellious sticky-up bits because he's, you know, Tony, and then at the end it was all exhausted and flat, like he was himself, and worried because this is not yet over.
I think I may need to look into getting a life.
Or at the very least, a slightly more taxing job.
8) Conclusion - I promise. I pretty much loved it. I get that there were glaring plot inconsistencies and errors, but I am such a character-centric, shallow, fairly-dumb viewer that I can very easily overlook that. But I think that there was something in the episode for almost all pairings, and even though it was heavy on the Tony/Ziva I didn't feel it overpowered it, and anything said can easily be written around by the many talented fanfic writers out there. Which, by the way, I want more and more plane-fic episode tags, preferably with Tony sleepy, nauseous and unable to shut up about how pretty Gibbs' eyes are - anything along those lines will do me fine. There's one on fanfiction.net, The Truth Is In The Sodium Thiopental by Mahiri Chuma, which has been the one I've enjoyed the most so far, but there's always room for more sleepy, drugged Tony, right?
Roll on tonight. And Wednesday night, when I will actually get to see 7x02. :-)
I should really put a warning before the cut, I'm sure, but I didn't realise quite how much I had to say! Most of it is nonsense and total stream-of-consciousness idiocy, but I'm looking forward to watching the next episode and seeing if any of my questions are answered. If you're short on time/don't care, this review can be summed up in two words: Tony's hot. :-D
4th October 2009 - ETA: Now a shorter, screencappier version! This bit skips my unbelievably rambly rambling, and gets straight to what matters most: Tony DiNozzo's pretty, pretty face. Warnings for excessively Tony-centric musings and not-terribly well-executed caps. Which you are welcome to use for any purposes without crediting!
Screencaps
I really like numbers that are divisible by three. After the rambling, un-illustrated review of above, this is ... well, yet more rambling, but with pretty pictures of Tony to offset my verbal (typographical?) diarrhoea.
1) The big reveal of Tony being in the chair was something I was totally spoiled for, but never mind! Tony torture! Also, I wonder if truth serum was something they ever thought might become an issue when they were coming up with their big unrealistic, implausible, impossible, nonsensical plan to rescue Ziva.
2) I'm just saying: scruffy, sweaty, beaten and defiant looks real fucking good on Tony.
3) Yay! Timmy and Tony, ready to go into action! They look a little bit terrified, but that other guy was huge.
4) Just before I started capping more of Tony in the chair, there's that bit where Tony says about Ziva (or Kate, there's been some discussion, I think, over on TWOP) that "We lost her," and the music is really, really nice. Subtle and sad. Also: Tony in the chair! I love this whole scene:
Salim: Are you here to finish the job?
Tony: Not only are you wrong, but you're wrong at the top of your voice.
Salim: What does that mean, huh?
Tony: Can you imagine Nicholson in Bad Day At Black Rock? I would have liked to see that.
Salim: Listen to me, where is the rest of your team?
Tony: I dont know. I dont care about your team. I dont care about my team. *eye squint that screams liar*
I refuse to believe that last statement, proving he can fight the serum when he tries.
5) He looks really, really drugged here. Contender for my favourite scene of this episode, definitely.
6) Look how stressed out his hair is!
7) I am continually mesmerised by his eyelashes. How long!
8) Ahaha at someone else using "ridonkulous!" Now if he could just use "coolio," I may reach the zenith of joy! Also: I like his sunglasses.
9) Timmy and Tony banter! And it's cute and adorable and funny and yet they're being quite boyishly communicative about other things as well, I think. Also, confused Tony is confused!
10) I like his profile, and how depressed his hair looks. He's putting up a front.
11) I tend to cap any moment Tony looks at Gibbs, because it's usually loaded with interpretable things. Here, though, I'm a little lost. Maybe because Tony is, too. And also, I mentioned earlier, he actually seems okay when Ziva is just gone - he's feeling guilty, maybe, rightly or wrongly according to different opinions - but it's only when he starts to suspect she's dead that he gets really off, and when it's confirmed he goes way off line. Pretty, though.
12) Tony giving Ducky a fitting welcome! LOL!
13) I just love the way he looks over here, starting to suspect. He's really the sharpest of them all in many ways.
14) I just like this shot, to be a bit arty for a second. The way they're being looked down on, as though they're very small. For some reason, it makes me think about Firefly a lot. I'm not sure why, because I wouldn't have a clue which character was which. And I was daydreaming about that this weekend, just randomly, who would be who from the team on Serenity, and I came to the happy conclusion that Tony is a mix of almost all of them, he's so very, very complex.
15) Pretty! Nice suit!
16) Goofy! I adore this nose scrunch. How can he still be attractive pulling that face? I want to lick it.
17) Seriously, what a gorgeous Hollywood smile!
18) What's the consensus? I think he hoped Ziva was alive, but believed in his heart that she was dead despite that. I'm not sure which is more fucked up - wanting to go out there to see if maybe she's alive, or wanting to go out there knowing she's dead and he might die too. I really like watching this semi-broken, in-over-his-head Tony. I trust him not to go way under, but it's really magnetic to look at.
19) Flirting with Becca Hastings - I love MW's sexy voice! Also like his vaguely panicked confusion, and loved the way he pulled his file up as a kind of barrier between them - classic DiNozzo and women, I think, and sexy as all hell with the long finger display. And he has a great smile.
20) Totally numb with McGee. I wonder how often he started spacing out like that during the summer - that's a kind of trauma, right there.
21) Lovely over the car scene - both of them being serious, both of them getting it. Really trusting scene.
22) Awesome scene! I love when Heather Kincaid comes in and he's had his mind on other things, but then reels off her history because Tony has an awesome memory, and it's awfully hot when he makes that volleyball comment. I rewound that a lot, for some reason. Also, I like references to athlete!sportsfan!Tony. Also, I liked Heather. I would not be averse to reading some fic where he has hot sex with her.
23) Nose bump! Other than that, this is the other contender for my favourite scene (after the I don't care about my team scene) in the episode, because it's hellish to watch.
24) The Gibbs/Tony same words thing is great, but his weird laugh as he calls his job ridiculous actually hurts. That smile is gorgeous, but not real in any way. Fucking fantastic acting, there, and how good is MW at adding more and more mysteries to Tony's actions and character?
25) Tony and Gibbs look - this is why they're slashed so much. No words said between them, but OMG, the way they look at one another. I'm never so bothered when they're not portrayed as partners anymore - although it would be very nice to see that - when we get stuff like this. They're communicating on an entirely different level to anyone else.
26) I got really carried away capping this tiny scene, because Tony looks so very pretty. More scenes shot like this please!
27) Ridiculous lips and teeth!
28) To ramble yet more - I like this scene because I've always liked Tony being very much in charge and the one who is getting the other two to get the information for him, very team leader, but he's also very indulgent and nice!boss about it, letting them do their singing (LOL LOL LOL BTW) and just being very sweet about it. Gibbs wouldn't do that. It fits in with one of the things I was thinking about, the way that Tony is kind of the indulgent parent of the team, in that his leading style is very soothing and caring, a la the campfires, and also he seems very organised, a la the reorganisation of the van in Escaped. Because Tony isn't Gibbs, and maybe when he's leader he overcompensates because he knows he's not strict enough. He doesn't rule by threatening to fire people (like Gibbs) and when he teaches things to McGee, it's usually by the very cute way of getting him to learn by himself, or when it's mroe important, trying to explain carefully - not that this always works, with the poison ivy and the chemical thing in Toxic. IDK, just thoughts. In case you haven't noticed, I have a lot. Too many.
29) When they find out the Damocles sank: no survivors. And Tony, who always has the most eye contact with anyone on this show, looks at no-one. Heartbreaker.
30) It is slightly wrong that after all that, I'm finding the torture parts less angsty and hard to watch.
31) Cute hair, and numbness. I wonder just how noticeably off he was after finding out she was dead, because he really seemed out of it, and Gibbs almost looked like he was expecting his "No." That's a scene which people seem mixed over - I've spoken to a couple of folk who think it was a little flat, which I sort of agree with.
32) Then again, I may have just been distracted by OMFG, the hotness of his shoulder holster! It's back! It's black! It's totally fucking legend!
33) Hottest teacher ever. Seriously, that shoulder holster. Off topic, but I've just realised I didn't cap the desert desert scene. Why not? I loved it. I blame MTAC lighting.
34) The face he makes when he sees Ziva. For Tiva fans: yay! How shocked and secretly pleased he is! For non-Ziva fans: Tony wonders if Salim just farted.
35) Same interpretable reaction again, but I love his face here and the way he seems to really be struggling with whatever effect the truth serum is having on him - at the very least, he's having to think a lot harder about how to say things.
36) Straining neck muscles: guh. I am in a puddle on the floor.
37) I make this bitchy, you've-gotta-be-joking-me face all the time, but it's obviously nowhere near as hot on me, and possibly this is why I will never get away with making it and storming out without being laughed at. Holy shit, his face. Lips. Mouth. Eyebrows. Forehead. Squinty eye.
38) Love this scene too, even if I think the before scene was pointless and odd. Loved it mostly because of Gibbs' hey! and also because of the way Tony seems oddly entranced/baffled by Gibbs' little hand gestures. Cute! Also, he's hip. He digs it. I dig you, Anthony DiNozzo.
39) Tony DiNozzo: The Wildcard.
40) In this cap and the one before, he is breaking all sorts of rules, because people generally do not look attractive from this angle, which borders on looking up their nose and draws attention to the danger areas of chin and forehead-possibly-vanishing-due-to-haloed-hair - yet these are definitely my two favourite caps. He's so, so gorgeous.
41) Their faces: OMG TONY! The shock and relief of Ziva, and bwahahahahah! McGee!
42) But that lack of surprise on Tony's face is what gets me. He never doubted Gibbs for a second, I don't think. And why would you? The man can look hot dressed as Old Gregg!
43) Looking exhausted after their flight, and that eye's starting to look awfully puffy. Ah, H/C, my good friend.
44) Looking very classic film star here, and that was a nice moment, watching him kind of shake off Ducky's congratulations/concern. He really, really reminds me of someone here, but I can't think who. Slightly Steve McQueen, but that's not it. Maybe it's just himself. I've been overdosing on NCIS recently.
45) Crappy shot to end on, but I liked the uncertainty there, and the fact that he shied so emphatically away from the limelight.
I think for the next episode I do, I might go straight to the caps with a bit of commentary and cut out all the stream-of-consciousness talking. I mean, seriously, was I on sodium pentothal? ;-)
But, NCIS is on in America tonight, and I really should put down some thoughts about the premiere of a week ago because otherwise I'll get all wrapped up in the squee (hopefully) and forget anything vaguely interesting I had to say when I get the new episode tomorrow morning and watch it that night - although my dad and I are watching Full Metal Jacket first, so it'll be late. But, because I have no willpower, I'll have fully spoiled myself on Wednesday, so it all works out fine!
7x01 - Truth and Consequences
I have no idea how to structure this, so I'm going to go with the always pleasing, anally retentive numbering.
1) It was totally Tony-centric, which is just the way I like my episodes. MW rocked the house, too, which seems to be universally accepted - I think reading the gleeful reviews of how awesome he was made me almost as happy as all the pretty, pretty closeups of his face did! Seriously, though, he was amazing. When he was under the truth serum, I really couldn't tell when he was resisting it and when he wasn't - which is great for fic, because it's totally possible to interpret what he says either way. Ambiguity is the way this show needs to go, pairing-wise, if the small areas of shipping wars I've strayed into is any indication.
But back to Tony, Tony, Tony: his face! When he's all drugged up, his jaw clenches and twitches like he's physically holding back the words. I wonder if he expected truth serum to come into play, at all. I went and did a little research (read: typed it into Google) on sodium pentathol afterwards, and it listed all the usual effects of chattiness and lack of inhibition, but one article did say that an accomplished liar would probably still be able to fight back. At first, I was like, well, Tony's a pretty good liar, so that ruins my theory that sometimes he was fighting it and I can use whatever lines I want to justify whatever ship I'm in the mood for - but then I thought a bit more and I don't think Tony's a liar as much as he an expert deflector and obfuscator: he dances around the truth with a lot of words but it's usually hidden somewhere in what he says, if you look hard enough. That's not to say he can't or doesn't lie (Jeanne and S4?) but he's not comfortable doing it outright. He's more a hider of the truth, and I think he thinks quite carefully about what he's going to say before he says it so that it masks whatever the real truth is. Or, in short: Tony's an onion.
2) Tony/Tim - excuse me while I flail! I've pretty much always loved the relationship between these two - I never got really angry at McGee when he was snappy and arrogant despite my blatant Tony favouritism, but it always made me a little upset just because when they're friends, and bantering, they're hilarious and adorable and this episode really showed them at their best. Mostly in a friendshippy way, but with oh my god so much slash potential! They went out to dinner! McGee tried to get Tony's attention by mentioning leather and his butt in the same sentence! McGee tells Tony he doesn't have to do this alone!
Mostly, I just enjoyed the way McGee seemed really supportive of Tony when he was clearly not at his best, and the teamwork rapport they had, with the opening banter where Tony offers to repay McGee with essentially, his idea of a perfect date - a movie. The pizza and possible candlelight are only implied. ;-) And the fact Tony volunteers McGee because he trusts him, and the soft, worried way he asks if McGee is okay, and the sharp "Stop! Stop!" when Salim points a gun at McGee. (Also, straying slightly from my Tony-obsessed POV for a moment, Sean Murray looked really petrified when that gun was pointed at him, I was genuinely shocked by his expression. Awesome acting.) There's also a moment at the end, when Gibbs says, "Let's go home," where Tony turns and smiles and looks at McGee specifically.
3) Tony/Ziva - ooh, the tricky one. Not because I dislike the pairing, but because since poking my rambly little nose (actually, not so little, I have genuine worries about my nose spreading and getting larger as I age) into fandom, I didn't realise before that Ziva can be quite such a contentious character - and the people who aren't keen on her give really good reasons for it. I'm pretty open to different opinions, and though I've watched the show for ages, I've never really thought about characters in as much depth as I am now - which I'm loving, but it does mean that my opinions waver and haven't yet solidified. Except on Tony, because he's awesome.
So: I've always really quite liked Ziva. I think her manglings of idioms is funny, I find her threats quite hilarious because I myself often go into fits of anger where I yell about my co-worker and list all the inventive ways in which I could murder him un-noticed, and - without going into too much detail because really, I don't tend to think about her character anywhere near as much as I do Tony's - I find the issues I see her as having with her emotions quite interesting, or potentially interesting if written well. Even in those last episodes of S6, I never disliked her, because although she did turn on Tony both emotionally and physically (that one sits less well with me, although: Tony!whump!), she had just lost someone she maybe loved, definitely had deep feelings for, and she had a load of crap to deal with regarding her father. Which, BTW, they better deal with next week, because her storyline is the one that has me most confused: were her orders back in Kill Ari to, um, kill Ari? Therefore invalidating the unconditional faith Gibbs has had in her since then? Did her father know she was alive and abandon her? Generally, WTF?
And just how badly was she treated down there? I posted a comment sometime last week about Ziva and how badly injured she looked - or didn't look, in this case - like, she was a bit pale, her hair was messy, and there was definitely yellowing bruising around her left eye. But that could have easily been from the healing of that hideous injury from last season - and that in turn might not have been from being beaten, but from the sinking of the Damocles. In the comment, I was a little bit mean about Ziva, and was all, please, not too much PTSD malarkey, a lot of which was borne out of my general preference for any big storylines to be centred on Tony. And it was unfair of me, because if Tony had been the one captured for four months, I'd be all over his PTSD and injuries like a rash. I love me some Tony h/c. But I still stand by not wanting to have a massive big story arc over Ziva's mental pain, even if it is because I just prefer Tony to get the painful storylines.
Not wanting to see too much of her pain also relates to the Tiva pairing, which I am not against in any way at all except that I don't want to see it actually played out on screen. I don't mind hinting, and innuendo, and I'm actually all for flirting because it's usually funny and Tony is really hot when he flirts. But I'm only for all of those things because they can easily be written around. I like the Tony/Ziva pairing when someone writes it well - not that I read a lot of it, because essentially I'm a slash fan - and I think they're an unbelievably gorgeous couple and there are moments when I'm watching the show when I think, OMG, I love them! (I watched Undercovers last night, which is a great episode because from the description, it sounds like it's going to be Tony/Ziva centric, but actually there's plenty of Tony/Gibbs and Tony/Tim, too.) What I liked about last night, and this goes back to the way MW played Tony under the serum, is that I can either take the, "Couldn't live without you, I guess," line as a declaration of his feelings for her, or as an expression of his guilt that one of the team died. There are lots of other ways to read that line too, I'm sure, but I think one thing that's undeniable is that with or without a shipper outlook, Tony's first loyalty is to Gibbs, then to the rest of the team, and he's always had a tendency to take on guilt. So it makes sense that he totally loses it when Ziva dies - when she dies, I noticed, not just when she's gone - because she was one of his team, and so his revenge is justified.
4) That seems as good a time as any to break off from what is turning into an unbelievable ramble [skip to the end, where all I'm going to talk about is how hot everyone looked (and by everyone I mean TONY TONY TONY)] and talk about broken!Tony. Because he really was a mess in parts of this episode. I found it mesmerising, but hard, to watch him with the truth serum, but I actually found the hardest bit to watch the bit with lovely, funny, cool Heather Kincaid (is she coming back? I liked her) where he says with this horrid, bitter, defeated half-laugh, "It's ridiculous." Tony just called his job ridiculous, and Tony loves his job. He sounds closer to burnout in that bit than I've ever heard him. And the other bit that just made me feel quite sick, actually, is when he's with Salim, and he says, "I don't care about your team. I don't care about my team." And the thing is, I know I said before that I thought he could, sometimes, resist the serum, and MW adds this awesome eye squint after that line that makes him look like he's in pain saying it, but there's still the fact that he's on truth serum, and his tone when he says that breaks me. Really. Um, Tony needs a hug. Many hugs. I think I need a hug. Or at least some Valium. I didn't realise I had this much to say. Jules, move on.
5) Tony/Gibbs - yay! I love super-sniper Gibbs, ridiculous as he is, and I love that he was all Wookified and still managed to be wicked cool. It's been said by everyone, but "Functional Mute" is the funniest, most accurate and hilarious description of Gibbs ever. I really like the kind of difference/similarity play they do with Gibbs and Tony, even if it's not always intentional or consistent. I adored them saying the same thing in front and behind the observation glass, because they're both awesome at their jobs and on the same wavelength, and I liked their conversations, too, which involved Gibbs not saying a lot, but Tony probably not saying much more, only with many more words, if that makes sense. They're both so very private and insular, in such remarkably different ways, which IMO means they're probably a better fit together than most of the other characters. ;-)
I loved the desert desert conversation, because Gibbs adores Tony, you can see it, with the tiny little eye rolls and quirked eyebrows he uses when he's baffled/beguiled/charmed by him. And the "women" comment made me smile as much as Gibbs, because it ties in with this weird ficlet I have in my head that I probably won't write where Tony mentions to Gibbs what Tara's advice was in Knockout, and Gibbs is all like, "The right woman? Screw that, DiNozzo, your track record with them sucks," and then they totally have hot sex. And the long looks between them, the fact that Tony is totally okay with Gibbs not doing much talking, and that first, soft "hey" Gibbs uses when he calls after Tony when they leave Vance's office. I'm not too sure about the necessity of that scene, like, if Vance was probably going to capitulate to Gibbs anyway, why bother making a big show of not doing so in front of Tony? He's a senior field agent, not an enemy or a particularly disrespectful minion. IDK. It got me the soft "hey", so I'm happy.
6) Funny!Tony! Because he was competent as all hell this episode, and I love serious Tony because MW does this amazing eye-acting, all smoky and sexy and sincere, but I love it even more when he keeps the funny up too. Which he really does. I especially like the "pah" scene, where he's non-stop moving and does this hilariously entertaining slide-back move on the camera. And I liked him interviewing the girls, um, "Pantsuit Girl," LOL!? Also enjoyed the gorgeous nose-scrunch he did when he was talking to Claire. The view of the team when he's all out of it (and this really doesn't go in this category, but I forgot to mention it earlier and I have just talked about his eyes, so when Gibbs said there were no survivors and Tony just looked numb, and then looked away, I just about died it was so sad and real and brutal) is funny, too, "blah blah blah computer stuff blah" will never not make me laugh, and I think Tony snarking about how crappy Yale's sports teams are and still referencing movies while stuck in a chair in a life-threatening situation totally encapsulates his character. And is funny.
7) Hotness! And fashion watch! Let's get the others out of the way first: Abby looked cute, as usual; McGee is getting hotter and hotter; Gibbs looked pretty much as awesome as Gibbs always does, all broad shoulders and ridiculous eyes; I thought Ziva looked absolutely beautiful, her curly hair and big eyes; but Tony. OMG, Tony. He gets better, I swear. I loved him in the magical shoulder holster, and that shade of pale blue always makes him look good. His grey suit was a great colour on him, and the darker suit later was even better, and he wore a denim jacket! I thought his t-shirt could have fitted better, but he also didn't disobey my Rule #1: never wear double denim! My favourite outfit was the torture outfit, because he really suits that style of shirt and that dark, not-quite-black colour, and at the end walking out the buttons at the bottom were undone just enough that we got a flash of tummy. Cute! Also, he looked ridiculously hot all tanned, and his features are the most expressive and strong in town. His hair: very important. I liked it. It was very expressive. When he was being tortured under the truth serum, it was all spiky and conflicted and struggling, and when he was in the office it was very neat with a slightly vulnerable side-fringe and some rebellious sticky-up bits because he's, you know, Tony, and then at the end it was all exhausted and flat, like he was himself, and worried because this is not yet over.
I think I may need to look into getting a life.
Or at the very least, a slightly more taxing job.
8) Conclusion - I promise. I pretty much loved it. I get that there were glaring plot inconsistencies and errors, but I am such a character-centric, shallow, fairly-dumb viewer that I can very easily overlook that. But I think that there was something in the episode for almost all pairings, and even though it was heavy on the Tony/Ziva I didn't feel it overpowered it, and anything said can easily be written around by the many talented fanfic writers out there. Which, by the way, I want more and more plane-fic episode tags, preferably with Tony sleepy, nauseous and unable to shut up about how pretty Gibbs' eyes are - anything along those lines will do me fine. There's one on fanfiction.net, The Truth Is In The Sodium Thiopental by Mahiri Chuma, which has been the one I've enjoyed the most so far, but there's always room for more sleepy, drugged Tony, right?
Roll on tonight. And Wednesday night, when I will actually get to see 7x02. :-)
I should really put a warning before the cut, I'm sure, but I didn't realise quite how much I had to say! Most of it is nonsense and total stream-of-consciousness idiocy, but I'm looking forward to watching the next episode and seeing if any of my questions are answered. If you're short on time/don't care, this review can be summed up in two words: Tony's hot. :-D
4th October 2009 - ETA: Now a shorter, screencappier version! This bit skips my unbelievably rambly rambling, and gets straight to what matters most: Tony DiNozzo's pretty, pretty face. Warnings for excessively Tony-centric musings and not-terribly well-executed caps. Which you are welcome to use for any purposes without crediting!
Screencaps
I really like numbers that are divisible by three. After the rambling, un-illustrated review of above, this is ... well, yet more rambling, but with pretty pictures of Tony to offset my verbal (typographical?) diarrhoea.
1) The big reveal of Tony being in the chair was something I was totally spoiled for, but never mind! Tony torture! Also, I wonder if truth serum was something they ever thought might become an issue when they were coming up with their big unrealistic, implausible, impossible, nonsensical plan to rescue Ziva.
2) I'm just saying: scruffy, sweaty, beaten and defiant looks real fucking good on Tony.
3) Yay! Timmy and Tony, ready to go into action! They look a little bit terrified, but that other guy was huge.
4) Just before I started capping more of Tony in the chair, there's that bit where Tony says about Ziva (or Kate, there's been some discussion, I think, over on TWOP) that "We lost her," and the music is really, really nice. Subtle and sad. Also: Tony in the chair! I love this whole scene:
Salim: Are you here to finish the job?
Tony: Not only are you wrong, but you're wrong at the top of your voice.
Salim: What does that mean, huh?
Tony: Can you imagine Nicholson in Bad Day At Black Rock? I would have liked to see that.
Salim: Listen to me, where is the rest of your team?
Tony: I dont know. I dont care about your team. I dont care about my team. *eye squint that screams liar*
I refuse to believe that last statement, proving he can fight the serum when he tries.
5) He looks really, really drugged here. Contender for my favourite scene of this episode, definitely.
6) Look how stressed out his hair is!
7) I am continually mesmerised by his eyelashes. How long!
8) Ahaha at someone else using "ridonkulous!" Now if he could just use "coolio," I may reach the zenith of joy! Also: I like his sunglasses.
9) Timmy and Tony banter! And it's cute and adorable and funny and yet they're being quite boyishly communicative about other things as well, I think. Also, confused Tony is confused!
10) I like his profile, and how depressed his hair looks. He's putting up a front.
11) I tend to cap any moment Tony looks at Gibbs, because it's usually loaded with interpretable things. Here, though, I'm a little lost. Maybe because Tony is, too. And also, I mentioned earlier, he actually seems okay when Ziva is just gone - he's feeling guilty, maybe, rightly or wrongly according to different opinions - but it's only when he starts to suspect she's dead that he gets really off, and when it's confirmed he goes way off line. Pretty, though.
12) Tony giving Ducky a fitting welcome! LOL!
13) I just love the way he looks over here, starting to suspect. He's really the sharpest of them all in many ways.
14) I just like this shot, to be a bit arty for a second. The way they're being looked down on, as though they're very small. For some reason, it makes me think about Firefly a lot. I'm not sure why, because I wouldn't have a clue which character was which. And I was daydreaming about that this weekend, just randomly, who would be who from the team on Serenity, and I came to the happy conclusion that Tony is a mix of almost all of them, he's so very, very complex.
15) Pretty! Nice suit!
16) Goofy! I adore this nose scrunch. How can he still be attractive pulling that face? I want to lick it.
17) Seriously, what a gorgeous Hollywood smile!
18) What's the consensus? I think he hoped Ziva was alive, but believed in his heart that she was dead despite that. I'm not sure which is more fucked up - wanting to go out there to see if maybe she's alive, or wanting to go out there knowing she's dead and he might die too. I really like watching this semi-broken, in-over-his-head Tony. I trust him not to go way under, but it's really magnetic to look at.
19) Flirting with Becca Hastings - I love MW's sexy voice! Also like his vaguely panicked confusion, and loved the way he pulled his file up as a kind of barrier between them - classic DiNozzo and women, I think, and sexy as all hell with the long finger display. And he has a great smile.
20) Totally numb with McGee. I wonder how often he started spacing out like that during the summer - that's a kind of trauma, right there.
21) Lovely over the car scene - both of them being serious, both of them getting it. Really trusting scene.
22) Awesome scene! I love when Heather Kincaid comes in and he's had his mind on other things, but then reels off her history because Tony has an awesome memory, and it's awfully hot when he makes that volleyball comment. I rewound that a lot, for some reason. Also, I like references to athlete!sportsfan!Tony. Also, I liked Heather. I would not be averse to reading some fic where he has hot sex with her.
23) Nose bump! Other than that, this is the other contender for my favourite scene (after the I don't care about my team scene) in the episode, because it's hellish to watch.
24) The Gibbs/Tony same words thing is great, but his weird laugh as he calls his job ridiculous actually hurts. That smile is gorgeous, but not real in any way. Fucking fantastic acting, there, and how good is MW at adding more and more mysteries to Tony's actions and character?
25) Tony and Gibbs look - this is why they're slashed so much. No words said between them, but OMG, the way they look at one another. I'm never so bothered when they're not portrayed as partners anymore - although it would be very nice to see that - when we get stuff like this. They're communicating on an entirely different level to anyone else.
26) I got really carried away capping this tiny scene, because Tony looks so very pretty. More scenes shot like this please!
27) Ridiculous lips and teeth!
28) To ramble yet more - I like this scene because I've always liked Tony being very much in charge and the one who is getting the other two to get the information for him, very team leader, but he's also very indulgent and nice!boss about it, letting them do their singing (LOL LOL LOL BTW) and just being very sweet about it. Gibbs wouldn't do that. It fits in with one of the things I was thinking about, the way that Tony is kind of the indulgent parent of the team, in that his leading style is very soothing and caring, a la the campfires, and also he seems very organised, a la the reorganisation of the van in Escaped. Because Tony isn't Gibbs, and maybe when he's leader he overcompensates because he knows he's not strict enough. He doesn't rule by threatening to fire people (like Gibbs) and when he teaches things to McGee, it's usually by the very cute way of getting him to learn by himself, or when it's mroe important, trying to explain carefully - not that this always works, with the poison ivy and the chemical thing in Toxic. IDK, just thoughts. In case you haven't noticed, I have a lot. Too many.
29) When they find out the Damocles sank: no survivors. And Tony, who always has the most eye contact with anyone on this show, looks at no-one. Heartbreaker.
30) It is slightly wrong that after all that, I'm finding the torture parts less angsty and hard to watch.
31) Cute hair, and numbness. I wonder just how noticeably off he was after finding out she was dead, because he really seemed out of it, and Gibbs almost looked like he was expecting his "No." That's a scene which people seem mixed over - I've spoken to a couple of folk who think it was a little flat, which I sort of agree with.
32) Then again, I may have just been distracted by OMFG, the hotness of his shoulder holster! It's back! It's black! It's totally fucking legend!
33) Hottest teacher ever. Seriously, that shoulder holster. Off topic, but I've just realised I didn't cap the desert desert scene. Why not? I loved it. I blame MTAC lighting.
34) The face he makes when he sees Ziva. For Tiva fans: yay! How shocked and secretly pleased he is! For non-Ziva fans: Tony wonders if Salim just farted.
35) Same interpretable reaction again, but I love his face here and the way he seems to really be struggling with whatever effect the truth serum is having on him - at the very least, he's having to think a lot harder about how to say things.
36) Straining neck muscles: guh. I am in a puddle on the floor.
37) I make this bitchy, you've-gotta-be-joking-me face all the time, but it's obviously nowhere near as hot on me, and possibly this is why I will never get away with making it and storming out without being laughed at. Holy shit, his face. Lips. Mouth. Eyebrows. Forehead. Squinty eye.
38) Love this scene too, even if I think the before scene was pointless and odd. Loved it mostly because of Gibbs' hey! and also because of the way Tony seems oddly entranced/baffled by Gibbs' little hand gestures. Cute! Also, he's hip. He digs it. I dig you, Anthony DiNozzo.
39) Tony DiNozzo: The Wildcard.
40) In this cap and the one before, he is breaking all sorts of rules, because people generally do not look attractive from this angle, which borders on looking up their nose and draws attention to the danger areas of chin and forehead-possibly-vanishing-due-to-haloed-hair - yet these are definitely my two favourite caps. He's so, so gorgeous.
41) Their faces: OMG TONY! The shock and relief of Ziva, and bwahahahahah! McGee!
42) But that lack of surprise on Tony's face is what gets me. He never doubted Gibbs for a second, I don't think. And why would you? The man can look hot dressed as Old Gregg!
43) Looking exhausted after their flight, and that eye's starting to look awfully puffy. Ah, H/C, my good friend.
44) Looking very classic film star here, and that was a nice moment, watching him kind of shake off Ducky's congratulations/concern. He really, really reminds me of someone here, but I can't think who. Slightly Steve McQueen, but that's not it. Maybe it's just himself. I've been overdosing on NCIS recently.
45) Crappy shot to end on, but I liked the uncertainty there, and the fact that he shied so emphatically away from the limelight.
I think for the next episode I do, I might go straight to the caps with a bit of commentary and cut out all the stream-of-consciousness talking. I mean, seriously, was I on sodium pentothal? ;-)