Episode Review: 7x01 - Truth and Consequences

[little_ozzo]

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

Comments

Gibbs/Tony specifically :-)

[little_ozzo]

Ah! So glad to get onto the Gibbs/DiNozzo thing! They fascinate me, because the relationship is so very often portrayed in fanon as Tony needing Gibbs - his approval, specifically, but also for validation and help or whatever. But the more I watch it, the more I'm totally unconvinced by that. For one thing, given what we've talking about above, I wouldn't be surprised if Tony has created himself to not need anyone. As you said, he dared to leave his family and do his own thing, and he's never been afraid to move on from jobs - and it's not like he ran after Gibbs to Mexico, or had a breakdown while he was away! I think he wants Gibbs approval, and likes to be acknowledged by him, but he'd survive without it. He's incredibly loyal to Gibbs, obviously, and would die for him, I think, but I don't think it's overly needy. In fact, I'd even go as far to say - though I might need to think about this more, so push me a bit further if this doesn't ring true - that Gibbs is actually the needier of the two, in that he needs to be needed. He's surrounded himself with this team that's made up of essentially quite solitary people - even though Tony is sociable, he's at his best professionally without an audience, and he's better at acquaintances than very close freindships. Ziva sees him as a father figure, canonically, and clearly Tony looks up to him a great deal, and after losing his family, two people who presumably loved and depended on him, he's kind of forming his own substitue family with his team. The way he seemed kind of detached at the start of S6 definitely suggested to me that in order to exist, he needs his team (family) around him, because they force him to do things for them and to function, and maybe they represent the parts of him he's not so good at - McGee is his technical brain, Ziva complements his strength, and Tony is his friendlier, more likeable side. I haven't mentioned McGee much in this because I think you mentioned him in another bit!

So it's kind of a symbiotic relationship between Gibbs needing people around him to prevent him maybe slipping into full-on rage or depression and his team wanting someone they can really trust and depend on - there's no question that he is the leader, and they will follow him, but he gets as much from that as they do.

I'm attempting a fairly useless fic at the moment, which is slash, and is Gibbs/DiNozzo, and it's kind of surprising me (sorry to get rather pretentious and self-pimpy and ridiculous, here) that Gibbs is actually turning out to be the needier, way more fucked up one of the relationship. Tony's very much about protecting himself, and shielding his emotions, but he's getting on with his shit, while Gibbs is totally not dealing with his crap and getting really maudlin and kind of needy. It's also developed into this weird thing where Gibbs relied on Tony to kind of calm him, a little, which is something I'm going with in the fic but haven't quite decided as an interpretation of present canon - I think Tony definitely makes Gibbs look at things in different ways, sometimes, like when he stands up to his obsession in S1, and I had a vague point about Tony's annoying chatter being vaguely soothing to Gibbs even though it shouldn't be - and he reacts negatively to Ziva's babbling in S6!. It's also interesting that Gibbs is the most trusting of Ducky and Abby and Tony, the people who have been with him longest at this point in time, and it really interests me that they're probably the first constants he had in his life after years of kind of being abandoned by everyone else - even Franks left, then Burley. I'm kind of blethering stream-of-consciousness now, so sorry about the incoherence. In short: they're really, deliciously complicated, from any POV. Slash or no!

Re: Gibbs/Tony specifically :-)

[chreesko]

I have so many thoughts, but the last episode ate my brain.

Thinking back on the earlier seasons, the show dropped quite a few hints that Tony was very much after Gibbs’ approval and attention, while at the same time Gibbs seemed above silly human emotions and attachments. (The fanon probably grew out of this, took on a life of its own, and now it doesn't matter that it's no longer true.) So if we’re looking at early Gibbs/Tony, I’d say Tony was the needier one, and Gibbs was the repressed, screwed up one. Of course, Tony also strikes me as someone who knows just how screwed up he is and is kind of okay with it. If he wanted Gibbs badly, he'd take whatever he could get and learn to live with that. Maybe Tony protects himself by trying (and failing?) not to feel things as much. Whereas Gibbs,not having had Tony's experience, responds to tragic events by making himself harder and making sure that no one can get close enough to hurt him.

I was very uncomfortable with Gibbs/DiNozzo as a pairing in the early days of the show. Adding a sexual or romantic relationship to their S1/S2 power dynamic was just waaaaay too creepy for me to contemplate because it did appear to me to be a very one-way interaction. They’re much closer to being equals, both professionally and in terms of what they need (or don’t need) from a relationship.

Now, Gibbs is coming to terms with the past. He’s been almost happy this season. I know a lot of people are freaked out by his gentler side, but I think he's slowly moving on with his life. He may not have Shannon and Kelly anymore, but he does have a family. The flip side of that is that he’s less closed off than he used to be and therefore more dependent on his adopted family. They’ve wormed their way into his heart. Personally, I'm going with the idea that S6 Gibbs got his team back together because he had to for his own sanity and because he missed them, but he was irritated with himself for needing it. In S7, after that horrible summer, he may have just decided to roll with what he has and enjoy the family he's made for himself. He does have an extra special dependence on Tony, so perhaps in trying to deal with Tony's little breakdown, he realized how closed off and inaccessible he had become. (Admittedly, I'm only going with this idea because TPTB didn't think we'd need reasons for any character changes.)

Overall, I think I could buy that the Gibbs of today is needier. The want/need distinction that you pointed out is key - Tony seems to want their interaction more, but I don't think it would be difficult to reach the conclusion Gibbs needs it more.

I'm so excited to hear that you're working on another fic! And it sounds like one that will do their characters justice, which is so exciting. But I will refrain from begging for details, even though self control is hard. Actually, I keep meaning to go over to Caffeine, Interrupted and leave ridiculously gushy feedback, but then I get distracted by the idea of Tony leaning on McGee and it's all downhill from there.

Re: Gibbs/Tony specifically :-)

[little_ozzo]

(Sorry for re-post, I'm anal and need to invest so I can edit comments!)

In a good way? Because I think that episode made me die about a million happy deaths! I'll probably find out in a sec when I read your other comment, LOL!

I really like that idea that Gibbs was originally less needy, and it definitely fits in character-wise, because Tony did seem to work for Gibbs' approval a lot in those early episodes - although at the same time, there was a kind of equality between them that faltered in S4 and S5 (making sense, canonically) and is being restored now, I think. I would agree that fanon took this on and it became a little more exaggerated. And Gibbs is so repressed, in my opinion, especially earlier on, that it really is so fucked up. Like, this is a guy who lost his wife and child, and in order to deal with that, pretty much denied their existence to everyone except the person who helped him murder their murderer. In terms of grief reactions, that's pretty strong, and pretty out there, like he's been stuck in denial for what, fifteen years? And I think that unlike Tony, he's not even sure of how screwed up he is. Tony seems much more aware of his way of repressing, and lets snippets out at least rather than totally hiding himself away. That makes another "different similarity" to add to the tally! I also think Tony would be completely okay with just taking what he could from Gibbs and not quite getting exactly what he wanted - Gibbs, I think, has had two major events in his life that suck: losing his mom, and losing his wife and child. Obviously, those things are awful, but aside from a possible horrible event in his childhood we've not heard of since the JAG episodes, his life was great; his dad did everything he could for him, and his wife and child were gorgeous. His two major events fucked him up badly because he didn’t have major pain to compare them with. Tony strikes me as someone who's been suffering loss and pain, though perhaps not of quite so epic proportions, over a much longer period, and so he defends against them in a better way.

Er, I was going to mention that yes, I am writing fic! And the one that's looking like it'll be done first is actually pre-series Gibbs/DiNozzo, and therefore probably quite AU and probably OOC, don't have high expectations! This made me think of it, and about it, because you might have given me a better ending than I'd thought of before. Sorry to be mysterious, it’s not actually worth building up suspense for, but the idea of Tony/Gibbs in the first couple of seasons - I actually saw it a lot, back then, but re-watching sometimes makes me wince because there's such a disparity in power and want and need that you're right, it is a creepy kind of partnership, and any slash between them would probably be a bit fucked up. I do think that even then, Tony seemed to be able to slip under Gibbs' defences more than anyone else, and vice versa, to an extent.

Definitely agree with Gibbs becoming a bit happier. He was forced to acknowledge Shannon and Kelly in Hiatus, and S5 seemed all about him becoming softer and allowing himself to remember. But then, just as he was softening and being more open with his new, surrogate family, the team, they were ripped apart, so he closed himself off again. Just supposition, but that's my justification for the way he's behaving in S6 and now in S7, opening up a little more again. I need a reason for his behaviour if TPTB decide to continue their lack of explanation! Love, love, love your explanation.

I'm really very much practicing when it comes to writing, LOL, and using NCIS as a fun, cute guinea pig! Hopefully it'll be readable, if not fantastic! I don’t even think I’ve got details - it's Tony/Gibbs, with Jeanne fallout and fairly obvious attempts to avoid actually having to form a coherent case-plot of any kind, because I’m useless at them! Tony will probably get whumped a bit, too, because I have a total weakness for that. ;-) Glad you liked that one, though, thank you! Tony and McGee are adorable.