Episode Review: 7x05 - Code of Conduct

[little_ozzo]

Beware! Tony-centric rambling, ravings, swoonings and squeeings behind the cut, along with 27 poorly cut and coloured caps! tejas, I swear I'm totally re-writing as well. I just got distracted by Tony's nose and hair. Again. ;-)

Comments

[little_ozzo]

I always assumed they were to Gibbs first, but after Hiatus I'm not so sure. He stayed, after all. And I can't think of anything offhand, either - I think I just assumed that the reason he stayed longer at NCIS than anywhere else was because he had found something in Gibbs, not the organisation or the lcoation, that he could stay loyal to. And I think that can be supported by the way he was in the first season, at least, the way his faith in Gibbs was possibly a little blinder than it is now. Not blind, really, but definitely a little but more dogmatic. Now, I think his loyalty would run to the team as a whole, first. It has to, I suppose - Gibbs needs someone he knows will stay, and look after his team, and Tony would do that without question, I think - though I'm not sure at the end of Hiatus whether he stays because Gibbs asked/told him to, or because he felt responsible for the team separately to Gibbs' request. IDK! Very interesting, though, I'm definitely going to be thinking about that more!
Yeah, his standing up to Gibbs in Reveille was kind of a reaction to Gibbs suddenly going apeshit at Tony, too, but to me it felt kind of protective - possibly towards Gibbs, as I'd say it's canon that Tony is a total worrier when it comes to Gibbs' - and the rest of the team's - safety. He's never been afraad, either, to suggest to Gibbs that whatever his gut is telling him might be wrong - to put the other view forward. I think that's a very LEO thing to do, to find other possibilities and explore them rather than focus on one possibility. In Cloak, I think it was personal because of his sensitivity that season about lying, but that whole idea of trust was such an issue for him that season regarding the whole team, I think - he was really off-base in some episodes. Which is fascinating!

Hee, and there can really never be enough of MW/Tony, I don't think! ;-)

[karababe_64]

His staying after Hiatus could be at least partly a loyalty to Gibbs in that he didn't want to let Gibbs down in his choice of Tony to take over the team. But I think that there would also be a certain level of loyalty to team in the decision as well. But it is quite possible that he started at NCIS because of loyalty to Gibbs and then it partly transfered to the team and now he has split loyalty because I would imagine it would be very hard for him to choose between Gibbs and the team, especially considering recent events.

He certainly is protective of those he is close to. That has been shown not only towards Gibbs but also with Abby in Bloodbath and even his recent actions with the whole Ziva thing can be considered to be driven by a need to protect those he cares about. The looking for different possibilities I think comes down to the way he thinks, he often doesn't view things in a traditional way. It could be because he was a LEO but I think a lot of it is just who he is.

Totally agree! ;-)

[little_ozzo]

I think he stayed initially out of that loyalty to Gibbs, but I wonder if like you say, it transferred and is now a little bit split. And, because I thingk about these things far too much, I wonder how split the rest of the team's loyalty would be, if it came down to Gibbs and Tony - not that I think that'll happen anytime soon! I think Tony would be surprised and horrified if anyone chose him over Gibbs, though I think at the moment that McGee might.

Protective!Tony is one of my favourite things ever - I adore him stalking around behind Abby in Bloodbath and how very on-the-ball he is in that episode, and the way Gibbs and him really work together to protect her. I also love in Murder 2.0 - the one with the internet-filmed murder, is that the right episode? I think so - when they've left the office with Gibbs despite the threats to his life, and Tony mutters in kind of resigned frustration that he wishes Gibbs had stayed in the car. And Gibbs is like, "Shut up or I'll shoot you", like he's been harping on about it because he's such a worrier. I think his actions with Rivkin were definitely because of a desire to protect Ziva - not physically, I think he's smart enough to knwo she's sorted in that department, although there's that one episode with the crazy Marine in the interview room and he's there, so fast, when it looks like things are going to kick off - but definitely emotionally, in the last season. I don't think it worked, but not through any fault of his own.

I think it's both part of being a LEO and part of who Tony is - he's always been self-sacrificing, most obviously in Twilight but in general, too, he'd ignore his own needs if any other person on his team was in danger - but I think Tony really is the job. He's got cop/fed written all over him, I think - but then he's also great at the udnercover work, too. He's almost too complex!

[karababe_64]

I think most of the team's loyalty would be to Gibbs first but I think that Ducky and maybe also McGee and possibily Abby would make a decision based on who they believed was right in a situation which means that they might be willing to switch loyalty to Tony if they felt Gibbs was in the wrong.

There is also the ep in season one where he gets mad that Gibbs takes off the bulletproof vest. And protective Tony is HOT! ;-)

He would certainly be lost if he couldn't do the job anymore, even with the support of Gibbs and the team. That's one of the reasons I find it hard to believe he every really considered going off with Jeanne, because it would have been highly likely she would have allowed him to continue being a cop. The fact that he can be considered to be wearing a "mask" in his everyday life is definitly one of the reasons why he is so great undercover. I think it also allows him to be someone else for a little while and not worry about if people like the real him or not.

[little_ozzo]

I'd agree, I think most of them would go with Gibbs first - although I'm really shaky about McGee. I think he's got Tony's back, especially from what we've seen this year, and would go with him rather than Gibbs. Although I don't think Tony would ever make them choose - if he and Gibbs did get pitted against one another in some way, which I hope never happens because I love them too much, I think Tony would just walk away. I don't know, I just like rambling about Tony far too much! ;-)

Oh my God, I love that episode, where he's in the car growling and annoyed, eating a sandwich! Love him! And the whole thing about refusing the Rota team to stay behind and watch over Gibbs - one of my favourite things about his character ever!

Yeah, I think he loves his job a lot, even when it's crappy. That's why his comments about things being "ridiculous" in 7x01 upset me so much - I like semi-burnout Tony in some fics, but the idea of him losing his innate dedication to his job really upsets me - because he's so good at it and seems to be made for it. I've always thought that when he chose the team over Jeanne, he was also choosing DiNozzo over DiNardo, if that makes sense - DiNardo would be fine not being a cop, never was a cop, but DiNozzo is a cop down to the bone. I'm just about to get into discussion about this with someone else, too, the fact that Tony hasn't been undercover (on screen) since Jeanne, which is interesting because since then, he's been acting a role more and more since she left. I wonder how much he likes undercover work now, after her, compared to how eager he was back in the early seasons!

[karababe_64]

That's very true about him walking away, simply because he wouldn't think he could compete against the loyalty Gibbs has even if he was in the right. And I think he also tries to protect that loyalty towards Gibbs that the others have, by hiding instances when his own opinion of Gibbs might have dropped slightly. Nothing wrong with rambling, as long as it's about Tony. :D

I interpretated that comment as if he was undercover. He didn't want to have to tell with another team mate while they were searching for Ziva/seeking revenge, so he tried to make the job look as horrible as possible. There might have been a little personal dissatisfaction but I don't think it was sign of him losing his dedication. If anything I think his frustration over the politics and trust issues in Cloak are more of a sign of being over his job. That definitly makes sense (at least to my sleep deprived brain), while we didn't really see a lot of that personal struggle on screen I think that he was definitly trying to deal with being two very different people and also trying to figure out which was the real "Tony". That's an interesting fact about not having been undercover. I wonder if he would still be able to perform as well undercover as before. Because whilst he might be acting a role more now, it's also more obvious that he is acting a role. And what made him so great before is that unless you looked deeply you couldn't tell that he was acting.

(I apologise if that rambles all over the place, I've had less than 7hrs sleep in the last 72hrs, so not a lot is making a lot of sense right now :-)

[little_ozzo]

I love that - Tony protecting everyone's loyalty towards Gibbs - that would be so very typical of him!

I like that explanation, because I just found it so difficult to watch that I hadn't really explored the reasons behind it that much, or had interpreted it as Tony just being really, really out of touch and disillusioned with everything that was going on. It kind of felt like he'd lost some spark. But at the same time, the way he seems to have shut down over the summer, followed by kind of jolting awake and rescuing Ziva, seems to have snapped him out of the downwards spiral I think he was on throughout S6 - like, he seems to have revived a little and his silliness and joking now, in S7, feels less forced than it did at times in S6. But his behaviour in S6 was really brittle, at times, and felt like he was really overcompensating. Haven't seen enough S7 yet to know how his character's going to pan out, at the moment Tony seems to be playing his cards quite close to his chest - acting again, possibly! I love that we're never quite sure to what extent he's acting.

Oh no, poor you - what on earth have you been up to? I hope you get a chance to get a lot more sleep soon! And by the way, I'm really impressed at your coherence on that little sleep. I struggle for that at full capacity! ;-)

[karababe_64]

For most of s6 it was like he was a breaking point, which is fair enough considering everything he has been through in the last few years. And it is good that they do actually have him at that point because it would be unrealistic for him to continually shugg things off without it affecting him in some way, not to mention the extra Tony!angst. But I do wish they had addressed it differently, and showing that Gibbs had noticed that Tony was in trouble and possibly have him trying to help Tony get past it. I rememeber reading/watching an interview with MW and he said that he felt that Tony was trying too hard to keep things normal and that is why the humour felt forced and over the top. Despite having high hopes for him this season, don't forget that s6 started well and then things went quickly downhill so I'm not holding my breath! He has always been a private person, even though it may not seem that way at first glance, I don't think that part is acting.

My stupid brain won't switch off for long enough to fall asleep which, with having to get up early the past few days, doesn't make for a lot of sleep. Even as exhusted as I was yesterday, I couldn't fall asleep until after midnight which gave me 6hrs last night which is slightly better than the night before when I was tossing and turning until 3:30am and then had to get up at 7am for a job interview. I just need to make it until Tuesday morning when I can sleep in until late morning. :-)

[little_ozzo]

Yeah, he was definitely on a kind of edge through S6, acting out in order to disguise just how very lost he was feeling, I think. I think it was self-preservation - he maybe felt a lot more vulnerable, being back after four months away, and so he was kind of trying to act like Tony from earlier seasons because he thought it might hide how very screwed up he actually was. And the awful thing is I think it worked, I think people did get fooled into thinking he was just being a silly, OTT fratboy. I think everyone was pretty screwed up in S6, and all dealing with their own issues - and I think his act came partly out of a desire to make thigns seem normal again. And for him, normal is season 1, 2 and 3, or at least the parts of those that weren't fraught. I think Gibbs did start to notice, especially during Bounce, SxSW and Knockout, but it wasn't explicitly stated that he had and that's me being subjective. But because Gibbs was being even more detached than usual in his own fucked up way, he didn't do very much about it.

I have to admit I like S6 much more when viewing it with this view of Tony in my head, because it makes it more interesting. I hope S7 is a good season - I'm pleased with it so far but I hope it doesn't cause any more friction between viewing groups, I know some people are really disappointed with it so far and so I hope that changes! I also hope they go somewhere interesting with Tony's character, especially now that he seesm to be taking on more responsibility. And, if this makes sense (bear with me, I was out last night and am still recovering!), although I enjoy S6 with that idea about Tony shielding a big breakdown, it's not my favourite season, and I'd like for there to be some natural progression in his character so that I can look back and be like, so, S6 Tony was the screwed up, shielding Tony before whatever happened next in S7 - that's an awful explanation, I am sorry. I just hope something happens in S7 that sort of explains/justifies S6 a bit more, you know?

Possibly unfair of me to tax your brain with my incoherence when you're so tired - don't you have any downtime this weekend? If not, then I am hoping Tuesday comes quickly for you so you can catch up on some z's. I hope the interviews are going well, too! :-)

[karababe_64]

I guess that Gibbs did try in his own way to help with the comment in Knockout and I loved the "I'm proud of you" moment but it was probably too little too late to make any serious impact. But yeah everyone was screwed up and that was one of the reasons I disliked the seaon so much. It would have been much better if they had just had Tony and maybe one of the others dealing with emotional issues instead of everyone being almost ooc and there being no decent on-screen explanation for any of it (don't even get me started on McGee's "I lost all my money in the GFC" excuse). Because while Tony's breakdown can be justified and Gibbs withdrawing because of the team being split up makes sense, it comes back to the fact that we have to come up with justifications ourselves to help keep everything realistic and in character. And that's just bad writing.

I should rewatch the season (I'll add it to my ever growing list of thing to do after exams) from start to finish in order and maybe I'll enjoy it more the second time around. I like what they are doing with Tony this season and that is a major part of me enjoying the show, but I am disappointed with certain aspects of it still. So you are basically saying that you don't want them to drop the Tony breakdown issue without any addressing it again this season? If so I completely agree with you. if they completely ignore the whole issue this season I will be very annoyed. As someone who has come almost as close as Tony to suffering a breakdown, I know it is not something you get over easily or just magically disappears as much as you want it to. But then again Tony is someone who likes to bury/ignore the past and reinvent himself and get on with the current so maybe it is realistic to not see any lingering affects. But I still think it gets to point where you can't shake off the past and it's emotional effects completely and I think Tony is well and truely at that point.

That's ok, I'm not so bad at the moment. I've had the last couple of evenings to myself after being out all weekend from 8am to 6pm both days at a conference, but early nights aren't really possible when your brain refuses to let you sleep. :-) Friday's interview was fairly promising but who knows what will happen. :-)

[little_ozzo]

Yeah, Gibbs’ acknowledgement of Tony’s ace job despite everything going on with him wasn’t exactly before time, LOL, but it does fit in with my idea that Gibbs detached himself from the team in S6 so much. But, like you say, the fact that we’re having to come up with these justifications ourselves isn’t really right - I’m all for TV shows making me work a little harder when I watch, and making me think, but when what I’m thinking is almost entirely built on my own, mostly unsupported subjective interpretation, something feels a little wrong. I don’t want it spelled out for me, but I do want at least some verification that my thoughts are vaguely on the right track, or even that they’re completely wrong - just something! (I won’t get you started on McGee, LOL, don’t worry, I actually kind of enjoyed him being a dick just because it was interesting and it’s nice to see a main character being allowed a flaw like that, but totally understand being really annoyed at him too. But again, there was one possible excuse the writers offered us for his behaviour, and the rest is kind of all supposition. Wow. For a series that seems to be dividing its fans a lot now over forgetting about the “sub” in “subtext”, S6 was actually full of so-far-beneath-the-text-it’s-practically-invisible stuff.)

Watching from a POV entirely based on my theory that Tony is barely coping has really made it a lot more enjoyable and interesting - although a little less fun, too, in that it’s quite disturbing how very fucked up his behaviour is when viewed like that! Well done, you managed to sum up what I couldn’t say in ten sentences in just one - yeah, I want them to acknowledge whatever’s going on with Tony in some way so I at least know that my theory that he was screwed up all the way through S6 was either somewhat on target, or completely wrong. Just something. I’d agree with both points, I think; if Tony did come as close to having a breakdown as I think he did between S5 and S6, then despite his seeming ability to push on with life, there has to be some fallout from that. In S6, there wasn’t really fallout, just a display of Tony doing what he could to ignore what was going on with himself. I have no idea what they’re going to do with Tony in S7 yet, though, whether they’re going to have him actually succumb to some kind of emotional fallout, or whether the very brief show of numbness and revival we saw in the premiere is going to be all we get. (I hope not.)

Glad your interview felt good on Friday! Fingers crossed for you, though I’m sure you don’t actually need the luck and will get there entirely on your own merit! I’m very lucky to rarely suffer from insomnia, my late nights are entirely a result of my own lack of willpower to make myself go to bed and sleep at sensible times! When will the exams all be over?

[karababe_64]

McGee has never been my favourite character so his attitude, especially towards Tony, really annoyed me. It's fine for a characters to have flaws, and a seperiour attitude is natural for an oldest child who is an overachiever, but we don't have to like them.

So far the only emotional fallout has been in the season opener which concerns me. I would have expected a little more by now if they were going down that road. Then again maybe because things have calmed down a little he is able to get back on track and we won't see anything until something else major comes along.

Thanks, but I do need all the luck I can get! *g* I'm not normally this bad, usually I'll fall asleep at around 12:30-1am but I have no idea why I'm having so much trouble at the moment. Maybe it's an unconcious attempt to sabotage myself (it's been known to happen) or maybe it's just the heat. I had my first exam today and the final one will be on the 16th of November. Can't wait!

[little_ozzo]

You're right, it wasn't a particularly nice characteristic, and I hope they keep it toned down this season because I've always quite liked McGee and would prefer him occasionally bitchy to overly malicious. But because I've always liked Tim, I of course find ways to justify his behaviour to myself! ;-)

I have absolutely no idea what the writers are going to do, if they're working up to something, or if the vague, brief emotional fallout we've had so far is all we're going to get. At the moment, Tony seems to be doing things okay - he's dealing with extra responsibility quite well, is making a lot of fun jokes but not going too overboard, and is interacting well with his teammates. That's how it is to my eye, obviously, YMMV. But there's a sense that something is going on behind what we're being shown, or maybe that's just my feeling that we haven't had things explained coming into play. I'm not certain of what the characters are feeling, so again, I'm projecting and coming up with subjective theories! *sigh* What I would like to see is Tony getting involved in a particularly brutal case, and maybe losing it a little over that, or revealing some of the things he's hiding because of it, but I have a feeling that might only happen in my daydreams or in fic.

Heat is hard to fall asleep with. Currently, over here, it's not overly cold but last night was getting there, and I hate having cold feet during the night! Well, you clearly have quite a lot going on at the moment, exams and job apps, but at least one of those things will be over in a fortnight - I hope you don't have to wait ages for results!

[karababe_64]

The only thing I've noticed is when he is interacting with Ziva, like he wants to tell her something but then stops himself, or he is trying to figure out something about her. The times that Tony has revealed something has been when they are working a case so I think that is a possibility. Although now with the news about his father appearing I think it is very likely there is going to be emotional fallout in that ep. And I was obviously wrong about the likely hood on him appearing this season!

I can't live without my electric blanket in winter and it doesn't get nearly as cold as I imagine it would where you are. I don't know how you put up with it, I can't stand being cold. But at the same time I don't cope well with it being really hot. I'm very hard to please. *g*

Exam results come out in the first week on December so it's not too long a wait.

[little_ozzo]

Firstly: HAPPY BIRTHDAY! *showers you with balloons and sparkles and Tony!clones!* Hope you have a lovely day and enjoy your lie-in! :-)
LOL, I was really surprised to get the news that his dad would be in this season - I wonder if he's the "angry father" that was mentioned in an interview?! I have my fingers, toes, and everything else possible crossed for some kind of emotional fallout. All I can do is wait, obviously, to see what they're going to do, but I have to admit I am hoping that they don't make him into just a nice guy who has just made some msitakes after his wife's death (I hope we get more info on that, too) and too much to drink. I want some payoff for all the angst Tony has hinted or accidentally let slip regarding his past, I don't want his dad's neglect of him to be written off! I'm already half terrified and half excited.

I'm awful when it's too hot, but I'm not sure the way I deal with the cold over here (it's about 5 degrees here today, but that's still okay, LOL) could be called coping or dealing; I just moan a lot and wear about a thousand layers! I'm a little bit scared of electric blankets, but only because my dad once set one on fire and threw it into the neighbour's garden, causing havoc. He was a lot younger and stupider then, but the story has stuck with me!

Not too bad then - I can't believe it's only 2 months to Christmas/other festive holidays already. Eek!

[karababe_64]

Thank you :D I've had a nice relaxing day, slept until 11am and then had a lazy afternoon. Just what I needed :-)

He could be the "angry father". It would be good if he is as it would keep in with our current perceptions of him. I'm not overly fussed as to how they portray him just as long as they do it so well that I don't care if I had the wrong idea about him. They shouldn't ignore what we have learnt previously but if they do it by just having made mistakes in the past, then I'll be fine with that even though it's not currently how I view him.

The lowest it gets here is about 10-15C in winter during the day. Melbourne is famous for it's flucating weather so it can be 35C one day and 20C the next. I've never had a problem with my blanket and in winter it's pretty much on 24/7!