Best NCIS season première ever? After last night’s episode, I’m thinking, heck yes!
When we left Ziva (Cote de Pablo) at the end of last season, she was being smacked around by a mysterious guy who wanted NCIS intel. And in the opening scene last night, Tony (Michael Weatherly) was in the same position … with Ziva nowhere in sight.
And as the minutes ticked by, we learned through flashbacks what went down during the summer.
Basically, we got a taste of a traditional case — a U.S. marine OD’d on drugs to disguise the fact that he was a pusher — as well as a glimpse at the team’s attempt to hire Ziva’s replacement, and the lead-up to them rescuing her in an awesome closing sequence.
Though there was so much going on, the stories were seamlessly interwoven and the suspense built nicely with dashes of the show’s trademark humour.
I went from wondering who the dude was crumpled on the floor, to thinking McGee (Sean Murray) was possibly dead, to cheering as he kicked the interrogator Saleem (Omid Abtahi) to the ground.
Of course, I knew that Ziva, Tony and McGee wouldn’t die — the show couldn’t kill them all off, now could it? — but I was riveted nonetheless. Didn’t you shudder just a bit when Tony told Saleem, “Ziva David is dead?”
Tony once again proved how skilled he was, by tracking Saleem down via a Caf Pow drink, and I loved seeing Gibbs (Mark Harmon) show off his sniper skills to shoot Saleem down.
(As an aside, during the scene where Gibbs was standing in the hall, obscured by the light behind him, and uttering, “Let’s go home,” I almost — almost — applauded right there in my living room.)
Also, when Ziva and Tony finally had their face-to-face, you could tell she was moved by his determination to rescue her and hopefully they’ve reconciled. Those two are so good together; their chemistry simply crackles with tension.
Another brilliant bit of writing: since Saleem injected Tony with truth serum, Tony was forced to essentially narrate everything that went down over the summer while not seeming gimmicky or confusing.
There are still questions, though — how and why exactly was Ziva captured? Vance (Rocky Carroll) hinted that her dad may know more than he was saying, so hopefully we’ll revisit that soon. I still don’t completely trust Vance …
Other fun moments:
• Abby (Pauley Perrette) and McGee singing the goat song
• Tony mooning over the potential candidates for Ziva’s job, and wincing after one proved to have super-strong hands
• The marine saying he thought someone drugged his juice, just like a scene he saw in 90210
What did you think of the episode? melissa@tvguide.ca
NCIS airs Tuesdays, 8 p.m. ET, Global/CBS.
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