17 Review of NCIS 1X12 Flesh and Blood by Tejas and Anna
Dear NCIS:
First off, I must get this out of my system.
EEEEEEEEEEEE! ROBERT WAGNER!!!! EEEEEEEEEEE!
When I was eight years old, back in the Jurassic, I fell madly in love with Alexander Mundy (It Takes a Thief). Mr. Spock remained my first TV love, but there was plenty of room in my pre-adolescent heart for Mr. Wagner’s delightful jewel thief turned spy. While I will always remember that role fondly (and WHOOP! Fred Astaire played Mundy’s father, Alistair. Could not get any better than that!), I think I’ve seen everything Mr. Wagner has done, or at least everything I could lay hands on. He’s always a treat to watch and having him take on the, hopefully recurring, role of Anthony DiNozzo, Sr. is like finding that lost box of treasures in the back of your closet that you thought you’d lost somewhere through the years. (Why yes, I am in the middle of a move, why do you ask? Shoulda seen me scrambling to find the power cord to my TV on Monday.) Flesh and Blood is just that, a treasure.
So, on to the show. I confess I was alternately excited beyond belief in anticipation of Flesh and Blood and deeply concerned about how this would be handled. Given the less than stellar quality of NCIS of late, I wasn’t certain they’d be able to pull off something palatable. Frank Cardea and George Schenck rose to the occasion, though, and wrote an excellent episode. Good job to them… with some caveats, but I’ll get to those in a moment. Right now, I’m still basking in the warm glow of the best NCIS episode since Heartland. (Which is sad, especially given I fell for NCIS because watching Gibbs and Tony and the gang solving crimes was fun. These days the cases are little more than furniture for the characters to lounge on. Once in a while is great, but NCIS needs to get back to its roots or risk toppling over in the first high wind like a top-heavy tree.)
Anna says:
Kudos as well to a director I’m going to have to watch for more often—Arvin Brown. Don’t have a clue who he is, but I do know that he’s been the director on the last three NCIS episodes that were worth watching for me: Bounce, Faith and now Flesh & Blood.
The teaser introduces a Saudi prince who is undergoing flight training with the US Navy. He doesn’t seem to be taking it, or anything else, terribly seriously. When the prince’s driver goes off to get the car, the prince makes a comment to his flight instructor that indicates he’s not happy with his driver/aide and would like to be rid of him. Next, we see the driver approach the car, click the fob to unlock it, then stop to watch a jet zoom low overhead. When the camera pans back after following the jet, the driver turns back to the car just as it explodes. Huge points to director Arvin Brown on this section. What can I say, I like a good explosion as much as the next gal, and having the driver blown out of his shoes was pretty darned cool.
The first act opens with Tony at his desk and about at the end of his rope. It seems his bank in New York confused one of his accounts with one of his father’s accounts and now Tony can’t withdraw any money from it. Having once been through something similar (though the bank was local, only the last name was the same and the amounts were vastly smaller), I deeply sympathized. I suspect most of us know the pain of trying to get a problem solved over the phone and his “Are you in India?” is a definite sign of the times (though it was the Philippines the last time I was in phone customer service hell – nice guy, awful company). Gibbs sweeps in next and they’re all off to Pax River to investigate the explosion we saw in the teaser.
Anna says:
Loved, loved this scene. From the point of Tony on the phone to Gibbs walking in, I found myself understanding his frustration. There was both humor and empathy that the audience could tap into here since who hasn’t been in his shoes of late with all of the out-sourcing happening in the business world. I even enjoyed the side exchange between McGee and Ziva which explained to the audience what Tony was so upset about as well as Tony’s reaction to Ziva. ‘Grouchy.’ You think, Ziva? Having been in Tony’s shoes (and talking to someone in India), I can so relate to his reactions and responses. I also thought that the scene rather nicely set up what would be the entrance of DiNozzo Senior, much in the same way that the trip to Stillwater set up the obvious arrival of Jackson Gibbs.
This is a good time to introduce the first of my quibbles with this episode. When we started talking about wanting to meet Tony’s dad after Heartland last season, I’d said then that I really hoped they’d find a way to do it as part of a case. Given that we knew next to nothing about Senior, except that he was apparently wealthy, he could have easily been a defense contractor or, or, or. Flesh and Blood gave us at least a tenuous personal connection to the Saudi prince, but I wish Senior had been more well-integrated into the case beyond being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I’ve never been fond of disjointed plotlines playing out in the same episode. I’d much rather have the richer storytelling required for a cohesive story that still explores multiple avenues. Multiple unrelated or only loosely related storylines are like having chocolate, butter, sugar, cream and a lovely liqueur or two in your kitchen. Useful as they are on their own, it’s not until you integrate them all into one cohesive unit that you get truffles to die for.
Anna says:
While I understand the thought and have been a huge supporter of NCIS getting back to what made it so good, I’ve got to disagree with the need to have had DiNozzo Senior more integrated into the case. I’ve gone on record before (in the review of Faith) as, surprisingly enough, actually supporting the idea that having a big character backstory/reveal allows the show to back off on the case. The tenuous connection that Daddy Dinozzo had to the case was enough for me. It helped to explain the scene we saw in the preview of Tony pointing a gun on his father in the hotel business center and also helped to set up both the idea that Gibbs would bench Tony as well as the way the final scene between father and son played out. Having DiNozzo Senior be more involved or closely tied to a case would have had the show running the risk of having a response much the same as what happened in the over-long Ziva arc from last season. It would also have effectively killed the idea of bringing Robert Wagner back in for return visits a la Jackson Gibbs. There is plenty of time in future episodes for Daddy DiNozzo to be involved more deeply in a case especially if, since the conman appears to be broke, he now turns to some type of legitimate business.
The plot, such as it is, moves on, but we hardly notice since, as has become far too common on NCIS, this episode wasn’t plot based. This was the major downside to Flesh and Blood. Finally getting some insight into Tony’s background after six and a half years makes it easy enough to overlook the simplistic background plot, but it’s becoming too much the norm for a show that used to have interesting mysteries, if not particularly deep ones. Like the song says, “you’re riding high in April, shot down in May”. Don’t get cocky. Keep straying from the format that got you here (and don’t fool yourselves; soap opera story lines aren’t what got you here) and you may get to see the sights on the way down sooner than you’d like.
Anna says:
Except I think there was a plot in this one – just not a case related one. Much like Faith, the central mystery of the episode revolved around a parent. Robert Wagner exuded a smarmy sort of crooked character in DiNozzo Senior right from the start, which led me to see that all was not what we thought. Like the ‘what’s wrong with Jackson’ storyline in Faith, the ‘what is Tony’s dad up to’ plotline in this episode worked as the primary storyline. Although I do agree that now, with two major parental visits out of the way, it’s time for NCIS to shelve all of the woe and character drama and return to more solid cases with the relationships on the backburner.
That said, the good stuff in this one far outweighed the bad. We got Gibbs working with Tony, treating him as his second, rather than the team whipping boy. There was that one moment, which I could have done without. There was simply no reason for Gibbs’ beating on Tony like that in the yoga scene. It was not only over the top it was out of character for Gibbs. Even if we accept that Tony was purposely acting out due to the stress of having his father invading his life, Gibbs would have been far more likely to drag him into private, slap the back of his head and then call him on his behavior. Slapping him around like that in front of not only other agents (as opposed to teammates), members of the Royal Guard, the prince, the prince’s brother who was an embassy official was not appropriate behavior. It wasn’t Gibbs-like behavior. It also wasn’t funny. It was the only cringe-worthy moment in the whole episode. It’s a sad state of affairs when cringing only once is considered a good thing.
Anna says:
Wasn’t very happy with that scene myself. I tried to understand and accept Gibbs’ behavior as being an over the top reaction to an over the top reaction from DiNozzo. No doubt in my mind that it was that scene plus seeing Tony Senior with Prince Omar that led to Gibbs wondering if he needed to bench his senior field agent.
I’d been worried about what we’d learn about Tony’s Dad. Fandom has had a blast exploring that character for years now and while he’s often been considered a monster, I’d been hoping for something more complex; something that would at least give a nod to the complexities of parent/child relationships and how perceptions of events and people vary over the years, especially when looking back into childhood.
When we got the rumor that he’d show up and be broke, I was really worried it would end up being something trite like having lost it all in the market or the financial industry debacle. While I was still a little bummed to find out Senior was broke, his being, essentially, a conman more than made up for it. That was an excellent choice. Suddenly, much of what Tony’s let slip over the years about his childhood slots into place beautifully… and may I just say “thank you” for paying attention to the canon we already had! The only slip was his mother dressed him sailor suits until he was 10 (Frame Up), but according to Flesh and Blood she died when he was eight. How much did Tony’s mother’s death affect his father? How much did their life change when she died? Did she know about Senior’s ways? The big question now is, did he “warehouse” Tony in boarding schools and summer camps because he cramped Senior’s style, or did he do that to keep Tony away from the life Senior was leading and perhaps protect him from some of the more unsavory aspects of it. Hopefully, it’ll be some sort of blend of the two and maybe Senior’s not even quite sure. (This would, naturally, mean we’d get to see Senior again. Right? He’s coming back? Right? Only next time, more plot? Please?)
Anna says:
Hope he comes back but I’m not sure I want all of those answers to Tony’s past. Leaving a bit of mystery in the why things happened the way they did allows for more speculation by the fans and consistently bring them back to see the character whenever he is written in to an episode. It will also allow both Michael Weatherly and Robert Wagner the freedom to explore the parental relationship in their own way and still allow Weatherly’s Tony the ability to spout off various tidbits about his childhood as is relevant without shoehorning the character into a backstory that just doesn’t not work with what we’ve previously learned.
One of the most fascinating things about meeting Senior was realizing that every word that came out of his mouth could have come right out of Tony’s mouth, too. (When Senior answered Tony’s phone, he even sounded like Tony – kudos to Mr. Wagner.) That was a beautiful creative choice, even if it flowed fairly obviously from his being a conman. His general manner, even his flash of steel in the conference room when he told Gibbs he’d keep it civil for Tony’s sake, showed that father and son are two peas in a pod.
Ultimately, Tony DiNozzo, Sr. strikes me as a very lonely man. At the end, when he told Tony he loved him, I think he truly meant it. I think he really did want to tell him the truth, but a combination of a lifetime of hiding, not wanting to lose face in his son’s eyes and needing to see if meeting Omar in Monte Carlo would be the big score that would make it all worthwhile. He just hasn’t gotten to the point where he realizes there will always be one more opportunity on the horizon and the big score will always be out of reach. I’m torn between him realizing Tony was the one who paid his hotel bill and bought the ticket and him having been fooled. I think he figured it out, Tony would have, but it’s going to be just one more of the little non-truths between them, at least until Senior finally realizes he can talk to his son and just maybe honesty would mean more to Tony than all the money in the world.
Anna says:
That end scene between father and son was the one scene that fell short for me. There was something about the way that Robert Wagner delivered his lines that just seemed like it was fake, for lack of a better term. He’d seemed to be so on for most of the episode that getting to the part where he said how much he enjoyed their talk (what talk?) and them doing it again appeared to be more of greeting card read than actual sentiment. And I’m still not sure why he actually came down to see his son. Was he there on ‘business’ and heard of Tony’s bank issues and looked him up because of them? Or was he actually there to come clean? I’m not particularly leaning towards one specific hypothesis at this point and I’ve watched the episode more than once.
Okay, it would mean almost as much. *g*
Then we have the last scene. Oh. My. That was lovely. We’ve known since season one that Tony has stayed with Gibbs from time to time. We’ve also seen him looking comfortable in Gibbs’ house before. It was so very nice to see them sharing a meal in what appears to be a fairly routine manner (almost ritualistic, to be honest). Maybe it’s a once a month thing or an after-a-bad-case thing or just a once in a while “I’ll cook the steak, you bring the beer” thing. Given that Tony has worked for Gibbs longer than anyone else ever has and given the relationship we’ve seen between them over the years, it makes sense that they’ve also developed a friendship of sorts that would include steak and beer. Gibbs and Tony fans of every conceivable variety were made very happy with that last scene. Thank you. (PSST! By the way, that is how you do subtext.)
Anna says:
Ahhh yes, that subtext that was that last scene. What a sight to behold! And don’t a good many of us wish that the writers, directors and other technical people there would take a good long look at the ease with which that scene played off before forcing anything else on the screen. Just the way that scene was shot and played out made it seem like it was a normal event. But then going back to Inlaws and Outlaws, didn’t Tony seem fairly comfortable once he reached Casa Gibbs? (can’t remember) I’m not sure what my favorite part of that scene was. It’s a toss-up between the jaunty way Tony entered, the shot of both their knives clicking open at the same time, the way Gibbs nailed Tony on his skirting the truth about his father to the end where they clinked beer bottles.
The delightful chemistry between these two characters just lights up the screen and this episode showed just what can be done with chemistry like this. There was nothing forced anywhere in their interactions (except the regrettable yoga scene). When I see what the writers can do with character interactions like this, it makes me seriously wonder if the clunky character bits we’ve had shoved down our throats in the past year or more are things that have been shoved down their throats from higher ups. If so, I hope someone’s paying attention and will consider removing Shane Brennan whoever’s sticking his nose into the creative side of things and get someone else who’ll let the writers write. Flesh and Blood shows they still can, if they’re allowed to.
Anna says:
Completely agree with everything here. There’s no way I could have said it better than the middle two sentences said it.
With Love,
Tejas and Anna