Enemy on the Hill

Add Comment | Related Links | TrackBack
Related Content

Enemy on the Hill

NCIS is a fascinating show, and one that I watch nearly weekly. The best part is the interaction between the characters, and remarkably, it only rarely seems forced or strained. The combination of great acting and great scripting keeps me coming back for more.

This week's episode is titled Enemy on the Hill and unfolds a complicated plot by a political advisor to hide political donations, involving 2 reciprocal murder attempts, one of which fails due to random chance, and one of which succeeds. The trick revolves around a fictional third person. The episode is further complicated by a plot line involving fan favorite Abby, who is invited to donate an organ, but winds up finding out about her background instead. The filling out of backstory is thus nicely rotated about the characters; we have heard about the backstory of Gibbs, McGee, Tony, Dr. Mallard, and Ziva, but Abby's backstory has never been fleshed out until now. While the linking of the story to the main plot seems very forced, as opposed to last week's deux ex machina which created a more organic transition (as the backstory was linked to the case) it did provide some information for a character who was not previously grounded.

Tony's character had an inexplicable bounciness during part of today's episode. While he is normally exuberant and frequently annoyingly prone to quoting popular movies, the distinct change does not seem to fit very well with the rest of his behavior. Previous shows explained his personality changes quite well; for example, an episode in which he was somber and professional explained it by saying that he was going through a period of maturation based on a revelation about a previous temporary romantic partner. However, I do not feel that this episode did it quite as well.

As always, the technology depicted in the show did wild and unlikely things. While the show is generally well-researched, I usually find it a little disconcerting. But as someone who is familiar with much of the general abilities of the equipment depicted on the show, I feel that it contributes to the well known CSI effect, in which juries expect more out of evidence presented in court cases than is actually possible, and are less likely to engage in speculation about the most likely possibility instead.

All in all, I felt this episode was fairly mediocre; while the central plot of the murder mystery was excellent, even if it did involve some unlikely errors based on the previous description of the agents, the exposition of Abby's background seemed forced in to me.

NCIS Watcher
Thu, 13 Oct 2011 19:17:20 +0000

Add Comment | Related Links | TrackBack
Related Content

Did your message disappear? Read the Forums FAQ.

Add Comment

Spam Control | * indicates required field

TrackBack

TrackBack only accepted from WebSite-X Suite web sites. Do not submit TrackBacks from other sites.

Send Ping | TrackBack URL | Spam Control

No TrackBacks yet. TrackBack can be used to link this thread to your weblog, or link your weblog to this thread. In addition, TrackBack can be used as a form of remote commenting. Rather than posting the comment directly on this thread, you can posts it on your own weblog. Then have your weblog sends a TrackBack ping to the TrackBack URL, so that your post would show up here.

Messages, files, and images copyright by respective owners.

Your Name: *
E-mail:
	Remember Me!
Comment: *
	File attachment is optional. Please do not attach a file to your submission unless it is relevent.
Attach File: (20 MB Max)
Spam Protection: *	Answer of 4 + 7?
	Click button only once, please!