Okay, I only watched about the last half hour on Tuesday. Tonight I went to CBS’s website and watched the whole episode. It was okay as a police procedural. Tony is very smitten with Pendergast because, as he says,”she fights back.” I find her character to be a bit cold and I think you are right that they are trying to make her like Ziva. But what made Ziva interesting was her comedic timing with Tony and her strength combined with vulnerability. She was a complex character.

When we first met Ziva, she looked like she was a teenager. She wore little or no make up and clothes that looked like they came from an army surplus or outdoor store There was a kind of naivete to her. She would speak her mind and be surprised at the reaction she got, and yet we soon found out that she was a Mossad assassin. For someone who spoke many languages and had learned to operate in many different cultural contexts, she was often baffled by American culture, especially our slang. She also had a knack for getting into relationships with the wrong man. Although she was good at sizing up her enemies, she was not so good with matters of the heart. In this way, she was like Sarah MacKenzie.

This new character does not have those qualities. Leia Pendergast comes off a bit hard boiled–rude at times She acts like she’s been around the block a few times. Maybe they will give her a background story that softens her up and adds other dimensions to her personality. She is not the kind of leading lady that Bellisario would create. Sarah MacKenzie, Caitlin Todd and Ziva David were all likable from the get go. Tony obviously likes her. She also puts Tony down like all of the others before her. That hasn’t changed.

She will probably be TPTB’s replacement for Ziva but I think from first appearances, she falls short.

Also, I think that Maddie was supposed to go with Harm to London if I’m remembering it correctly. One more also, Michael Weatherly recently lost about 35 pounds…….Hmmmmmm.

Thanks for the JAG background info. Certainly makes sense. I found an interview with DPB stating that he would like to have lead up to the final episode across the preceding four or five shows, but CBS kept them hanging on as to whether or not there would be a season 11 and by the time the show was officially cancelled it was a scramble to tie up the final story. That being said I still think that’s no excuse for just abandoning the Maddie plot line several episodes before the end and the Harm I knew and loved would not have just abandoned her and headed off to England – even if she was in a coma. Personally if David James Elliot was not longer going to be in the show I for one am glad it ended. I had a tough enough time watching season 10 minus so many of my favorite characters. Can’t say I’d noticed that he was any less fit in season 10 – to my mind he was still absolutely gorgeous – but that could certainly explain why NCIS have turned DiNozzo into a clown rather than the romantic flawed hero of old. At 45 Michael Weatherly is now older than David James Elliott was when JAG finished. Love to know what you thought of this week’s NCIS “Choke Hold” – by 10 minutes in I couldn’t bring myself to watch any more. Could Tony’s reaction to Leia feel any more forced? Talk about going at it with a sledge hammer. Did it get any better? Are the writers intentionally trying to turn DiNozzo into an annoying unsympathetic character – despite being hopelessly biased I’m really finding it difficult to even like him.

Season 10 of JAG was all messed up because there was contract issues between TPTB and David James Elliot. He was getting fewer and fewer episodes in season 10. The rumor was that TPTB thought that he was too old to be an attractive leading man. You may have noticed that he was putting on weight in season 10 and didn’t look as fit as he did previously. You may also have noticed that in season 10, Vukovich, the young Navy officer was hitting on Sarah. MacKenzie a lot..

CBS made a contract offer to David James Elliot. Elliot rejected the offer. Elliot’s agent said that they had countered CBS’s offer and they never heard from CBS again. So, Elliot walked. The writers had to rewrite the last 7 minutes of the last episode to finish off the series.

My opinion is that they were going to continue into season 11 with Vukovich becoming Sarah’s next lover and Harm would be off in England. But fearing that the fans would not go for that and Elliot would not re-sign for another season, they decided to finish at 10 seasons. That left the fans to finish the story. Who gave up their commission? Where did they live, London or San Diego? Were they successful in having a child? All fertile ground for fan fiction.

You really hit the nail on the head! There is little energy in this show. It’s as if they are just going through the motions. The show is still number 1 but can they hold on to it? Season 12 has the worst viewership start since season 6.

Thanks for your recommendation. If I can find it I’ll try to catch JAG. They really have paired down these formerly rich characters to just a few easily identifiable and predictable attributes. The constant focus on super GIbbs, most valued and wisest leader to all has become a chore to watch. Despite all the effort put forth to showcase and flatter Gibbs, I like him far less than when he wasn’t the be all/end all character every week and he was more human and less over exposed. The show was SOOOOOO much better when the writers knew and cared about all the characters giving them a consistent and multi dimensional voice. Allowing everyone to have moments of stupidity and moments of great virtue and integrity. Now we have the formula – super all knowing, hero to all Gibbs, Tony the somewhat tolerated idiot, McGee grows a pair, Bishop (still a work in progress) but it seems to me she’s shaping up to be the all knowing damsel who will no doubt be needing the all wise Gibbs to set her straight on occasion. It just sucks to be a Tony fan and I too watch with the expectation that the above formula will play itself out yet again tonight.

Totally agree. If there is no “in between the sheets stuff” nothing that makes the characters three dimensional – whether that’s a few loving looks and a kiss between McGee and Deliah, a worried glance from Gibbs when Tony’s in trouble (not that I think he’d care nowadays) and a conversation between Tony and McGee relating to McGee’s sick father, perhaps briefly mentioned when Gibbs’ father died, then you’re right, it’s no different from any other forensic procedural show and why should I care enough to watch. It’s not like I want something new – I just want some semblance of the show and the characters I fell in love with, the one filled with texture, character and emotion, written by writers who wrote with passion and heart.

I’m absolutely loving JAG, which is undoubtedly written with the same love and passion for its characters as the early Don Bellisario seasons of NCIS. Personally I think that JAG slightly lost its way in season 10 – not sure if that was due to DPB maybe spending more time on NCIS, or just that several much loved characters including Admiral Chegwidden left, and I was bitterly disappointed in the way that Maddie was dropped in the last few episodes of the series, but certainly the quality of seasons 1-9 is hard to fault. As far as NCIS goes, whilst I love many later episodes, for me it’s seasons 1-4 before DPB left that really shine for me, before Ziva became wonder woman and Tony lost all his skills, when Gibbs and Tony had a relationship reminiscent of The Streets of San Francisco’s, Mike Stone and Steve Keller and Abby was a strong, smart, quirky woman and not an irritating, whiny child. Now with Cote de Pablo’s departure combined with some appalling and
inconsistent writing I’m having a really tough time maintaining my
interest. DPB really knew how to write and cast wonderful strong leading ladies who you loved or on occasion absolutely hated, but unlike recent NCIS ladies, if you hated them it was because you were meant to hate them. Whilst I have no problem with the actress for me the role of Bishop just doesn’t work (I don’t even like her as a character in the fanfic) if for no other reason than she’s just too young and unbalances the whole team dynamic.

Couldn’t agree more. For me the stories and indeed the characters these days have no texture, no depth – they seem to me like a rough sketch that someone has forgotten to finish, to colour in. If I’m not going to feel any emotion – whether that be excitement, or joy – something that makes me laugh or cry, or even just leaves me with a feeling of satisfaction, what’s the point in watching? If you get the chance – and JAG can be found both on the internet and on DVD – I highly recommend watching. Harmon Rabb played by the excellent David James Elliot, is everything I ever wanted Tony to be and more. Gibbs is there is the form of AJ Chegwidden (his middle name is Jethro!), Bud is McGee’s predecessor and the lovely Catherine Bell is highly reminiscent of Kate. The writing is consistently strong and the characters themselves are consistently written, unlike those in NCIS who bear little relationship to the orignal characters created by Don Bellisario. I don’t have a problem with character growth and development, but the NCIS team appear to have had personality transplants. JAG episodes are exciting and funny and I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been reduced to tears – and not always due to the trials and tribulations of the lead characters but also the moving and inspirational nature of some of the week’s plots and guest characters. I sometimes see reviews where viewers who like the current style point out that NCIS is not a “soap”. However, making the characters so thin and stripping away all emotion and all supposedly unnecessary character driven scenes, by throwing in jokes at the expense of character (usually Tony’s) just leaves the series weak. I’ve loved NCIS for so long, I love the characters and read and have written a small amount of fan fiction, I’ve even created the odd fan video, and it deeply saddens me that now instead of looking forward to watching new episodes I view them with trepidation in the expectation of being disappointed.

I agree with much of what you say but Bellisario always had what you called the “in between the sheets stuff.” The relationships between the characters and the humor were what he said made NCIS different from other forensic procedural shows.

I’m glad to see another NCIS fan discover JAG. I’m a big fan of JAG and NCIS seasons 1 through 10. Donald P. Bellisario was a true master of creating delightful characters. The team as family is present in both shows. The strong female lead, the failed fathers and the team leader as the surrogate father are all there. You really don’t understand NCIS until you have watched it’s predecessor, JAG. These shows are connected on a deep level because they come from the creative genius of DP Bellisario. Last night I was re-watching season 1 of NCIS and there was Bud Roberts.

TPTB kept most of the themes of Bellisario in NCIS until Cote left and then they for some reason started to go off on another path. Bellisario would never have handled the departure of Cote de Pablo’s Ziva the way these guys did. Even if he was angry about her leaving, he would not have shot himself in the foot by acting as if she never existed. That damaged the family dynamic of NCIS that was also a central theme for JAG. He also would have cast another strong female lead. Bishop is not a strong lead. She is, at best, a supporting character. It is now 26 episodes without a leading lady. Even if this new character is their choice for a leading lady, is she in the same class with Catherine Bell, Sasha Alexander and Cote de Pablo? Bellisario knew how to pick his leading ladies. Also,I don’t know how they can fix the broken family dynamic. It’s been over a year since an 8 year member of the family has left with no mention of her ever existing. First they have to realize that it’s a problem for many fans. Only time will tell if they can fix the damage they’ve caused. I’m not saying the show is bad. It’s just a different show from the NCIS I loved. It’s just another crime procedural. It was special but not now.