No, as a Tony fan I pretty much expect disappointment. Since it’s a Tony episode I doubt that there will be even half as much publicity as the GIbbs/McGee premier, the Gibbs/McGee Christmas episode, or the upcoming Gibbs ex wife episode. I’ll honestly be amazed if they allow Michael Weatherly to have any drama at all. It seems to be taboo for the writers to give Weatherly anything meaty. Absolutely all of that kind of opportunity to shine as an actor seems only to go to Harmon and Murray these days. No, I too fear that this will be another “light hearted” episode which portrays Tony as the joke or as pathetic. If I keep this in mind it makes the disappointment less jarring, and if the writers are actually allowed to write a really compelling personal drama for Weatherly’s character, I’ll be pleasantly surprised (and shocked).

You’re certainly more optimistic than I – I’m desperate to see a dramatic Tony centric episode – but by Tony centric I mean Michael Weatherly centric so hopefully since we’ve already had a heavy young Ducky episode already this season this one will just be limited to the occasional short flashback. Sadly these days I expect to be disappointed. It’s only the great fanfic that has kept me interested in this series at all, though that probably makes me even more frustrated since many of those writers seem to have so much more imagination and passion for their writing compared to the professionals. Now rather than being totally obsessed with NCIS I’m watching other shows for my entertainment.

And I’m probably being cynical but from the clips I’ve seen of tonight’s episode rather than a gift to fans as Pauley has described the episode it looks more to me like production saving money doing an episode with a lot of clips from previous episodes. Just hoping that it includes clips from seasons 1-4, Don Bellisario’s vital contribution to this series seems these days to be largely ignored.