I agree with your interpretation. I wouldn’t be so miffed about all the McGee attention if it didn’t seem to be at Tony’s expense with tptb going out of their way not to give Tony anything of value to do. Super Gibbs has been ramped up to ridiculous and utterly predictable proportions as well. That no one but Gibbs can do anything brave, dangerous, bad ass, cunning, or heroic has put another stifling limit on what they can and can’t do with Tony. I’m really tired of seeing Gibbs as the only character who has any values or shows any compassion. It’s always the same act, the same cloying mood enhancing music, and the same noble resolution when Gibbs is predictably championing the underdog. Variety is the spice of life and NCIS has lost it’s unique flavor for writing formulas that have become dull and tasteless.

While I think Tony as a character has had a lousy season, I do like McGee. The previous seasons McGee has been the butt of Tony’s jokes so I don’t mind McGee growing as a character and having more responsibility on the show. What I don’t like is the fact that Tony is regressing. He should be moving forward more on Gibbs level but instead he does a lot of the bumbling clown stuff. We can have both a more varied McGee and a more involved DiNozzo. The two can exist together quite nicely. Why TPTB can’t see that is puzzling. I think that is why you feel McGee is replacing Tony because they are falling down on the job of allowing Tony to become a real second in command for the team and letting McGee grow at the same time. For me that would be much more satisfying..

I don’t think Tony is SFA anymore. It’s pretty obvious he’s been replaced by McGee this season. Why, I can’t even begin to fathom. It has not improved the show or made it more interesting. Quite the opposite. For season 13 they might as well just put Tony in long enough for the “comic” opening bullpen scene and then send him home.

Dorneget does come to mind when it comes to the loss of the team but I was kind of disappointed to read that McGee and Dorneget was going overseas but not Tony. What’s the point in making him the SFA when they give him nothing to do??! I believe this season has been a joke for Tony. They’ve had ONE really good episode this season for Tony and that’s the one where they flashed back to his military school days but the rest were involving either more grief with Senior or his relationship with Zoe which has hardly been flattering. Next season I expect Tony to be doing his job from home because he will be home with the baby and Zoe will have had taken over his job at NCIS. LOL Good grief…