What I’m Watching: NCIS (Season Premiere)

NCIS: Season 7, Episode 1 “Truth or Consequences” (B+)

It’s very nice to have this show back. It’s hard to believe that it’s entering its seventh season, but this is a nice transition back into the show and a positive reminder of why it’s still around after all these years. If there’s one thing Tony’s good at, it’s talking, and therefore an episode which is based almost entirely on him spinning a story is a great idea. It’s also a fun recap of what’s been going on, and I very much enjoyed the flashbacks with nothing but a month to indicate when they took place. Not much actually happens, sure, but it’s still a fun chance to catch up on the latest adventures of the NCIS team. Piecing together the plan Tony hatched isn’t difficult, but that’s part of the beauty of it. “NCIS” loves to have major cliffhangers that get resolved speedily and fully in the first episode of the new season. It was obvious that Ziva wasn’t actually going to be replaced, but seeing the potential new female agents paraded in and out one after another was amusing, particularly when Gibbs made one of them cry. I know for a fact that Omid Abtahi (“Sleeper Cell”) is more talented than the material he’s given, but he plays his part as he should. The ending shot of Gibbs in full-on camouflage is a bit silly, though it fits with the singularly goofy nature of the show. The series has certainly grown up since its humble beginnings with simple naval criminal cases to flying across oceans to combat terrorists. It’s not clear where this season will go now that most of the Israeli subplots from last year have been resolved, though that’s not a bad thing and the show can go back to week-to-week cases, which it’s always done a cut above the rest.