“We try to walk that line between high-tech thriller and workplace comedy.”
It all started so long ago that many of you reading this were likely not even a thought in your parents’ brain. JAG appeared way back in 1995. It was created by Donald P. Bellisario, and it took us behind the scenes of the United States Navy’s prosecution of crimes under their military jurisdiction according to the Navy’s Service Code. The series lasted 10 years, and toward the end of that run a new character was introduced. He was Leroy Gibbs, played by Mark Harmon. The episode served as a backdoor pilot for a new franchise called NCIS. You could say that NCIS is the Order to JAG’s Law. The NCIS is a real government agency that deals with criminal activity inside or involving the US Navy or Marine Corps, but now for the investigation and catching of the bad guys. The show has proven even more popular than its parent series. That means branching out like the CSI and Law & Order franchises have done so well in the past. For a while it was other places like L.A., New Orleans, Hawaii, and Sydney, Australia. For the most part these shows have come and gone, and a new kind of spinoff was started. After Mark Harmon left the show, we knew he wasn’t gone forever. Along came NCIS: Origins, which is in its second year and follows the exploits of a much younger Leroy Gibbs. This allowed a very popular character to continue beyond his involvement with the mothership now enjoying its upcoming 25th year. But Leroy Gibbs wasn’t the only beloved character to leave the show. Of course, I’m talking about Michael Weatherly’s character, the obnoxious but lovable Tony DiNozzo.
Weatherly left the series full time in its 17th season. Cote de Pablo as Ziva left a bit before that. When Tony left the show, it was because he discovered that he had a child that Ziva never told him about. Ziva was dead, or at least that’s what everyone thought, so Tony left NCIS to go to Paris and raise their daughter. In reality Weatherly left to star in his own series, Bull. There he played a jury consultant who used high-tech to pick the perfect jury, and the character was based on the real life of Dr. Phil, the therapist who gained fame first on Oprah and then his own show. That series ran a handful of years, and the chatter had already started. Would Tony be coming back to NCIS? It took a couple of years, but the answer was yes. We would also discover that Ziva was indeed alive, and so the spin-off Tony & Ziva was created. Now there’s good news/bad news/good news here.
First the first good news. The show ran for 10 episodes, and thanks to CBS Home Entertainment, that season is now out on DVD. If you missed it, here’s your chance to catch up. The bad news is that the show will not be continuing. This turned into a one-season in-and-out kind of a deal. But that last good news is that Weatherly is returning to the main NCIS show in that upcoming 25th season. de Pablo is also returning, but I’ve heard in a smaller and temporary role. Weatherly appears set to rejoin the show, and we’ll have to see how all of this plays out. There’s a new leader on the team, played by Gary Cole, who has a very different leadership style. His return will also create a very interesting dynamic with his old mentee and sometimes nemesis Tim McGee, played by Sean Murray, who is now the longest serving cast member. Tony’s not returning to his old whipping boy “Probie” this time. I honestly can’t wait to see how it all plays out. But while we’re waiting, we have 10 episodes of Tony & Ziva to keep us busy.
As the series begins, we get to catch up on what Tony and Ziva have been up to since last we heard. Tony runs a really high-end security agency, and as we rediscover him he’s in a bit of a jam. Someone got through his security and is stealing millions of dollars as he’s watching it happen. Bad guys go after their daughter, Tali (Gie). That’s going to bring back Tony and Ziva into the fight. We find out how they found each other again in flashbacks, but this show isn’t about the reunion. It’s about both of them trying to protect their daughter and catch some really, really Santa’s Naughty List kind of creeps.
Their investigation leads them to Boris (Osinski). He developed a hacking device known as 9.4. It can break down all kinds of walls. We’ve seen this kind of a McGuffin before, so nothing original there. But Boris wants to help track it down when he discovers how it is being used. We have a remorseful bad guy with a conscience here, and he becomes a huge part of this new team. The worse part is that Tony has been framed for the crimes caused by 9.4, and even murder. So Interpol has put a “red notice” on them, and that’s basically a bring-them-in-dead-or-alive kind of thing. It’s very much like a burn notice in the CIA. So they have to investigate while also keeping a low profile, because every cop in the world is after them. So they try to set traps to lure out and catch the “real” person behind these crimes. It doesn’t help that there’s a bad agent at Interpol named Martine (Benchcou), and she’s in charge of getting Tony and Ziva. That won’t end well if she gets to them before they solve the mystery. Sean Pertwee has a great guest shot as Aaron Graves, a huge multi-national big shot. Could he be the guy using 9.4 for these crimes? Of course, I’m not going to tell you, but I will tell you the search is going to be a blast.
This show is less like NCIS and more like James Bond. There are some obvious nods in the Bond direction. There’s a super-villain who has a cool-as-hell lair. The show literally hops all over the world with some exotic places like Italy and France. The music even has a huge Bond flavor, and there’s a song in one of the episodes that could be directly taken from a Bond film. Of course, Tony’s not anything close to suave, but he has a style, and he slips it back on seamlessly. If you’re here to see these classic characters, you’re in luck. They might be playing in a more sophisticated world, but they remain Tony and Ziva to the core.
We get to see them as parents, which is great. Tony’s is actually quite a good dad, and maybe that’s because he’s such a child himself. He has great chemistry with the kid, and it’s a changed Tony that isn’t all that changed. Now his immaturity has to look out for someone else who is helpless and needs him. Weatherly truly embraced the part, and the real sweet spot of these episodes are those two characters, and I’m going to play favorites here and say it’s Weatherly I’m most excited to see and who delivers those really huge emotional beats to me. This is just candy to get our appetites ready for his big return.
You get a standard season summary, a gag reel, and a costume feature. It’s 10 episodes on three discs, and you’ll watch them at a rapid pace. These episodes were tailor-made for binging. There are no NCIS cameos, and we only get small references to anyone. They’re saving all of that for next year, and I agree with that choice. This show needed to run on its own terms or it would be nothing more than an NCIS episode, and it’s so much more than that. Take what you can get here, because until next fall, Tony and Ziva “are off the grid”.
