NCIS Season Finale Spoilers: F is for Frustration

[twoweevils]

Came across a couple of snippets in my obsessive search for answers --



From The Detroit Free Press:

One other TV Guide snippet. It puts forth the question: Is "NCIS" star Lauren Holly's job on the line? The actress, who plays buttoned-up administrator Jenny Shepard, tells the magazine "It's kind of scary," she says, because Don Bellisario, creator of "NCIS," "says that a regular will be leaving at the end of the season. My mantra is: 'NCIS' has one of the best casts on TV. We go up against 'American Idol' and still get 17 million viewers."

And according to costar Michael Weatherly, who plays Tony DiNozzo, Holly is a major contributor to the strength of the show. All Bellisario will offer with regards to which character is getting the ax is "I don't mention it if minor characters leave."

From The National Ledger:

Irrepressible, hunky Michael Weatherly of CBS's "NCIS" refuses to be pinned down on the season-ending story of the show, which will include the departure of a major character. "I feel bad that this is being put out that someone is leaving "NCIS." People assume it's one of the actors, but it's a guy in wardrobe," he deadpans. "Zippy, we called him, because he was the guy who installed all the zippers."

But seriously -- as Weatherly explains it, Mark Harmon's Gibbs character will wind up in a coma as the story unspools, and while viewers "spend a lot of time with him in his mind, in his dream world," back in the real world, Weatherly's DiNozzo does his best to take over leading the "NCIS" team. "I come in with a cup of coffee in a Gibbs-like manner -- and everyone gets a bit bent out of shape."

Weatherly reveals that as far as which character's departing, "NCIS" creator Don Bellissario even went for maximum suspense among the cast. "When we had our final script read-through, one by one actors came into the conference room, and Don said, "Will it be YOU?" Don is God in the sense he creates the world we live in. He creates organically, in that he doesn't know what he's going to write until he writes it. I'm a big giant Bellissario fan. He knows what the audience is expecting, and so sometimes he allays their fears -- and sometimes he teases. Same thing to the actors. 'Will it be DiNozzo -- YOU?' All I can say is, I know what happens, and the other person to leave, besides Zippy the wardrobe man, is an absolute shock."

*sigh*

Michael Weatherly, you are a funny, hunky, irrepressible guy.

M.

Comments

[crimsonquills.livejournal.com]

(Apologies if I shouldn't just jump in here, but...)

I'm a 24 fan where anybody (even Jack) can die at any time. I don't think it's disrespect for the viewers.

My problem isn't that he's going to remove someone from the show. My problem is with the way he's jerking us around with it. Last year was bad enough, but Sasha Alexander wanted to leave and I can understand Bellisario wanting to make the best of losing a cast member right as the show was becoming really popular. Even if the weeks of tension almost killed me.

But this time the news broke even earlier than last year, and I feel like we're being jerked around twice as much. At this point it's not teasing for suspense purposes, it's a giant ploy for season finale ratings. Forcing people to endure the uncertainty for so much lead up time lends nothing at all to the storytelling.

*sigh* I guess you can tell I'm feeling pretty abused by The Powers That Be on NCIS. The idea of stopping watching the show entirely has actually occurred to me. I don't like my TV to be stressful. That's why I don't watch 24. I'm sure it's excellent, I'm just not interested in that kind of ongoing tension.

Throughout the season NCIS isn't a suspense show. It's crime drama with a healthy dose of humor. That makes me feel like infusing this degree of tension into the finale is inappropriate to the mood of the show.

[adafrog.livejournal.com]

I don't like my TV to be stressful. That's why I don't watch 24. I'm sure it's excellent, I'm just not interested in that kind of ongoing tension
ITA, that's also why I won't watch a lot of dramas, or chick flicks. Enough stress in my life already.

[twoweevils.livejournal.com]

Feel free to jump in.

At this point it's not teasing for suspense purposes, it's a giant ploy for season finale ratings. Forcing people to endure the uncertainty for so much lead up time lends nothing at all to the storytelling.

He's brilliant and he's a giant bastard. And if Gibbs or DiNozzo leave, he is SO going on my nose-breaking list, right up there with Tom Fontana.

That's why I don't watch 24. I'm sure it's excellent, I'm just not interested in that kind of ongoing tension.

I watched the first few episodes and concluded that it was too much of an emotional committment to get involved in 24. I gave up on Prison Break for the same reason (also because the cat got killed). I like some tension. I like characters who engage me emotionally and who I like to think about when I'm not watching the show. I don't like feeling jerked around by the whims of a megalomaniac. *sigh*

It's going to be the Director or Ducky. I'm sure of it...unless it's Gibbs and he's not really leaving, he's just taking some time to recover from his injuries. Which would be lame.

M.

[crimsonquills.livejournal.com]

It's going to be the Director or Ducky. I'm sure of it...unless it's Gibbs and he's not really leaving, he's just taking some time to recover from his injuries. Which would be lame.

The interview I read with David McCallum suggests to me that it's not going to be Ducky, unless he was just faking us all out in a big way. I've also heard that the doctor treating Gibbs is going to be around next season and have a thing for the Director (apparently that was in TV Guide), which suggests so she's still around, too. But who can be sure about speculation for next season? The eps aren't even written yet.

The Gibbs-but-not-really-leaving thing would be incredibly lame, not least because that means we won't really be sure until we either hear about casting for next season or actually see the first few eps of next season. If Bellisario makes us wait a whole summer to be sure who's staying and who's going, I'm going to break a lot more than his nose...