Tony Senior is back! And he's ready to settle down in his son's apartment, moping over his failed engagement to Linda.
While Tony was cringing and trying his hardest to avoid his dad, Palmer and Ducky were fretting over little Victoria, who's suffering a slight fever.
The back story on NCIS Season 12 Episode 17 provided an interesting introspective on the issue of fatherhood, as seen from at least three different viewpoints.
Watch NCIS Season 12 Episode 17 Online
While the opening bowed to the trope of many crime stories that involve the sudden discovery of a dead body, it was at least interesting. In fact, the scene pre-discovery of the body was far better than most.
Frankly, I've never seen such a brilliant opening start to an episode, involving a wise father teaching his son about the value of hard work. The amazingly truth found in this NCIS quote stood out strong and forceful:
People call us blue collar. I don't care what color your shirt is. You bring pride to the job, people notice. Even if they don't, you notice.
Cy White
Permalink: People call us blue collar. I don't care what color your shirt is. You bring pride to the...
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March 10, 2015
Amen, dad! That was the first great moment in this fatherhood-themed story.
The second was Palmer and his shared anxiety over the health of his daughter. Like many first-time parents, he stressed over his ability to look after his little girl properly, even projecting his worries into the future and talking about her prom.
I found that particularly believable: it would be hard to understand at that stage that the fact that he's so worried just indicates that he's a good dad....even though he really has nothing to worry about. I wonder if by comparison Breena was sanguine about it all.
The over-arching fatherhood story involved Tony Senior and his son. Tony Junior began to brag about evolving because of his relationship with Zoe, never realizing that he truly was about to evolve because of his father.
Before we go much further, let's talk about the case of the week.
A Navy lieutenant becomes involved with an art thief...who ends up murdering him in order to obtain a work of art that's hanging on the wall of his CO's office.
She, in turn, plans to sell it to a man who's pretending to be an art aficionado, but is in reality a member of a terrorist group who wants the painting because of the miniature recording device hidden within it; a device that recorded government secrets ever since it was planted in the American embassy in Pakistan.
Leaving aside the sketchy technical details involved in all of this, the premise was otherwise believable.
The idea that the recording could not be transmitted made sense since it was so small and would have required a power source in order to transmit. It would have had to be much larger than an RF chip as well.
We'll leave the question about how the painting was tracked to America as belonging to the realm of suspension of disbelief. Let's just say they found a way and leave it at that.
The problem with shows like this is that it must be very difficult to create computer-related scenarios that will stand the scrutiny of people who work in those fields.
For example: Bishop said that the same radio frequency key card that was overwritten to allow the thief onto the grounds of the Defense Logistics Agency also contained a Trojan Horse that disabled the security cameras.
Uh huh. No way. That's not going to happen. It presumes that the RF card is in reality a common computing device – perhaps running Windows – that can contain computer code which can activated, or that the receiver at the DLA is designed to receive coded instructions.
There's only a slight possibility that it could happen, but the logistics of it are just too far-fetched: the thief would have to have intimate knowledge of the security system (which presumably, being a military installation, could only come from an inside source).
And that RF card would have to be much more than just a simple security card. We are talking about an "Internet of Things" device. Put simply, there's just no military reason to have such super-cards. Those are meant just to ensure that authorized individuals are the only ones who can get in, nothing more.
The other technical problem was the RF device in the painting. It was voice-activated and contained recordings of conversations at the embassy.
As small as it is, it would have needed a power source, which presumably would have been a battery. Its size was so miniscule as to stretch the suspension of disbelief to the snapping point.
They at least acknowledged the need to swap it out at some point. The only explanation that would make sense is that it only managed to record a small amount of conversation after which it went dormant until it could be retrieved, recharged and divested of its information.
Fortunately the technical questions didn't overshadow either of the A or B stories.
The two Tonys have always had somewhat of a strained relationship. I was surprised at Senior's surprise over Junior's belief that he's a con artist. Surely by now that would have been clear.
His clarification to Junior that he was an entrepreneur and not a con artist – and, more importantly, his explanation of the difference between the two – finally put Junior's qualms to rest.
In the past, when Senior referred to himself as an entrepreneur, Junior always saw that word as a polite euphemism for scam artist. Now he knows the truth: his dad is just a dreamer who always dreamed big.
The fact that he was so well acquainted with actual con artists and members of the underground economy was just a factor of his desire, his need, to succeed.
He used the tools at hand to strive for his goals – it's just a coincidence that those tools were often less than legal.
Gibbs' observation of Tony's love for his dad – presented at probably the very worst and probably most awkward moment in the episode – was spot on. The echoing of that love in the final scene rounded out the show perfectly.
Father and son will be okay. I think.
Final notes:
I want a pair of those goth death-head pajama bottoms. Seriously, if CBS sold them, I'd buy.
Though McGee did a good job with the pseudo "Blue Steel" pose, I couldn't completely buy it. He might be a stellar agent, but he still has an ambience of goofiness about him.
Speaking of goofy – what's with the Tron wallpaper in his bedroom, now replaced by Star Wars wallpaper? That's kind of the definition of goofy.
Some might wonder why an art thief would put up a fake painting that cut across the blood spatter. It was kind of obvious even before Abby pointed it out. A plausible answer would be that the thief knew it looked wrong but figured it would buy enough time for her to sell the painting and get away.
The theory – practiced on both Tony and to a lesser extent, Senior – that giving a grieving person some "busy work" helps them to rise above their despair actually makes a lot of sense. I like that Tony wasn't angry when he found out that's what Tim did to him when he was grieving over Ziva. I also liked that Gibbs was laughing internally at Tony's far-fetched suggestion to his dad that the caulking around his tub was recalled and that if it wasn't replaced he could get athlete's foot. Too bad Senior was so enterprising, and knew enough to hire someone to take care of it for him.
We have a new Gibbs' rule. Rule #20: always look under. As Tony put it, this rule is rarely quoted, widely interpreted.
What did you think? Are you convinced that Tony Senior is not a con artist? Did you buy the premise of the art theft murder case? Be sure to watch NCIS online and then let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
29 TV Stars Who Started on Soaps
1.
Mark Harmon
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Mark Harmon has been all over our TV screens since the mid-1970s but long before he was our beloved Leroy Jethro Gibbs on NCIS he was Fielding Carlyle on the prime time sudser Flamingo Road.
2.
Darby Stanchfield
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Just a few years before we were introduced to one of our favorite Gladiators on Scandal, she played Amelia Joffe on ten episode of General Hospital.
3.
Tom Selleck
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We know him now as Frank Reagan on Blue Bloods and Jesse Stone and who doesn't remember him as '80s icon Magnum P.I? But did you know that Tom Selleck was once Jed Andrews on The Young & the Restless?
4.
Sarah Michelle Gellar
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The Crazy Ones are over and we'll never forget her as Buffy the Vampire Slayer but did you know that Sarah Michelle Gellar was once Erica Kane's long lost daughter on All My Children?
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5.
Nathan Fillion
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Long before we knew his as mystery writer Richard Castle or Captain Mal on Firefly he was Joey Buchanan, who slept with his mom's arch enemy on One Life to Live.
6.
Bellamy Young
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You may know her now as the most dynamic and dangerous First lady on Scandal, but if you were a fan of NBC's soap Another World, you may have noticed Bellamy as Dr. Courtney Evans.
7.
Julie Bowen
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Claire Dunphy is the mom who makes us laugh (and sometimes cry) on Modern Family but Julie Bowen had a long career before becoming one of the Dunphys. As a matter of fact she started out on the ABC soap Loving in the early 1990s.
8.
Michael Weatherly
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Long before we knew him as Anthony DiNozzo on CBS' hit show NCIS, Michael was known as the Preppy Killer on Guilding Light. In the mid-'90s he was also Cooper Alden on The City (formerly Loving).
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9.
Christine Baranski
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We couldn't imagine The Good Wife without Diane Lockhart, one of our favorite kick-ass attorneys. But did you know that some of Christine's first roles on TV were Beverly Tucker on Another World and Jewel Maniscalo on All My Children?
10.
Eva Longoria
She's currently the executive producer for Devious Maids and we all remember Eva from Desperate Housewives but she once played a Brenda Barrett look-a-like on General Hospital and graced the screen of The Young and the Restless as Isabella Brana Williams.
11.
Ed O'Neil
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We all know Ed as the cranky but lovable Jay Pritchett on Modern Family and no one's going to forget him as Al Bundy from Married with Children but did you that he started out on the soaps. He was once on All My Children in the '70s and then played Lenny on Another World in the early '80s.
12.
Halle Berry
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Halle Berry has been all over the big screen from James Bond's Die Another Day to the X-Men: Days of Future Past. TV Fanatics have been fascinated by her portrayal of Molly Woods on Extant but do you remember her from her six episodes as Debbie Porter on the night-time sudser Knots Landing?
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13.
Sarah Hyland
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Who doesn't love the Haley's antics on Modern Family but Sarah's been in the business since she was four-years-old. She started off on Another World as Rain Wolfe, later played Karen on All My Children, Alison McDermott Stewart (#4?) on As the World Turns and Heather on Once Life to Live.
14.
Mariska Hargitay
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Who hasn't seen Mariska as Detective Olivia Benson on Law & Order: SVU and some fans may remember her as Dr. Greene's girlfriend Cynthia Hooper on ER but did you know that way back in 1988 she played Carly Fixx on the primetime sudser Falcon Crest?
15.
Cam Gigandet
We are having such fun watching Cam Gigandet as the sexy Roy Raydor on the CBS summer hit Reckless but observant fans might remember him as Kevin Volchok on The O.C. and Daniel Romalotti from The Young and the Restless.
16.
Jensen Ackles
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Fans have adored this Supernatural hottie for years and although many remember him as Jason Teague on Smallville and C.J from Dawson's Creek, soap fans will always know him as Eric Brady from Days of Our Lives.
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17.
Paul Wesley
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Long before we knew him as Stefan on The Vampire Diaries, PFC Logan Atwater on Army Wives or even Tommy Callahan on Everwood, Paul Wesley started out as Sean McKinnon on Another World and then Max Nickerson on Guiding Light.
18.
Ashley Benson
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We love her as Hanna Marin on Pretty Little Liars but long before that, she could be seen as Jack and Jennifer's beloved daughter Abigail Devereaux on Days of Our Lives.
19.
Seamus Dever
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Seamus is now half of our favorite bromance as Det. Kevin Ryan on Castle but before he started solving murders, he diagnosed patients as Dr. Ian Devlin on General Hospital.
20.
Susan Sullivan
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Where would Castle be without his mother to keep him grounded? But long before Susan Sullivan played Martha Rodgers, Broadway Diva, she was a star on the '80s night time soap Falcon Crest and before that she could be seen as Lenore Moore Curtin Delaney on Another World.
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21.
Penny Johnson Jerald
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Long before we knew her as Capt. Victoria (Iron) Gates on Castle or even as First Lady Sherry Palmer on 24, she spent some time in the mid-'80s as Debbie on General Hospital.
22.
Hayen Panettiere
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Hayden starred on two daytime soaps at a very young age. She was Sarah Victoria "Flash" Roberts from 1994-1997 on One Life to Live and Lizzie Spaulding on Guiding Light from 1998-2000.
23.
Jonathan Jackson
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Like his Nashville co-star, Jackson started on a soap as Lucky Spencer (Luke and Laura's son!) on General Hospital in 1996 and ran on and off in the role until 2011.
24.
Kevin Bacon
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Long before appearing on The Following the six degrees of Kevin Bacon began when he played Todd Adamson on Search for Tomorrow and TJ "Tim" Werner on Guiding Light from 1981-82.
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25.
John Wesley Shipp
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Long before he was Dawson's dad on Dawson's Creek or Henry Allen on The Flash (or Barry, for that matter), Shipp was a soap STAR. He started out on As the World Turns but became THE GUY on Guiding Light, Kelly Nelson (in a dual role, he also played Victor Lazlo) from 1980-84. He did, indeed, cross paths with Kevin Bacon's Tim Werner. Six degrees, people!
26.
Zach Roerig
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Roerig appeared on both Guiding Light and One Life to Live, but made his big splash on As the World Turns as Casey Hughes from 2005-2007.
27.
Taye Diggs
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Before Private Practice, Murder in the First or his turn on The Good Wife, Diggs shared his megawatt smile on The Guiding Light as music mogul Sugar Hill in 1997.
28.
Monica Potter
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Nick and Sharon are celebating 25 years on The Young and the Restless. Guess who was his first Sharon?! Monica Potter orginated the role in 1994. She shared with Craig Ferguson that she got fired because she was "terrible" and had to dance around in a bikini with a fake tan. Soaps are hard!
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29.
Allison Janney
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Back in the early 90s Janney plaid Ginger, one of the Spaulding's maids on Guiding Light. She has always had a way of tickling the funny bone making her current turn as Bonnie on Mom just perfect for her!
The End.
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