NCIS

After watching Jetlag, I wrote that I would be very disappointed if Gibbs’ injury was just to add drama to the final arrest; but people on another board (TwoP) came up with a much more interesting explanation: they think the writers may be willing to show Gibbs getting older a little bit. Gibbs may have misjudged the situation with the car: McGee could have gotten out of the path of the car by himself, and Gibbs may not be as fast anymore as he thought he was; and that would be why he was so angry at himself (and not at McGee) at the end of the scene. I can add another clue about this possible storyline: in the first seasons, Gibbs needing glasses was a funny issue that came up a few times, with him denying it at the beginning; he had been wearing glasses for many episodes now, but I found odd that on Jetlag, they chose to make a big close up on Gibbs putting his glasses on. That added to the car scene made me wonder, me too, if the tendency is to show Gibbs as still a very good investigator, but becoming a little less efficient as far as “physical” activities are concerned. What do you think about this?

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PS: I don’t know if there have been new spoilers about this for upcoming episodes, but if it is the case, could you please write SPOILERS in big letters at the beginning of your post if you are to discuss them? Thanks!

Good points. I've had that dreadful feeling all season that MH might want to leave the show & what's been playing out is a way for the writers to have Gibbs written off the show. My understanding is that MH's contract is up soon & he mentioned on the George Lopez show that once his youngest son graduates high school (he's a senior this year) him & Pam may want to do some traveling. I hope "my guts" wrong.

I have been wondering if MH is planning to pull a Clint Eastwood and go mainly to directing and producing with only an occasionaly acting part. No spoiler as I don't know anything and I haven't heard anthing. Just only my wondering.

I've wondered, given how much MW/Tony has been given this season if they're planning on down-playing Gibbs going forward. All speculation on my part - I KNOW NOTHING!

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I thought that maybe it wasa power play on SB's part - MHgot rid of DB, so he's a bit of a threat, and I got the feeling there was some strain between them from MH's frank commentsabout the spinoff. OR- MHhas asked to be down-played with a view to retirement, semi-retirement, or just not working as hard and in so many scenes. It certainly feels to me that there's been a shake up and the show is now about Tony and Ziva first, thenGibbs, then McGee, then Abby and Ducky somewhere way way down on the list.

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If it's the former, the question is whether MWand DM will stay if MH got pushed out. If it's the latter then it makes sense for them to try and work out a post-Gibbs strategy and that would inevitably revolve around Tony. My only problem with that is that they need to make him grow up a bit and look likely of being able to fill Gibbs's shoes, because, much as I love him, that's not what I'm feeling at the moment!

Regarding MH, in the last interview I read (in an Italian magazine), he said he under contract for 8 seasons, and that he fully intends to honour it. As for SB pushing him out, well I think it would be a very risky move, because the audience probably would react badly to it.

I'm among the many others who have said would stop watching the show ifMH/Gibbs wasn't in it. I watched "Yankee White" because I read MH was in it (he had been one of my teenager crushes and I was curious to see how he had aged in the 15 or so years since I had last seen him) and fell in love with Gibbs and the show. To me Gibbs is the core of NCIS, so no Gibbs, no NCIS.

jet_brooks wrote:

Regarding MH, in the last interview I read (in an Italian magazine), he said he under contract for 8 seasons, and that he fully intends to honour it. As for SB pushing him out, well I think it would be a very risky move, because the audience probably would react badly to it.

I'm among the many others who have said would stop watching the show ifMH/Gibbs wasn't in it. I watched "Yankee White" because I read MH was in it (he had been one of my teenager crushes and I was curious to see how he had aged in the 15 or so years since I had last seen him) and fell in love with Gibbs and the show. To me Gibbs is the core of NCIS, so no Gibbs, no NCIS.

I'm with you. ILOVEMH and wouldn't watch the show without him, however much I also love MW. But regarding pushing him out - more downplaying him so he has less clout was how Iwas thinking. I agree - it'd be a tough sell to see if NCIS could make it without Gibbs/MH. Ithink it would limp on for another season or two but ultimately then just die.

Gibbs is ageing, but gracefully! I dont think he'll leave the show, I saw an interview with him 2 weeks ago and he thinks the are doing show better now than they ever have. He looks forward to coming in and work, I dont think he'll leave. If he leaves, then that will end NCIS.

It may be as innocent as adding another dimension to the Gibbs character in a more character driven season. Tony also mentioned something about being middle-aged. (can't remember the episode)

But I agree, he is aging gracefully.

I think SB is too busy with NCIS:LA to focus on MH, so that means to me that he wouldn't want to push him out, more like I'll leave him in charge of that show so I can focus on this show....

I also am one that will not watch NCIS without M/H but not for reasons people have posted. If Gibbs leaves that means we will have Tony/Ziva coming out the ear. I really can't stand them together, the writers don't know (or remember) what a great agent Tony is. He can stand alone. The way Tony is acting now, he'd never make it as Team Leader and God help me if they expect us (the fans) to accept Ziva as the team leader.

I can't imagine MH getting "pushed out." However, I could see him voluntarily coming to a point where he wanted a bit less active role in front of the camera to free up time for him to do other things. Who could blame him if that was what he wanted to do? If he didn't want to leave the show altogether but wanted to take a slightly less active role in NCIS, they might make that work. However, if he left altogether I don't think NCIS would survive as we know it. Maybe they would take the opportunity to evolve it into another spinoff with MW as the lead? Who knows. I'm not expecting to see any of this happen until at least the end of next season (seasoneight) though.

It seems to me that the only way writers today can make a woman look good is to make the men look like dumb, stupid wimpy wuses. But then that is PC and that seems to be the way things are in Hollywood these days. Sigh!!!!!!

gailluvstony wrote:

I can't imagine MH getting "pushed out." However, I could see him voluntarily coming to a point where he wanted a bit less active role in front of the camera to free up time for him to do other things. Who could blame him if that was what he wanted to do? If he didn't want to leave the show altogether but wanted to take a slightly less active role in NCIS, they might make that work. However, if he left altogether I don't think NCIS would survive as we know it. Maybe they would take the opportunity to evolve it into another spinoff with MW as the lead? Who knows. I'm not expecting to see any of this happen until at least the end of next season (seasoneight) though.

I basically agree with everything you've said with the possible exception of the spinoff. I suppose it might work if it was entirely different. As far as the scene with Gibbs getting his shoulder hurt, I think they might be planning to incorporate it into a future episode, but that is purely speculation.

Thanks for the answers! It seems that most of you believe too that the writers may be consciously making Gibbs age. But I am scared that some think it would necessarily imply MH is leaving the show! I don’t want that lol! I agree with co_ncis_fan : it could just be another innocent addition to the character. F or me, that’s possible to have Gibbs aging a little bit (and yes, very gracefully actually!) without getting rid of the character; I feel it could be a natural development for him, like McGee and Palmer slowly gaining confidence; that wouldn’t necessarily lead to less time screen for Gibbs; and that could be done subtly too. As far as I am concerned, I hope NCIS will last for at least another 150 episodes (lol), and with the entire cast behind their leader, Gibbs aging or not!

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However, I agree on the fact that, if MH/the writers wanted to write Gibbs off the show or to have him only as a secondary character, the best way to do it without threatening the show would be indeed to make Gibbs age slowly, to gradually downplay his role and to give more and more responsibilities to MW/Tony throughout this season and the next one. I think the show would have a chance to survive Gibbs’ departure, if it’s done that way; on the contrary, abruptly getting rid of Gibbs as team (and show) leader, without warning, would kill the show .

A lot of this season is about aging issues. Gibbs worrying about his father , Ducky's mother fading, Tony coming to terms with his father being who he is. And don't forget the "baby birds" using their wings.

People have complained about McGee not realizing that Gibbs was hurt, but remember, Gibbs is a hero to Tim. I think Mcgee represents that point where our parents suddenly stop being superheroes and become terrifyingly human. He couldn't let himself see that Gibbs may have slowed down. But something registered and we may see more of this.

I have more problems with not letting the characters age than letting them face the real challenges of life. Gibbs doesn't have to stop being an action hero, he just needs to learn not to stand in front of speeding cars. A little to the side works too.