It's good to see both are improving but I'm still having a problem with the changes in Tony, Ziva and McGee's characters. Tony's coming off completely fake, Ziva's becoming the helpless female and who knows what little Timmy's becoming. One or two seasons at the most. The story's getting better but they're really screwing with the chemistry.

NCIS:LA, however, is getting better. The characters are beginning to meld naturally and they're starting to get fun.

I'm not watching LA.. but yeah, I agree with screwing up the characters being a bad bad thing.

Ziva cracked me up when she said they're going to sit the baby!

It took me a minute to get that. - that Was funny though. =)

Yeah I like Tony's comment...."The All-American dream....little orphan Annie...and me."

I agree, characters suck. Story line is improving.

I actually watched LA and like this epi.

For anyone who doesn't normally watch LA or happened to miss recent LA episodes, there's a character that popped up on LA that's Leon's LaFrog so to speak. She was introduced on LA and will be appearing on the regular show next week. Not sure (didn't pay much attention but it looked like her) but Kelly Hu may be playing that role.

Yep, Tony's reparte is fake over-scripted now-- like Hawk-eye in MASH was sometimes. Too over the top--(although I thought his dialogue with Franks was great on the new epi last night..) I know Timmy can't be the child-probie forever, after all he must be over 30 by now, but his character is getting a tad too disdainful and snotty. If they could just ramp it down a bit--they had the tone just perfect in seasons 4 & 5.

While I'm at it everything about season 4 and 5 was perfect, the whole intertwining Tony/Ziva/Jenny/Jeanne/Granouille-Frog/Kort thing that builds up from Hiatus and culminates brilliantly in Judgement Day. I knew when it was over they couldn't replace that level of scriptwriting & character development and intertwining plot lines for a long time-- that was OK. It was a great run for two seasons and they would eventually build something else, but it seems like they've been trying too hard to top it too fast and it detracts from the brilliance of the show.

The team almost always handles issues of national security and international intrigue (not so many dead petty officers); the plots and interactions are so, so complicated I don't understand what is happening sometimes; the scenarios so unrealistic it stretches my willingness to suspend disbelief. They are trying too hard to up the ante. They are overdoing the "Vance- Man of Mystery" thing since we-- the viewers-- are starting to unravel Gibbs, and while it's interesting it's less compelling as it's not real credible. They definitely didn't do a credible job with the whole Ziva-sodes to close season six. They needed to regroup with some Season 3 type plots, stories, character development and build it all up again.

Do others also think season 4 and 5 were the zenith of NCIS?

Seasons 4 and 5 definitely felt "right", and I also noticed Tony's parts were a little too over the top this week. Too much wit perhaps, especially with that American Dream tirade. Everything else though seemed fine enough for me. There's one thing that put me off though. We still didn't find out how Jethro got the boat out of that basement! I remember him saying something about how he'd do it on the episode with the abducted kid - aka "Little DiNozzo". I can't remember the name of the episode, but I know he and Gibbs were working on the boat together in the basement when he brought the question up. Still, it brings me to tears that it was torn apart all for nothing =/

It may seem a waste of time to build something then tear it apart, but that's Gibb's stress relief. It's a hobby. It's a "come home and relax" project. Not necessarily a "get it done and use it" project.

I was under the impression he cut them up and burned them. Seems to me he told Jenny that once. You do realize there's nothing that says that particular one had to be built in his basement. That's just what everyone thinks.

Seasons 4 and 5 were definitely the best so far. Even after seeing them multiple times, I still find myself glued to them when they're on.

It looks an awful lot like the "Kelly" he finished in his basement and hand painted that name on though...

All we can rule-out about how Gibbs gets the boat out of the basement is that he doesent take it apart. Also I think that it will take some time before the new character personalities become normal, remember things have changed since the last 2 seasons.

Yeah, I'm sure I remember him saying that he burned one of them.. I think because it was named after an ex-wife. But there was nothing to make me believe that he burned ALL of them.
And one of the boats he made was named Kelly. So I would believe it is that one.

He did burn the others (or last one--whatever) because it was named after an ex-wife, but I THOUGHT he had began to take "Kelly" apart a few epis back? I may be wrong.

And I thought the "Kelly" on this epi looked a little bigger than the one in his basement.

In that case... is it SUPPOSED to be the same Kelly and we are Not supposed to remember details?

or Is it supposed to be a Different boat?

Just like you guys, the team assumed it's the same boat. Noone ever said it was. Of course that was probably the intent.

why would he name 2 boats Kelly?

Since he only names them after his daughter and his previous wives, he's gonna have to start over again sometime. Besides, this one was special. He built it for his god-daughter.

Really? How many full size sail boats can one person build single handedly in an adult lifetime While working a full time job. (I bet that is more than a 40 hr/week job too!)

I can name 3 when Jenny showed up in Season 3. One was named Shannon (Sha was lettered so far when it was shown - season 1 I believe), one named for his ex-wife that he and Jenny talked about and the one he was working on at the time. Since Jenny knew about him doing that, he'd been doing it alot longer than Season 1. Fast forward, when Col Mann came into his life he was working on one - Kelly as I recall. That was Season 5. The one when Jenny was there was near completion. What did he do between Season 3 and 5? There had to be at least one in there. Also this is his basement, You can tell, especially when him and Ari were down there and they were going in a circle around the boat, that the basement isn't all that big.

So I'll ask you. How long does it take to build a 10-12 ft boat? He never does the top or inside. You never see it upright. There's nothing inside. So how long does it take to build a 10-12 ft hull? The way he's doing it, I'd say not much more than a year. We're in season 7 so at least 6 if not 7 hulls.

Good question Mich, but my husband rebuilds corvettes, he say's it's therapy, maybe that's the same for Gibbs?

I did see him building a top in one episode.

Hey, is tonight's episode new?

Didn't I say that already? Maybe not in those exact words....but close enough. I think that's why he does it.