DVD Reviews

NCIS: Season Seven – DVD Review

By Patrick Luce Oct 5, 2010, 15:24 GMT

$NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service) is more than just an action drama. With liberal doses of humor, it\'s a show that focuses on the sometimes complex and always amusing dynamics of a team of special agents forced to work together in high-stress situations. From murder and espionage to terrorism and stolen submarines, these special agents travel the globe to investigate all crimes with Navy or Marine Corps ties.$

NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service) is more than just an action drama. With liberal doses of humor, it\'s a show that focuses on the sometimes complex and always amusing dynamics of a team of special agents forced to work together in high-stress situations. From murder and espionage to terrorism and stolen submarines, these special agents travel the globe to investigate all crimes with Navy or Marine Corps ties. ...more

NCIS is one of those rare shows that is just getting better with age. The series is a tad formulaic and predictable, but the cast keeps you wanting to watch.

With the DVD release of season seven, the series continues to push what works (serious crime cases with a blend of ensemble comedy) while expanding on the characters. The season also features a story arc that has a great cliffhanger for season eight.

For those who don’t know, NCIS stands for Naval Criminal Investigative Service and follows an investigation team led by NCIS Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon), and consists of NCIS Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly), NCIS Special Agent Timothy McGee (Sean Murray), and a former Moussad agent Ziva David (Cote de Pablo).

The season opens up with the team getting David out of a jam, and her character spends much of the season dealing with the repercussions of season six while trying to become a full-fledge NCIS agent and U.S. citizen. This also gives Tony the chance to call her “probie” whenever the episode needs a quick laugh.

Each episode also finds the team consulting their specialist - medical examiner Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum), and the quirky but loveable forensic specialist Abby Sciuto (Pauley Perrette). Gibbs also gets to play politics with NCIS director Leon Vance (Rocky Carroll).

Along with solving a crime an episode, NCIS also gives fans a season-long story arc that sees Gibbs having to go up against Colonel Merton Bell (Robert Patrick) - a shady leader of a private force of mercenaries who operate around the world and enjoy protection thanks to Bell's powerful political friends.

Gibbs makes an enemy of Bell after he arranges to have the Colonel tossed in a Mexican prison following an attack on Mike Franks (Muse Watson) and his family. Bell is freed later and begins to take Gibbs’ life apart through the death of Gibbs’ wife and daughter, and the fact that Gibbs got his own form of justice on the man responsible for the killing. The influence of Bell pushes Gibbs to a level of tension and emotion his character rarely shows, and sets up the eighth season.

Along with the Bell storyline, season seven sees Tony’s dad (played with great swagger by the legendary Robert Wagner) pop in for an episode, and fans get to see what made Tony the way he is. Wagner matches the quirks Weatherly has brought to the DiNozzocharacter while giving Dinozzo a little room to evolve.

The season also continues the endless flirting of DiNozzo and David. The two characters come close several times, and the two actors make the most of the scenes with incredible chemistry. Murray’s McGee also continues to develop into a strong character and less of Tony’s comic relief.

Abby is allowed to get out of her lab as she heads down to Mexico, and sets up the Gibbs cliffhanger. Since she looks at Gibbs as a father figure, it was brilliant move by the writers to put her in the position of having to face the crime Gibbs committed while avenging his family.

It forces her character to grow and see Gibbs in a very different light. It also gives the show some true emotion as she confronts Gibbs about the past she has discovered.

Fans of the series will enjoy the behind the scenes aspect of the season seven DVD set. The features take an inside look at how the show is created each week; feature interviews with the cast and creators; and take look at production aspects of each episode.

NCIS: Season Seven is a great season for a great show. If you haven’t gotten on the NCIS bandwagon yet, go pick up the past seasons and enjoy one of television’s best series.

The show just keeps getting better, and has no signs of getting old. The ensemble cast has incredible chemistry and the show’s writers keep you wanting to watch episode after episode.