DVD Reviews

NCIS - The Complete Eighth Season – DVD Review

By Patrick Luce Aug 23, 2011, 14:21 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

Although it feels a bit formulaic and familiar at times, NCIS continues to be that rare show that gets better as it goes on. Now in its eighth season, the series has managed to keep its ensemble cast intact, and the plot lines interesting – even if they do fall into a bit of the “murder of the week” mold.

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

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 has to circle around the politics of the job and his fragile relationship with NCIS director Leon Vance (Rocky Carroll).

Along with solving a crime an episode, NCIS also gives fans season-long story arcs that cut deeper into the team and open up their characters. Season Eight takes that theme and runs with it as we get flashback episodes which reveal some of the Vance’s past; lets fans see how Tony came to NCIS; and lets Ziva come full circle with her Moussad past.

The team also has to learn to play nice with others as a new NCIS team is brought in to handle the “Port to Port” killer. While the new team isn’t give much screen time to shine, the actors were extremely good in their roles and I would like to see more of them.

The season picks up pretty much where Season 7’s cliffhanger left off with Gibbs still fighting a somewhat personal war against a Mexican drug cartel, and having to deal with keeping his father Jackson Gibbs (the always great Ralph Waite) safe. Casting Waite as Gibbs' father was genius by the show and the two actors have an uneasy chemistry that makes the father/son roles totally believable.

Season Eight also sees the return of Tony’s dad (played with great swagger by the legendary Robert Wagner) for an episode. Like Waite and Harmon, Weatherly and Wagner seem cut from the same cloth and you have to love the way Wagner plays Anthony DiNozzo Sr as if he was James Bond on loan to the show.

Abby continues to be the heart of the show, and is given an episode where she can be the primary focus. Sadly, the rest of the seasons finds her trapped in her lab with just a few scenes each episode. Cote de Pablo and Sean Murray also seem to play a smaller supporting role this season with de Pablo front and center for a two-part story involving her father, and Murray just trying to stay ahead of the punch line (such as when his landlady’s kid steals his identity and orders him a blow-up sex doll).

As always, the season comes loaded with some decent special features that take fans into the making of the show and demonstrates how much work continues to go into the series to make it one of the best on television.

Slightly showing its age, NCIS: Season Eight may not be as good as past seasons, but the series is still one of the best of its kind. The cast still has the acting chops and chemistry to keep it fresh and interesting. Season Eight takes the established formula (although there seemed to be less Gibbs’ head slaps), and makes it work. While the ending doesn’t have quite the cliffhanger as past seasons, it does promise more big storylines to come and will leave you counting the days until Season Nine airs.