Tony DiNozzo: Competent Agent, Frat Boy or something else?

[webbgirl]

After watching the past couple of seasons of NCIS in rapid succession, I had this post forming on Tony's character and his growth, or lack thereof.  I kept debating on whether to actually post it or not, then I saw a couple of spoilers for upcoming episodes In the upcoming episode Knockout (6.18) we're promised more info on Tony's background.  The writers (or producers can't remember which) also promised that we'll get lots of angsty info in the season finale on Tony. I'm personally hoping for some background that shows us why he reverts to the frat boy mentality and womanizer when things get too 'real' or uncomfortable for him.
Anyway, my post is more about Tony as a good agent than it is about other stuff.  Through all the seasons of NCIS we get glimpses of Tony being a really good investigator and having great instincts.  Unfortunately, these moments tend to be eclipsed by his goofing around or his attempts to show off for Gibbs. 

I'm going to lose my Gibbs/DiNozzo slasher card for this, but I think that him being around Gibbs is the problem.  I also think this is somewhat intentional on the writers parts. When we see Tony in charge of a situation (rather than following Gibbs' lead) we get to see his analytical skills and leadership capabilities. 

This is even evidenced in "Bait" when Tony has to take over when Gibbs ends up in the classroom with the kid. We also see it in "In The Zone" when Tony and Nikki (sp?) go to Baghdad.  Once they're in Baghdad, Tony was the epitome of a seasoned investigator.

Back to "Bait" though.  One of the things this episode highlighted for me was Tony's willingness to stand up to Jenny when he professionally disagreed with her.  He stood up to her in a way I don't think we've ever seen him stand up to Gibbs.  I don't think it was out of a lack of respect, but it felt more like him claiming his place as 'Senior Field Agent'.  It demonstrated it clearer than all of the times he's spouted the words to Ziva and McGee.

Question is, why has Tony never been able to stand up to Gibbs the way he stood up to Jenny?  When Gibbs returned to NCIS and essentially brushed Tony back into his place, Tony bowed back into his spot and deferred to Gibbs.  I know that they showed the awkwardness of the transition, but I felt like it was mostly played for laughs.  Though, I found the part of him turning down his own team for the sake of watching out for Gibbs heartbreaking.  Again though, he was able to be honest with Jenny about it.  I think if he'd been dealing with Gibbs in a similar situation he would have just played it off and made a joke.

My fondest desire for this season is that we finally get to really see Tony coming into his own, even when he's around Gibbs.  And that we get to see some honest acknowledgment that he's not just the comic relief.  I think it would be a natural outgrowth of what happened with Jeanne and Jenny.  Situations like that are either going to break someone or make them stronger in the long run.  I'd love to watch the process of the latter with Tony.

Any thoughts or comments from everyone else on this?

Comments

[webbgirl.livejournal.com]

I think Tony does have different reactions and different levels of reactions depending on who it is.

With McGee I think it's a sibling thing where Tony sees toughening Tim up as part of his duty.

Kate was also a sibling thing, but with her it was more of them vying for Gibbs' attention.

Ziva...*sigh* Ziva I feel like it's more of a defense mechanism on his part. He wants to include her in the team, but she ruffles at it. It all seems very combative.

I agree on the Jenny thing. In spite of the Frog thing, I still think she respected Tony and saw him as good at his job.

Vance, I haven't quite gotten a handle on him yet. I'm hoping that we get an actual answer at some point on why he sent Tony to the Regan and Seahawk. He says it wasn't a punishment, so what was the reason?

[tejas.livejournal.com]

Remember what Vance said about the future of NCIS? Agents should be more like Vance and McGee and less like Gibbs and DiNozzo. Agent afloat is actually a plumb position. It's a major blue ribbon on an agent's resume. But it would also get Gibbs, Jr. out of Vance's space. I have a feeling Tony would have eventually been shuffled off to some leadership position in a minor locale where he could be left to rot. Vance probably would like to remake the D.C. office in his image... and the Gibbses and the DiNozzos are in his way.

[webbgirl.livejournal.com]

I think you could be right about Vance.

I actually wouldn't mind watching several episodes with Tony as Agent Afloat. That's probably more to do with combinig Tony and my carrier kink though.

[tejas.livejournal.com]

Sadly, though, they didn't seem to do what they could have with him. IIRC from some research done waybackwhen, the agent afloat on a carrier would be in charge of the entire carrier group (wait - that's not the right term, I'm talking about all the support vessels a carrier has - destroyers and so forth). He'd probably have several other agents under him (probably stationed on other ships) and he'd be the team leader.

And yeah, I'd've loved to have seen that.

One thing I found interesting was how Tony, Mr. Extrovert, was craving solitude. Makes you wonder just how real the extrovert portion of his personality is real and how much is just another part of the mask.

[captain-tiv.livejournal.com]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_Criminal_Investigative_Service


I love wikipedia. :)

[tejas.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but it doesn't go into detail, sadly. :-)

[captain-tiv.livejournal.com]

I really think there's a story behind why Vance sent Tony to sea.

[tejas.livejournal.com]

Could be. I hope we find out. :-)

[captain-tiv.livejournal.com]

Ya know, it's possible that some areas of the NCIS are run like the military. For instance, if you're not promoted, you're fired? What if moving Tony to the Ronald Reagan was the only way Vance could keep Tony employed? He had to know that Gibbs wouldn't rest until he had his team back together. Once Tony had a 'promotion' on his resume, he could be transferred back to DC at a later time and keep his job?

[tejas.livejournal.com]

I think they're Civil Service. At one point remember, Kate asked Tony if he was a GS9 or a GS11 (or something - I don't recall the numbers). That means they've got the same rules as every other GS employee.

It *could* be that he *does* have plans for Tony, but needed him to have that experience or to have made connections with certain people in the Seahawk's crew.

Time will tell. :-)

[captain-tiv.livejournal.com]

I can't remember if I just posted this on this thread or the other NCIS thread.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_Criminal_Investigative_Service

Very informative. :)

I still think there's a really good reason why Vance did what he did, and it wasn't just to get Tony out of the way or keep him out of the mix.

[tejas.livejournal.com]

I would *love* that. I still don't really know about Vance. He has 'issues' of some kind. I just don't know if they're darkside or not.

[captain-tiv.livejournal.com]

Oops. It was this thread. :)

All the conversations keep collapsing. *g*

[tejas.livejournal.com]

LOL!!!

Download the addon. :-)

[captain-tiv.livejournal.com]

Just did. :) I can't get the whole page to uncollapse though.

[tejas.livejournal.com]

Go back to her "recent entries" page. Instead of clicking on the 1404823 comments link, right click on it and tell it to "unfold all comments on this page".

[captain-tiv.livejournal.com]

I've got uncollapsed posts! :) {{{hugs}}}

[tejas.livejournal.com]

YAYS!!! Isn't that cool?

[captain-tiv.livejournal.com]

Way cool!