The Chickens are in the Hayloft.

People always speculate on who should play Tony's father if/when he ever shows up on NCIS.  I finally figured out who it should be!

Robert Pine!  He'd be perfect.  Given that Chris Pine looks so much like Michael Weatherly and Robert Pine can play that stand-offish kind of character well, he'd slot right in for the part.  As an added bonus, he's already done roles on 50 gajillion CBS shows anyway, including an episode of JAG.

So, am I right?

ETA:  TOTALLY FORGOT THAT HE PLAYED MAGNUM'S FATHER IN MAGNUM P.I.  NOW HE *HAS* TO BE THE ONE TO PLAY THE ROLE.

For reasons that I won't go into, I had a very fuzzy viewing of tonight's episode. I'll do a more in depth post with thinky thoughts and such (especially about McGee and some of where I think this season is headed as a whole) once I get the chance to re-watch the episode (probably on Thursday). I will say that overall I thought it was decent and somewhat fun. Had some plot holes (as usual) but it didn't piss me off like some of the other episodes have. How sad is it when not feeling pissed off after an episode is an accomplishment?

Anyway, I had a couple of things that I needed to squee about and share for the moment:

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So I just finished re-watching "Chained".  I didn't realize that it's been so long since I'd watched it.  I'd also forgotten that it has what is probably my favorite McGee scene.  The one where he's telling off the under secretary or whatever her title was.

Tony was amazing in this episode.  We got to see the investigator side, the undercover side and even the goofy side all well balanced.  The whole relationship with Jeffrey by the end of the episode was just heartbreaking.

Unfortunately, this episode also highlights one of the things that bugs me about the show.  They have this amazing dramatic ending all set up and the suspense of whether Tony is still alive or not.  Then it's ruined by Gibbs flipant remark.  I'm not looking for Gibbs to get all gushy with him but I feel like there are so many dramatic moments with Tony that get downplayed by Gibbs having to knock him down a peg. 

Same thing with the final scene in "Missing" where Tony comes back, Gibbs tells him he's 'irreplaceable' and then turns it into a joke.

I know I'm harping on this whole thing recently but it's just so frustrating even watching the older moments and thinking about having to fanwank how Gibbs treats Tony a lot of the time.

*sigh* I'll get over it once I get to "SWAK" and "Frame Up". *g*

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 ( Not a lot of detail but cut for the spoilerphobic )
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?