CBS Cancels 'CSI: Miami,' 'Rob' & 'NYC 22,' Renews 'CSI:NY'
'Community' Renewed For Season 4 On NBC
NCIS's big-time return on screen and in the ratings
by Allison Waldman, posted Sep 23rd 2009 6:01PM
Over the summer, spoilers were leaked that the NCIS season premiere would begin with a bang. They weren't kidding. Last night's show was a spine-tingling puzzle of an episode that unraveled scene by scene, building suspense to the ultimate -- satisfying -- conclusion. If you were thinking that, like last year, the team was going to be torn asunder after the way things ended with Ziva being returned to Israel, you were pleasantly surprised. More after the jump.
However, there's another story to report. The overnight ratings are in and the viewers have spoken. Twenty million of them! The return of NCIS zoomed to the top of the ratings with 20 million viewers tuning in. That helped CBS launch NCIS: Los Angeles, opening with 18 million, and also bolstered The Good Wife with nearly 14 million. Any way you slice it, those are stellar numbers. The folk at the Black Rock must be dancing in the hallways.
Back to NCIS and last night's show: it was supremely satisfying to watch them go back month-by-month to reveal how Gibbs, Tony, McGee and Abby were undone by Ziva's absence. Not so much her absence, but her lack of contact. It wasn't like her and it was ticking them all off, especially Tony. Interviewing replacements for her spot in the squad just exacerbated the situation. Vance, in his usual fashion, was no help at all. But that prompted one of the best DiNozzo-Gibbs exchanges, as in "wink-wink-nudge-nudge-Bob's you're uncle" -- this is how we get to do what we want. That is, go get Ziva!
Nothing could top the moment, though, when Tony got to look Saleem in the eye, referred to the movie True Lies, and calmly reminded the guy that his boss was an expert sniper. Then, from behind some weird desert camouflage, you saw Gibbs' eyes and -- BANG -- Saleem was gone. Gibbs took him out with one shot.
On the emotional front, of course, Ziva is shell-shocked. She feels undeserving of the rescue, and when she returned to the office and everyone applauded the team for their mission, the vacant look in her eyes spoke volumes. Abby hugged her, doing what Tony wanted to do, but Ziva's not really all there yet. She's traumatized. It's going to take some time to get back to normal.
All the more reason why next week's show is must-see viewing for me and the other 20 million who watch NCIS.
18 Comments