Post by pdsmith777 on Nov 18, 2021 21:42:28 GMT
With two nights in a row off, I found myself with a little time on my hand, so I decided to watch a few selected episodes from my DVD collection. I chose Season 2: Call of Silence; Season 6: Silent Night; and Season 17: The Arizona.
Call of Silence still stands the test of time. A wonderful episode with the original cast giving a stellar performance, DiNozzo and Abby performing in relative normal fashion, and Charles Durning worthy of an Emmy nomination. (Can't remember if he received one or not)
Silent Night gave us our first Christmas episode from the series. Well done story and plot, mystery and solution, however, DiNozzo is beginning to devolve into the annoying character that he became before his departure, and Abby is not full blown immature little girl. But Peter Coyote's performance of the Vietnam Veteran and former addict was quite convincing and compelling. And with Christmas only a few weeks away, it was a nice lead into the upcoming holiday season.
There there was "The Arizona." I remember just after it aired, how taken we all were with the episode, crowing it as one of the best. But now, almost two years later, I'm sorry to say that the episode, for me anyways, hasn't aged well. Perhaps it was due to the dearth of quality episodes from season 17 that cause us such excitement over seeing Christopher Lloyd and Mark Harmon together. After all, season 17 was something of a disappointment is story telling, with "Musical Chairs" and "Ephemera" being the only other quality showings that season.
But as I sat and watched it again, back to back to back with "Call of Silence", and "Silent Night" the lack of quality was glaring. The acting was over the top and bad, the B-story could easily be considered insulting to the Hispanic community, and the only redeeming aspect of the hour was Gibb's end of episode confession and remarks to McGee. As a tribute to a dying generation of veterans, it was a worthy offering, but by comparison to the previously mentioned episodes, also both dealing with veterans from past, almost forgotten, wars, this one failed in many respects. Which is a shame, wasting talent such as Christopher Lloyd with poor writing and direction.
While season 19 is, as of this writing, still young and developing, it is proving to be a better produced show. Once this cast gels into a cohesive group, I'm hoping for quality that was given to us in the early years.
Your thoughts always appreciated.
Call of Silence still stands the test of time. A wonderful episode with the original cast giving a stellar performance, DiNozzo and Abby performing in relative normal fashion, and Charles Durning worthy of an Emmy nomination. (Can't remember if he received one or not)
Silent Night gave us our first Christmas episode from the series. Well done story and plot, mystery and solution, however, DiNozzo is beginning to devolve into the annoying character that he became before his departure, and Abby is not full blown immature little girl. But Peter Coyote's performance of the Vietnam Veteran and former addict was quite convincing and compelling. And with Christmas only a few weeks away, it was a nice lead into the upcoming holiday season.
There there was "The Arizona." I remember just after it aired, how taken we all were with the episode, crowing it as one of the best. But now, almost two years later, I'm sorry to say that the episode, for me anyways, hasn't aged well. Perhaps it was due to the dearth of quality episodes from season 17 that cause us such excitement over seeing Christopher Lloyd and Mark Harmon together. After all, season 17 was something of a disappointment is story telling, with "Musical Chairs" and "Ephemera" being the only other quality showings that season.
But as I sat and watched it again, back to back to back with "Call of Silence", and "Silent Night" the lack of quality was glaring. The acting was over the top and bad, the B-story could easily be considered insulting to the Hispanic community, and the only redeeming aspect of the hour was Gibb's end of episode confession and remarks to McGee. As a tribute to a dying generation of veterans, it was a worthy offering, but by comparison to the previously mentioned episodes, also both dealing with veterans from past, almost forgotten, wars, this one failed in many respects. Which is a shame, wasting talent such as Christopher Lloyd with poor writing and direction.
While season 19 is, as of this writing, still young and developing, it is proving to be a better produced show. Once this cast gels into a cohesive group, I'm hoping for quality that was given to us in the early years.
Your thoughts always appreciated.
