1) Numb3rs episode 4x18 "When Worlds Collide":

Anticlimatic in the extreme.

Is this what we have to look forward to in the show's future? A Don Eppes whose screentime has been reduced to the bare minimum à la Jack O'Neill in season 8 of Stargate: SG1? Still part of the organization, but responsible for administrative tasks only? The Don we know has always taken pride in being on the streets with his team, in investigating instead of only pushing papers. Now, however, the spotlight is on David Sinclair and Colby Granger (and occasionally Liz Warner) out in the field while Don sits behind his desk and only appears for meetings with his team and/or Charlie. If this sad trend continues, it's very likely I'll stop watching the show. It's not that I don't like the team - to the contrary, I like them all, even Liz. But I stuck with this show because of Don.

Plus, Megan Reeves leaving was handled in far too understated a manner. The final scenes with David and Colby helping her carry her boxes was nice and in-character, but for example we were never shown Don and Megan talking about that certain fat pink elephant in the middle of the room. That the two of them even ran into each other at the office at all and supposedly had a conversation was referred to only in passing. The fact that she Diane Farr's character was allowed to leave in this way - instead of being killed off - was quite realistic and a good decision overall. I wouldn't have wanted a dramatic tear-induced goodbye, but why didn't the episode end with the Eppes family plus adopted extras (including Megan) having a goodbye dinner together? That would have been in line with similar occasions (like Larry's trip to the ISS) and wonderfully in-character.

Apropos "in-character": Did Don have a personality transplant? He was the one who decided to stick with a friendship and trust that any sane person outside his little circle would have called lunacy: He trusted Colby, against all proof, against all appearances, and decided to board the freighter he was on without a warrant. Remember episode 4x01 "Trust Metric"? Here, however, he somehow decided to forget what value he placed on friendship, and acted like he was confused that his brother might feel the same kind of loyalty towards a colleague and friend of Charlie's. Heck, Don was the person who so eloquently argued for the innocence of a supposed "terrorist" in episode 2x16 "Protest" and tried to hammer it into the thick skull of biased retired Special Agent Thomas Larson that a preconceived notion was nothing in the way of evidence towards pre-condemning a possibly innocent man. Here, however? Don was perfectly fine in treating a professor of Pakistani origin as an Islamic terrorist because of flimsy, constructed "evidence". That Charlie would - could - not go along with that line of thinking shouldn't have surprised a perfect stranger, much less his older brother.

Glossing over that particular mistake might still have been a possibility at that point, but by having Don and Charlie not go head-to-head on this, resorting instead to silence and understanding glances, the potential for conflict and subsequent growth was swept under the carpet.

Whether or not it is realistic (that was discussed elsewhere), I also think Charlie will regain his security clearance pretty soon in season 5, because otherwise, what would become of the show's concept of utilizing applied mathematics in the prevention and prosecution of crime?

As for the show's interpersonal relationships, I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Bringing in successfully yet another profiler after Terry Lake and Megan Reeves both left might prove to be a challenge. And Don as a paper pusher? Might lose the show many of its fans.

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2) Bones episode 3x15 "The Pain in the Heart":

What the fuck?!

Strangely enough, I never believed - not even in the slightest - that Booth was dead. My money was on the whole experience being a dream, but the beloved old cliché of "faking someone's death in order to draw out an enemy" worked just as well (as long as one ignored the surreality of the whole experience).

Subsequent events, however, were not just surreal; they were unreal.

Setting up Hodgins as a suspect for Gormogon in so plump a manner? Bones is not a cheap horror flick (one would think). So why all the instances of heavy-handed finger-pointing? Oooooh, he's being so creepy. Suuuure. :::yawn:::

Only for it to turn out to be Zack Addy in the end? Oh please. That doesn't just stretch credibility, that blows it up even more spectacularly than the explosion in the Jeffersonian ripped up Zack's hands.

What are we supposed to learn from this "solution"? That any highly intelligent, reasonable, but socially awkward person might well be a sociopath?

Let's just call this a last-minute desperate, contrived plot twist and move on.

However, that poses the question - is this show worth watching in season 4? If this last episode is any indication, I'd have to say no.

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3) NCIS episodes 5x18 - 5x19 "Judgment Day":

Excellent writing, questionable content.

I'd half convinced myself, over the last few weeks, that Jenny Sheppard would have to leave NCIS due to her actions during the "La Grenouille" investigation, and that Tony DiNozzo would be the character to be killed off. My idea was that - just like Kate in episode 2x23 "Twilight" - he would narrowly escape a dangerous situation during a case. Then, in the last few minutes of the episode, he would fall victim to an innocent - a female victim, or a victim's female relative - who'd mistake him as a murderer and tragically kill him in perceived self-defense.

I'd all but arranged myself with his death.

Then canon came along and shuffled the cards entirely new. Oh, my feelings regarding the actual episode are conflicted, but I have to admit that objectively speaking, the season finale was pretty close to perfect.

Tight script, excellent acting, great interpersonal interaction, engaging plot with a surprising (if one hadn't read any spoilers beforehand) twist at the end - what wasn't to like? The last handful of episodes had been rather bad, what with Abby acting like a pod person in episode 5x13 "Dog Tags", Ziva impersonating Kate in episode 5x16 "Recoil", and Gibbs aiming for the Cancerman Award in episode 5x14 "Internal Affairs".

Well, there was one thing: Franks. I've got a healthy antipathy against him, and just the sight of his face usually makes me dread watching the respective episode. Franks, the man without morals or scruples who made Gibbs the bastard he is today - just great.

He and Jenny Shepard deserved each other's company. Both have/had more secrets than sense (or conscience), but admittedly, the worked beautifully (and believably) together.

So Shepard went out with a bang, and just as expected, her death wasn't the last shock of the episode. Just like in episode 2x23 "Twilight", the real shocker happened in the last few seconds, when Gibbs' team was informed by Director Vance that they were all being reassigned.

Not that I'm too bothered by that; it might take them a few episodes in the new season, but I'm reasonably certain that they'll all return home.

However, what bothered me more was the endless chain of cover-ups happening in that episode, but most particularly, the scene in which Gibbs and Franks set fire to Shepard's house to get rid of the remaining assassin's body. Just as ruthless and thoughtless an action as we've come to associate with Franks' interference with a case - and Gibbs, of course, helping and/or covering his former boss' tracks.

Franks brings out the worst in Gibbs, and I sincerely hope that, with "Judgment Day" we've finally, finally seen the last of him. Good riddance, Franks. Don't let the airport door hit you on the ass on your way back to Mexico.

***

Which leads me to my most recent thoughts on NCIS, and no, they're not complimentary.

Frankly, as much and as brightly as my obsession with this show has burned for the last couple of months, by now, I'm pretty much over it. Gibbs' character has lost its allure; he's just as much a bastard as Rodney McKay or Gregory House, and attractive to boot, but for all his faults, McKay has many redeeming character traits, and House is so abrasive and verbally aggressive towards everyone that the few friends he has know exactly where they stand with him.

Gibbs always had that dichotomy - a bastard, and yet a protector, a hero, a role model, a fatherly friend.

Recently (read: ever since episode 3x12 "Boxed In", with special honors going to further episodes 4x01 "Shalom" and 5x07 "Requiem"), however, his focus seems to have shifted primarily to the former and less and less to the latter, especially (or even exclusively) in regard to Tony. Gibbs is the ultimate Alpha male; he can't seem to work with equals or superiors, and Tony evidently threatens his position as "the leader of the pack". Those last few seasons, it's all been head-slaps and put-downs, biting criticism, sarcasm and deliberate cruelty.

If I were Tony, I would have quit immediately after the events of "Boxed In". After "Hiatus"/"Shalom", especially, it's getting harder and harder for the writers to justify why he'd be willing to forego a promotion and remain content as Gibbs' second-in-command. Although - wait! - that description is already a lie, because Gibbs never seems to remember that Tony is his Senior Field Agent. Lately, DiNozzo apparently has been demoted to "Probie". All in all, the writers apparently try to gloss over the fact that there is a problem at all by keeping quiet about its very existence. There always comes the day when someone's 2IC should get his or her own command. In regards to Tony, that point has long been passed.

The same applies to yet another point - the credibility of an intimate relationship developing between Gibbs and DiNozzo (and yes, I'm aware that this is wholly a fannish slasher thing).

These days, Gibbs and DiNozzo remind me of Mulder and Scully, or Booth and Bones - the show has been going on for so long that the likelihood of something more than friendship developing between its main protagonists has dropped, declined and dwindled until it's come to somewhere close to zero. If something were to happen, ever, it would have happened already.

So why should I keep watching the show? Gibbs will never show any consideration or true affection for DiNozzo; they'll only keep growing even further apart with each season.

Or, let's put it bluntly: Gibbs has lost his archangelic halo. He traded the real thing in for one made of tarnished brass when he let Franks murder a man in cold blood and then covered for him. Then, in turn, he exchanged the brass halo for a plastic one when he told Jenny that he knew she'd killed Rene Benoit and yet failed to turn her in. Finally, even the plastic halo became a thing of the past when he threw it away by once again covering for a murder committed by Franks.

The show should have been canceled after "Twilight", just as Stargate: Atlantis should have been canceled after "The Siege Part 2". Once upon a time, when they were still good.

I guess I'm bitter, sorry. I don't expect anything, but perhaps season 6 will surprise me. I can't but hope.

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4) Criminal Minds episode 3x20 "Lo-Fi":

Musical chairs. Again.

This show has the highest turnover rate I've ever seen, and no, I haven't watched Spooks yet. *g*

First they lost Elle Greenway because she crossed the line, then Gideon to disillusionment, and now yet another team member got blown up. Literally.

And since the writers want to keep the suspense up, of course they made certain that there was no way for the viewers to find out which team member bit the dust. How novel.

Supposedly none of the cast members want out of the show (as far as they've admitted, anyway), so the decision who to kill off is really entirely up to TPTB.

cuwikhons said here: "And the horrible part is that it can really only be Hotch, Prentiss, or Morgan. Because Reid gets in quite enough trouble without car bombs, Garcia was recently shot, nobody cares about Rossi, and JJ is pregnant so that would be all kinds of mean."

:::cackles like a hyena:::

I agree with her only in part, because I don't believe it was Hotch, or Prentiss. Replacing Hotch would be rather difficult, and finding a successor for Elle was difficult enough without killing off said successor after such a short stint on the show.

Prentiss surprised me - she got integrated quickly, and I don't know of any groups in fandom who hate her.

That only leaves, in my opinion, admittedly, Morgan or - to a lesser degree - JJ.

Hotch = unit chief; hard to replace;
Rossi = has only recently replaced a main character;
Reid = is the fans' favorite character;
Prentiss = has successfully replaced a main character;
Garcia = one of a kind; hard to replace;
JJ = killing her off after creating a storyline to explain the actress' pregnancy makes no sense;
Morgan = his character development has stalled after the episode telling us that he was sexually abused as a child.

We'll see what the show's creators have in mind in season 4. I'm not exactly clinging to the edge of my seat, but then, Criminal Minds never managed to trigger any strong feelings in me. It's only taken me 2 1/2 seasons to learn all the characters' names, after all. *eg*