What did we hear tonight? In our years of watching NCIS, we never heard Gibbs admit to a mistake. But tonight he admitted that he has been too easy on Special Agent Eleanor Bishop. Were you as surprised as we were?

We’ve written three novels where we’ve taken a historical incident, then wrap a contemporary novel around it. Tonight the writers took the story of the murder of a Viet Nam veteran who was trying to write about his commander from Viet Nam and also to locate his body. Wrapped around this story was the NCIS writer’s effort to respond to the many complaints of those of us who’ve been turned off by the way they introduced Bishop as Ziva’s replacement. It was clever how they made Bishop uncomfortable with her performance evaluation score and her realization that Gibbs has been easier on her than her senior agent partners.

Again we had to watch Bishop sitting on the floor working on her laptop. From comments we’ve received on this blog, we are sure we’re not the only viewers who were turned off by such unorthodox work habits. Then, Bishop gets in Gibbs’ face and accuses him of treating her differently then most rookies. In response, Gibbs admits he eased off on Bishop because of the desk she occupies. He apparently blames himself for the two previous occupants of that desk (Kate and Ziva) leaving NCIS, inferring it was because he was too hard on them. After Bishop tells Gibbs that she doesn’t want to be pampered, but that she aspires to be like, Tony, Tim, and even Gibbs, he tells her to get up off the floor and sit at a desk. So, now we can expect Bishop to suddenly become more like Ziva or Kate. Sad though how Gibbs has to admit to being a poor manager and failing to properly train Bishop, to cover up the writer’s and producer’s decision to introduce Bishop, the antithesis of Ziva. Wrong!

Mark Harmon carried off the blame as strongly as he brought a sense of honor and pride to all veterans on Veterans Day. We liked how the team used the backdrop of the Vietnam War to restore those who fought in that war as heroes. Master Sergeant Hawkins and his buddy Sergeant Charles Kent showed grit and integrity in a difficult situation. Many of us know soldiers who have died or have been wounded fighting for the freedoms we enjoy in this great United States of America. Thank you NCIS for reminding us of the preciousness of this freedom.

Be Blessed, Diane and David Munson