Product Description
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Taking viewers behind the sealed doors of the , NCIS
follows the workings of investigators at the Naval Criminal
Investigative Service. Led by the wise Special Agent Leroy Jethro
Gibbs (Mark Harmon), a crack investigator with no qualms about
bending the rules to find his answers, the team takes on cases
involving terrorism, murder, espionage, and international arms
smuggling. Gibbs is aided by homicide detective Anthony Dinozzo
(Michael Weatherly), forensic scientist Abby Sciuto (Pauley
Perrette), medical examiner Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard (Davi
McCallum), computer expert Timothy McGee (Sean Murray), and
department head Jennifer Shepard (Lauren Holly). This collection
presents the series fifth season, including a shocking season
finale that is sure to shake up the unit. Star: Mark Harmon,
Lauren Holly, David McCallum, Sean Murray, Michael Weatherly,
Special Features: Widescreen Format. Audio: 5.1 Surround Stereo
English Running Time: 835 minutes.
.com
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Describing season four of NCIS as "the season of secrets,"
executive producer Shane Brennan suggests that season five
(offered here with 18 episodes, including a two-part finale, on
five discs) is "the season of answers." For the most part, that's
true--but at season's end, loyal viewers are likely to be thrown
for a loop by the death of a major character and a startling set
of changes bound to have a profound effect on the show's future.
Picking up where the previous year left off, this new batch jumps
right in with a continuation of Special Agent Jethro Gibbs (Mark
Harmon) and company's pursuit of notorious international arms
dealer La Grenouille ("The Frog," played by Armand Assante), whom
NCIS director Jenny Shepard (Lauren Holly) is particularly keen
on taking down--a quest that's complicated by the fact that the
bad guy is a CIA asset, and by Agent Anthony DiNozzo's (Michael
Weatherly) love affair with La Grenouille's daughter. That
storyline, barely touched on thereafter, is resolved in the 14th
episode, "Internal Affairs." Meanwhile, the NCIS crew is
distracted by an array of other cases, most of them involving
murder. Of particular interest are several episodes related to
Iraq and the War on Terror: a Naval officer of Syrian descent
who's suspected of being an Al Qaeda mole is murdered seconds
after Gibbs talks him out of jumping off a building ledge; a
Marine who's having a violent bout of post-traumatic stress after
returning from the Mideast turns out to be far worse off than
that; Medical Examiner Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum)
refuses to conduct an autopsy because of the deceased's Muslim
beliefs.
There's no doubt that NCIS is slick, entertaining prime-time
television in every respect: writing, acting, production values,
music, and so on. Still, one's appreciation of the show largely
depends on the characters' likeability, and that's very much a
matter of taste. Gibbs may be a chick magnet, with four former
wives and a past relationship with Shepard to prove it, but he's
also a taciturn fellow with horrible social skills. DiNozzo's
funny and insouciant, but his smugness and incessant razzing of
computer nerd Timothy McGee (Sean Murray) soon becomes tiresome,
while Shepard is steely and simply unlikeable (the most appealing
characters are arguably McCallum's Mallard and Pauley Perrette's
mouthy Abby Sciuto, the goth-like forensic expert). Bonus
material includes cast and crew commentary on various episodes
and a typical assortment of featurettes. --Sam Graham