History Headscratchers / NCIS

**** Abby wanted to take the dog, but her apartment doesn't allow pets. That's the whole reason she had [=McGee=] take Jethro instead.

** #1 seems to be what the writers had in mind... except fingerprints don't work like that. Whorls, arches, and loops aren't the components of a single print; they're the 3 major different types of prints. Before the Computer Age, prints were classified as consisting of whorls, arches, or loops to narrow down the pool of possible matches you would need to compare a print to. Naturally, there were more specific levels below those 3 major categories and a numbering system depending on which finger of the hand consisted of what type of print. Abby's wording makes no sense, especially for a forensic scientist -- since they start with one big pile, it ''does'' sound like she's telling them to look at specific components common to all the prints, not look at different prints based on their type. If they knew from the beginning what types of prints they were looking at, even with the computers down, they would have ''started'' with 3 piles, and Abby would have assigned them each a pile of whorls, arches, or loops to look at, not an empty bin. If, with the computers down, they had no way of knowing that from the start, then they would have used the bins to divide them up as they determined whether the prints were whorls, arches, or loops... but that's a job you can't divide by person at that stage. Was Abby saying, "[=DiNozzo=], as you examine prints, it you find one that consists of whorls, throw it in the bin for whorls; if not, don't throw it in its designated bin, just leave it on the pile for someone else to examine again. David, if you find one that consists of arches, throw it in the bin; if not, leave it for someone else to examine again..."? No, you'd just say, "Whorls go in this bin, arches in this one, loops in this one." Anybody with a deeper knowledge of forensic technology understand know what "[=DiNozzo=], you're whorls. David, arches. [=McGee=], loops" could have meant that makes sense given the one big general pile and 3 empty bins they start with?

** #1 seems to be what the writers had in mind... except fingerprints don't work like that. Whorls, arches, and loops aren't the components of a single print; they're the 3 major different types of prints. Before the Computer Age, prints were classified as consisting of whorls, arches, or loops to narrow down the pool of possible matches you would need to compare a print to. Naturally, there were more specific levels below those 3 major categories and a numbering system depending on which finger of the hand consisted of what type of print. Abby's wording makes no sense, especially for a forensic scientist -- since they start with one big pile, it ''does'' sound like she's telling them to look at specific components common to all the prints, not look at different prints based on their type. If from the beginning what types of prints they were looking at, even with the computers down, they would have ''started'' with 3 piles, and Abby would have assigned them each a pile of whorls, arches, or loops to look at, not an empty bin. If, with the computers down, they had no way of knowing that from the start, then they would have used the bins to divide them up as they determined whether the prints were whorls, arches, or loops... but that's a job you can't divide by person at that stage. Was Abby saying, "[=DiNozzo=], as you examine prints, it you find one that consists of whorls, throw it in the bin for whorls; if not, don't throw it in its designated bin, just leave it on the pile for someone else to examine again. David, if you find one that consists of arches, throw it in the bin; if not, leave it for someone else to examine again..."? No, you'd just say, "Whorls go in this bin, arches in this one, loops in this one." Anybody with a deeper knowledge of forensic technology understand know what "[=DiNozzo=], you're whorls. David, arches. [=McGee=], loops" could have meant that makes sense given the one big general pile and 3 empty bins they start with?

** #1 seems to be what the writers had in mind... except fingerprints don't work like that. Whorls, arches, and loops aren't the components of a single print; they're the 3 major different types of prints. Before the Computer Age, prints were classified as consisting of whorls, arches, or loops to narrow down the pool of possible matches you would need to compare a print to. I know nothing about how fingerprint-matching has changed due to forensic technology -- are prints still classified that way? Abby's words suggest, yes, but her ''wording'' makes no sense -- since they start with one big pile, it ''does'' sound like she's telling them to look for specific components of all the prints, not look at different prints based on their type. What would have made sense would be if she said that fingerprints from the pile consisting of whorls go in one bin, arches in another, etc., but you couldn't assign that based on person.

* Why did they introduce Bishop as a quirky girl and then almost immediately neuter her quirkiness? In her introductory episodes, she was sitting on the floor and associating absolutely everything with food, which she nearly almost always had on hand. Then suddenly she's all "oh, no, IJustWantToBeNormal" and she's sitting in chairs and rarely even speaks of food. Why give her quirks only to take them away? At least be consistent in your characterization, writers.

*** What I find just as worrying is that Abby, in spite acting like irrational and horrible to [=McGee=] for supposedly Jethro's sake, didn't seem like she cared about the dog as she claimed she did. She doesn't volunteer to take the dog in, and instead puts him with someone who has a job in which sudden death is a guarantee and doesn't seem to consider the possibility that, in case something happens to [=McGee=], none of [=McGee's=] family might to want to be bothered with a dog. And while it's a good thing [=McGee=] is a nice person who wouldn't dream of hurting an animal, even one that almost mauled him to "death", imagine the abusive hell Jethro might've went through if he mauled some other agent who doesn't have any moral scruples in abusing animals (especially ones who attacked him/her) and so-called Saint Abby somehow managed to convince them to take Jethro in.

**** Abby having that much power honestly makes it worse. I'd hate to be the IA guy who has to investigate Team Gibbs, especially since the neurotic forensic specialist seems to be the real leader of the unit, AND has boasted on several occasions that she can commit a perfect murder.

* The last couple of seasons have introduced rules in the sixties. Given that the creation of Rule Fifty-One was the subject of the season seven finale, when did all of these rules get written? (And yes, I'm aware it's more likely writer screw ups, but I always do prefer an in-universe explanation.)

* The Russian stereotypes. Everywhere. It's worse than [[{{CallofDuty}} COD4.]]

* How does the division of labor while examining the fingerprints work in "Power Down"? Abby dumps all the local fingerprint cards into a pile, then hands out empty, labeled bins to everyone: "[=DiNozzo=], you're whorls. David, arches. [=McGee=], loops. I'll take the composites. We use the bins to narrow down the suspects and hopefully find a match to the print from the park." But if the prints from the park consisted of, say, whorls, they wouldn't need to compare it to prints made of arches and/or loops. What exactly did Abby have each of them looking for?

* In the episode Freedom the victim’s widow was a violent and abusive drill sergeant/ martial arts instructor and boxer who was known for her short temper and loved of fighting, she was found to have several bruises on her body and everyone assumes her husband was beating her and she was a weak submissive woman despite the fact that was the opposite of her personality. They never suggested that he hit her in self defense, or it might have been a mutually abusive relationship, or even that she was telling the truth about how she got them and that somebody who likes fighting might be covered in bruises from sparing. When Gibbs suggested she was to proud to talk about abuse Ducky said she was to week and that her abusive behavior on the job was because she was powerless at home. I am not saying that the above situation never happens but they should have investigated other possibilities. This was a very tough and mean woman; if a man was in the same situation there would be no question in peoples minds he was abusing his wife. After giving her this situation she said that he was also psychologically abused because he threatened to take away their son because of her violent behavior. This is bad because NCIS had previously learned not to jump to conclusion with domestic abuse cases.

*** Except it also specifically says that he knew her [[HighSchoolSweethearts since high school]]. He would not know whether or not she liked dangerous sports?

* Some episodes (Such as Season 11's "Bulletproof") mention a defense contractor named Dearing. Is this the same company that Harper Dearing ran? Wouldn't having your CEO bomb a Navy yard significantly impact whether or not the DOD would trust your company on a defense contract?

** This issue is {{lampshaded}} in season 7 episode "Jet Lag" by Damon Werth saying he thought one had to be an American citizen to join a federal agency. Ziva says she's in the process of doing so, when Werth points out you have to be a legal resident to do that. Ziva reveals that there are a ''lot'' of strings being pulled in order to expedite things.

** Because he's a CIA Operative with Top Secret clearance. It is heavily implied that an MTAC station is in every federal law enforcement agency.