History Headscratchers / NCIS

* It's gonna sound stupid but how the hell how did Gibbs' old Motorola flip phone still have service in 2020? I did some research on Gibbs' cell phone and sure enough, the type of Gibbs' cell phone is a [[https://images.app.goo.gl/NFLccsFPfDDdUGFt6 Motorola i850]] which 1) is a Nextel iDEN cell phone and 2) came out in 2004/2005. I am pretty sure Gibbs uses it since 2004 or 2005 and he still uses it ever since. I am completely baffled because Nextel iDEN (Sprint owns them) got decommissioned in 2013, making virtually every Nextel iDEN phone impossible to get reactivated. Plus, Gibbs' phone has a 2G network which will be shutting down in 2020-2021. How in the name that is holy did a Nextel iDEN cell phone still have service in 2020 even though iDEN is disappeared in 2013? I know it's a tv show but still. Plus, how the heck Gibbs' cell phone, if Gibbs uses it since 2005, didn't get smashed to pieces or gets destroyed? Most of the people's cell phones (regardless whether it's a dumbphone or a smartphone) didn't last that long, especially if you still use a 10 year old iPhone that you have owned since 2010 or if you still use a Motorola Razr V3 since 2004.

* It's gonna sound stupid but how the hell how did Gibbs' old Motorola flip phone still have service in 2020? I did some research on Gibbs' cell phone and sure enough, the type of Gibbs' cell phone is a [[https://images.app.goo.gl/NFLccsFPfDDdUGFt6 Motorola i850]] which 1) is a Nextel iDEN cell phone and 2) came out in 2004/2005. I am pretty sure Gibbs uses it since 2004 or 2005 and he still uses it ever since. I am completely baffled because Nextel iDEN (Sprint owns them) got decommissioned in 2013, making virtually every Nextel iDEN phone impossible to get reactivated. Plus, Gibbs' phone has a 2G network which will be shutting down in 2020-2021. How in the name that is holy did a Nextel iDEN cell phone still have service in 2020 even though iDEN is disappeared in 2013? I know it's a tv show but still.

* It's gonna sound stupid but how the hell how did Gibbs' old Motorola flip phone still have service in 2020? I did some research on Gibbs' cell phone and sure enough, the type of Gibbs' cell phone is a [[https://images.app.goo.gl/NFLccsFPfDDdUGFt6 Motorola i850]] which 1) is a Nextel iDEN cell phone and 2) came out in 2004/2005. I am pretty sure Gibbs uses it since 2004 or 2005 and he still uses it ever since. I am completely baffled because Nextel iDEN (Sprint owns them) got decommissioned in 2013, making virtually every Nextel iDEN phone impossible to get reactivated. Plus, Gibbs' phone has a 2G network which will be shutting down in 2020-2021. How in the name that is holy did a Nextel iDEN cell phone still have service even though iDEN is disappeared in 2013? I know it's a tv show but still.

** It seems like this was initially a sign of how much of a hardass Gibbs is on the job, pushing his people to get it right, but, as the show has gone on, it has evolved into the more HumbleHero style, where the phrase comes out more on occasions where the apology isn't one that is believed or accepted.

** It seems like this was initially a sign of how much of a hardass Gibbs is on the job, pushing his people to get it right, but, as the show has gone on, it has evolved into the more HumbleHero style, where the phrase comes out more on occasions where the apology isn't one that is believed or accepted.
* Wait, so who is the father of Phineas? We learn that most of what Gibbs's neighbor has told him is a lie. This means that when she went to deal with a custody battle with the father of Phineas that was probably a lie and she was doing something else entirely.

** It seems like this was initially a sign of how much of a hardass Gibbs is on the job, pushing his people to get it right, but, as the show has gone on, it has evolved into the more HumbleHero style, where the phrase comes out more on occasions where the apology isn't one that is believed or accepted.

** A bigger issue in that episode was that they ask the British suspect (before discovering his true identity) if he owns a Webley revolver (one was the murder weapon in the case) and he says it's in his London town house. Private ownership of handguns is illegal in Britain, even for an [=MI6=] agent.
And the Webley revolver in an antique. Even if he had a license to own one it would make no sense for him to have it with him on active duty.

** Probably, but think about WHY those characters died. Kate was killed because Ari was trying to hurt Gibbs (and Gibbs IS a bit sexist). Paula Cassidy was actually the leader of a team and got to go out saving everyone. Jenny was director of NCIS when she was offed. Lee was a mole (and, going back to Gibbs being sexist, he would be less likely to suspect her). And nobody liked Macy. As for the men: Everyone but Franks was a random guest star. So, if anything, one might argue for a bit of sexism in the other direction: Lots of powerful women characters, but men (and Macy) get shoved in refrigerators. Or, more likely, the core cast is very penis-heavy, so most of the guest stars tend to be women.

* I can't be the only one who hates the whole "Never apologize, it's a sign of weakness" thing. I would say someone who is really strong, brave etc [[HumbleHero will admit when they're wrong and try to do better]], whereas a weak and fearful person will insist they can do no wrong and [[NeverMyFault nothing is ever their fault]]. Now, to be fair, Gibbs has never tried to blame his mistakes on his subordinates but my point still stands.

** Viewers didn't respond positively to Bishop's quirkiness and the writers had to rein it in. This is given an InUniverse handwave by Gibbs claiming that he wasn't being strict with Bishop because he felt that the pressure to please him led to Kate's death and Ziva's breakdown. Bishop tells him that she wants to be pushed harder and Gibbs then promptly seats her at her desk rather than continuing to let her work on the floor.

*** The daughter of the man said that because of medication that he had a failing memory, so that could mean that he didn't seem her father 3 weeks ago. He only thought he did.

Read more at: http://transcripts.foreverdreaming.org/viewtopic.php?f=193&t=11828

** McGee has been there before Jimmy. He was introduced Season 1, episode 7; he worked with the team before he was officially made a probationary field agent in S2 E1. Jimmy showed up in S1, E21 as a replacement for Gerald and wasn't offered a full time position until AFTER McGee was made probationary field agent. So, McGee has more episodic seniority than Palmer (no offense to Jimmy, but McGee has been there AT LEAST as long).

*** I'm not sure if SFX Awareness is a valid trope, but in that scene you can see Michael Waverly ([=DiNozzo=]) flinch just before the squib on Kate's back splatters him with blood.

** His harassment of McGee is also really bad, as he breaks into him computer to read anything that might be embarassing, at one point forces himself into his home to check things out and generally be a dick. As a man, I've worked with the types who want to insert themselves in the middle of my private life to learn who I am or am not sleeping with and all the details, and since this is supposed to be a crack investigation team there is no way that behavior promotes anything near cooperation.

**** This mischaracterizes what abuse and harassment actually are. They are ''unwanted'' advances, and completely independent of what the giver 'intended'. If I were to slap an employee, it would matter fuck all what my 'intentions'. Telling the victim to take it as a compliment, is highly demeaning, because you're telling them they have no say in how they are treated. In several episodes the characters tell DiNozzo and Gibbs that they do not appreciate that, yet its still portrayed as some loving gesture.

** Pretty much. Gibbs is given the freedom to be "eccentric" so long as it doesn't interfere with job performance (which is one of the reason's Vance was on him when the lawyer love-interest was around). And, as shown when they were replacing Ziva, they have a pretty heavy screening process for new hires. While Dinozzo's sexual harassment of interviewees was played up for laughs, Gibbs (and [=McGee=]) allowed it because they were more interested in if the applicant would be a good teammate: Their files already showed they would be great investigators. And, you are right: this is the military. And, in the military, the special forces community still has traditions and pseudo-hazing rituals that would probably get them brought up on charges. But those are the elite groups who are given a bit of freedom, so long as it doesn't become something anyone has to act on (and, when it has, it was cracked down on HARD). So, to summarize: You would never have been let on the team. They would have seen you were the kind of person who would press charges (that are totally valid) or take it the wrong way and would have rejected you during the interviewing process. And they would have had a very good excuse (even something as simple as "If she cried when Gibbs interviewed her, how is she going to handle a terrorist like Ari?"). Is it right, legal, or even ethical? Probably not. But it isn't inconceivable either. And, at least in TV land, it provides results (Dinozzo's insanely offensive and borderline stalker-ish behavior has helped solve cases on multiple occasions).