Hello everybody
I've got another chapter covering two different episodes several seasons apart. The second one is more fixing from NCIS season 22x09, given that I dislike how McGee's persona of Gemcity is completely rewritten into this green glasses using English dork, and it's not shocking since it's penned by Steven D. Binder.
Both are calling out how NCIS has gotten toned down over the years with they even took away McGee's edge. I hate McGee as a law-abiding boy scout crap when he's not.
Like no, McGee's so-called protesting of hacking being illegal is for show, more than one episodes have Timothy casually hacking into places or other government organizations. McGee built himself a program to access vehicles to control nearly everything inside it.
A few times in the series since season 10 we've had McGee with an edge, or like the episode of young McGee hacking into the DoD on being upset at his father. But like where Timothy had to work around some new law that made it to not ping cellphones, even though they could legally do so again at episode's end, well McGee of early seasons wouldn't have cared in the first place.
3x15
Early morning, NCIS building at Washington DC Navy Yard – February 2006
Sitting at his desk Timothy looks over at Gibbs as after sparing a glance for Tony with Ziva leaving is the other man turns his attention back to the younger agent. Despite the mention of praise just now for getting information on the vehicle registration as it is owned by Epsilon Corporation...
"Tony's right. Hacking is illegal" Gibbs says.
"Yet you have me do how much of it again? You recruited me to help hunt down Ari and didn't care how I did it. As long as I cover my tracks you still don't" Timothy replies, "Besides rule four of keeping a secret."
"And the protesting when I do ask?" Gibbs inquiries.
"Have you tried working with Tony and you 24/7, boss?" Timothy replies dryly "Although DiNozzo would be disappointed if I didn't give him something in return for his comments."
Gibbs merely has a knowing smirk while thinking about how Franks, Lala, and the others from his NIS days would have loved meeting McGee. While never been discussed exactly between the teacher, and apprentice Gibbs knows McGee is not quite the innocent lawful boy scout. The most obvious sign is the younger agent is around, rather than asking to leave or reporting them for bending or breaking laws.
When easily could have, accepted how even now Gibbs can tell the changes are occurring, when more people in suits from politics to government pencil-pushing bureaucrats that let Pedro Hernandez run off to Mexico uncaringly. Or despite telling Lala on respecting authority all those years prior ended for good upon discovering how the Sandman case was covered up in a tragic mess. Despite certain rights groups getting more vocal about how the monsters who lay in weight are just misunderstood. The same monsters happily use their naivety to help themselves, especially corrupt ones. It means Gibbs knows uneasily on going around the law is sadly needed.
Regardless of what naive people think, having a moral high ground doesn't benefit the victims. Something Gibbs knows that McGee understands, and frankly given McGee's abilities with computers has the suspicion that his knowledge didn't just come from MIT or John Hopkins. Rather it is self-taught, where if things were slightly different McGee's path could be down one of the criminals instead of on protecting people.
Not that he's any different, well besides knows McGee is a far better man than he will ever be. That gentleness Tim has something he lost an extremely long time ago. Lost it when his mother died really. Yet has a seen a weariness set in McGee's eyes on everything this job takes from you. At certain times Gibbs has wondered if working in a more legal field allows McGee to use his skills in a manner like how he uses the job to get justice for others.
While not an expert, the very fact McGee who can run rings around the so-called specialists including CIA for example, Gibbs knows you do not pick up those skills in MIT. Just like how not being allowed to use his father's Winchester lever action rifle, didn't mean Jackson didn't make sure his son could shoot.
Especially living in Stillwater, PA from the wildlife or an occasional murder/assault. After all, it is a mining town with guys who like to drink and get rough. Goodness knows got into his fair share of fistfights because of that, well when not looking for an excuse to throw punches. Like when had thought he was getting kicked out of NIS and Ruth's cancer.
Pushing those thoughts aside, Gibbs notices McGee is typing on his keyboard, satisfied the marine walks off heading to get coffee.
22x09
Midday, NCIS building located at Washington DC Navy Yard – December 2024
In the squad room Alden Parker, Jessica Knight, and Nick Torres look at Timothy McGee at his desk upon his suggestion for using Gemcity's persona to get publisher Martin Gates on handing over Samuel Cross's manuscript.
"Really would give up your manuscript you've been working on since a few years back for this?" Nick asks.
"No of course not, I'd give him a fake one I made years back," Timothy says.
"You made a fake one?" Jessica questions in surprise.
"Of course, never know when I might need a couple for a case or emergency. It's filled with stuff that never would have been in the main series. Easy enough to convince for an alternate universe spin-off or something given working on the sequel. Though like a good cover identity, it becomes useless" Timothy says.
Raising an eyebrow "Just how paranoid are you?" Alden asks.
"It's not paranoia if it's real," Timothy says.
"Like you with Deputy Director Gabrielle LaRoche," Jessica mutters.
"Exactly, rule thirty-five and thirty-six for LaRoche," Timothy says.
"That's about always having a knife, and not using lawyers, right?" Alden says.
"No that's eight and uh?" Nick inquiries looking over to the senior field agent.
"That's rule nine for the knife and lawyers is thirteen. So rule thirty-five is always watch the watchers, which fits LaRoche, and if you think your being played you are is 36" Timothy says.
"Oh, come on, LaRoche may be a stickler for the budget, and politics but he's not Mr. Evil. I figured as you're a nice guy you would get that" Jessica replies.
Looking over to meet the darker-haired woman's eyes Timothy lets the mask drop to reveal the hardened killer, the survivor of Paraguay, Somali, Dearing, Ari, and countless losses of people, everybody once considered his close family is all gone. Even Gibbs, to Alaska like Franks in Mexico and Ducky to life's old age. Jessica looks mildly uneasy until McGee lets his mask return.
"You know it might be helpful if you wrote down those rules Gibbs with the rest of you used," Alden says.
"Well, he's got them down in notes somewhere. Kaise could make copies or something" Nick says.
"Actually… that might be a little hard," Timothy says standing up.
"Why's that?" Alden wonders.
"Because I don't have Gibbs's rules written down. I've got all of them remembered" Timothy says.
"You let us think you had them written down when Gibbs left for ninety-one. Well, I guess from one standpoint you are right, it's just mental records" Jessica says.
"You always knew what the rule was," Nick says.
"I did. I just pretended otherwise since it was easier for me until I came to grips with stuff" Timothy says picking up his desk phone to dial a number "Hey Jimmy, you know those two bags I keep secured in Autopsy's backroom wallsafe? Grab the second one, I need those clothes, and hair dye."
Placing the receiver back in the cradle McGee pulls out one of his desk drawers while searching until pulling out a small box with closing the door. His three other teammates observe curiously.
"What do you have in there?" Nick inquiries.
"Shaving kit," Timothy says, "Excuse me for a few minutes."
"You going for a shave, now?" Alden questions in bewilderment.
"Thom E. Gemcity is clean shaven, I'm not," Timothy says.
"Not bad undercover work. Even if you are far more paranoid in your daily life than I am and that's saying something" Nick says.
"I trained under and worked alongside Gibbs, Tony, and Ziva for years. All undercover experts, and specialists in individual fields. I picked up a few things" Timothy replies.
"Yeah, I remember hearing the stories in my green rookie days under Agent Noah Oakley at the Bureau for you guys. Agent Mike Franks, a former Marine from Texas. A real hard-case chain smoker, even more of a cowboy than Gibbs. Not sure who they hated worse, bureaucrats or the Bureau" Alden says.
"Sounds about right" Timothy replies wistfully smiling "Excuse me."
The three agents watch McGee walk off heading towards the bathroom area with returning to their desks to work the cases from possible other angles.
Only all look over seeing McGee strolling back in, dressed in an expensive tailored, dark color suit jacket, pants, dress shoes that have a shine, a pressed open collar white dress shirt. However, that's not the only change as McGee's hair is solid black, his goatee is trimmed off, and is standing straight with his shoulders back, instead of a minor slump look.
"You uh, what," Jessica says in light surprise alongside can understand an attractive appeal for Gemcity.
"Wow, you clean up nice man," Nick says.
"Nice suit. Your tailor must get paid well" Alden remarks.
"Thanks, guys," Timothy says casually adjusting his jacket sleeve.
"Will do. I admit not what I was expecting, however," Nick says.
"Like an English guy with green glasses and a funny British accent? Yeah, Gemcity is a crafted persona, one I've used before" Timothy says, "Give me an hour or two, I'll be back."
The three agents watch McGee exit the squad room as Jessica, thinking something over comes to an uneasy realization. How Timothy easily shifts from what they know as McGee into Gemcity, is Knight starts wondering if his main everyday self is nothing more than another persona carefully built. How McGee might be friends with this team, but Jessica has the funny feeling his real family is those he bled alongside during those years is all gone.
Especially when seeing how easily his mask slid away into something that caused her to become rather cold. Even more so than the building's not working heaters. It's a sobering thought as Jessica remembers when Parker was kidnapped alongside that nurse, and McGee got a little rough involving the one driver from what Nick told her. Or personally saw how the older agent didn't even hesitate before ruthlessly putting a bullet into a guard unblinkingly.
More of an emotionless killer than a field agent who should have at least identified himself before shooting. Even if knocked the guard out, but McGee killed him instead. Yes, Parker and that nurse were in danger, yet still, Jessica shivers upon recalling that. Makes the statement even more true of working with a former Marine sniper, and assassin for Mossad.
Suddenly her thoughts drift to McGee's suspicions of LaRoche when Jessica remembers one mention of overhearing some rookie agents in a break room asking McGee ask if the stories were true that his team and he really did investigate his grandmother in a murder case. And McGee was the one who insisted Langston was hiding something.
Remembers how the SFA merely had a faint melancholy look upon replying only half the stories are true about his old team, the trick is figuring out which parts before leaving. Jessica has a sobering thought on if somebody like McGee is distrustful and cold enough to not just bring his grandmother in for questioning, but insist Penelope Langston's guilty of something. Even being able to interrogate his grandmother? What does it mean for them?
For Deputy Director LaRoche? What kind of man do they share the office space with every day? Jessica uneasily concludes has no idea. Because Knight knows is was taught to respect her elders, trusts her government and authority only learning McGee doesn't, not really.
If anything besides seemingly Director Vance, McGee doesn't trust them the higher up the food chain. Jessica is starting to put together based on the stories, even by Parker just now this goes back to whoever Franks was, or Gibbs. All these stories about MCRT she is supposedly a part of, the ones about how causally Gibbs with his team would bend or break laws.
Go into foreign countries with little concern for diplomacy processes, pull off insane recuse missions, go against other agencies as easily of waving down a Taxicab. Taking down drug dealers, murderers, rapists to terrorists, and corrupt government officials or hacking into CIA, Mossad, FBI, or other groups like a daily coffee run, just may be true.
Jessica recalls watching a Star Treck Voyager episode with Jimmy on how Captain Kathryn Janeway talked about the days of Kirk for all the regulations and laws they broke a thousand times over, yet in way of like referring to the Wild West. Sure, Jessica knows they've done risky things skirting the edges but in these days of calls about police brutality around every corner, video surveillance, everybody having cellphone cameras, etc.
They are nothing like the agents of Franks, Gibbs, or how McGee might be the last. A cowboy in a world that doesn't want them anymore. Yet Jessica figures will probably always need one.
Hope you all enjoyed this and share your thoughts.
Yes, NCIS team of Gibbs, Tony, Ziva, and McGee had an edge, they bent, or broke laws whenever needed only nowadays it's all gone. Everything's so neat, tidy, and safe.
I wanted to focus on how McGee doesn't really belong with the current MCRT roster. McGee worked and bled alongside a former marine sniper who killed the man who murdered his family, Tony DiNozzo who had a casual relationship with rules, and Ziva a former assassin for Mossad into investigator. Stuff like Ducky and Gibbs would drag a suspect down to see a dead body and start cutting it up in front of them to loosen a guy's tongue.
Even McGee went from a nervous probie to somebody hacking into places cause he didn't like waiting in 3x15, and used Gibbs-style information on suspects, or threatening to send a bad guy to Gitmo if he didn't get cooperation. Could keep up with DiNozzo on handling Tony BS. Accused government officials of corruption to their faces.
Now McGee gets his writing persona turned into some green glasses-wearing dork, creating an online poll for his team on if he should follow Delilah's desire to shave his beard. Then infuriating crap like John McGee giving his sperm to some lesbian couple? Right the abusive jerk who constantly put Timothy down and cut McGee off after Timothy didn't go into the Navy doing this? No way.
But anyway, we went from the show having an edge towards MCRT nowadays playing far too nice given culture changes. Like they might pull risky moves or keep a peace conference on smuggling a dead body into a hotel room, but it's nowhere near what Franks or Gibbs got up to.
Not surprising when even Alden Parker might have let Gibbs go for the vehicle theft, but he's still a far more rule follower.
I wanted to restore Timothy McGee to what he should be, a skilled and dangerous agent, even an ice-cold killer if needed. Like, McGee with the others helped Gibbs by tricking Alejandro Rivera into murdering his sister then putting Rivera in prison for it.
One reason why NCIS 21x08 had McGee shoot the one thug and while unknown if died I put some clarification. Alongside McGee is firm on his stance of LaRoche being dirty is despite not said, like learned under Gibbs for trusting his gut. I wanted to use how Gibbs's rules are not commonly used amongst the team anymore, further showing differences between McGee with Nick, Jessica, and Parker.
Gibbs has the rules is like Shannon said a code to live by. It's why Gibbs to McGee hold strong to them because they are unable to trust man-made laws that get bogged down by red tape, and used by criminals. When playing fast and loose with the law, they need to have some kind of rules.
Putting McGee back on track in a world that doesn't want his kind anymore, but will ultimately need it.
Also figured a neat bit is remember how Timothy McGee asked in his first appearance if the stories about Special Agent Gibbs are true, and DiNozzo said the trick is to figure out which half? Well now the new rookies consider McGee to be a part of NCIS legends in universe.
Yet on the flip side is like Mike Franks fading from people's memory as just some guy decades ago like Jessica has no who he is. Only those closest or around during the times of Franks and Gibbs remember.
Until next time