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NCIS Season 8 Episode 1

Spider and the Fly

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AIRED: Sep 21, 2010

8.8

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EPISODE REVIEWS
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Episode Summary

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The members of the NCIS team find themselves to be the targets of Paloma Reynosa, who is out there trying to fulfill her vendetta against Gibbs.

FAN RECAP

Fan Episode Reviews (11)

The 8th Season Begins With Paloma Ambushing Jackson Gibbs Inside His Store But He Survives The Attack. Gibbs Goes On The Hunt To Find The Demon Of His Past.

10

By Matt16020-FIN, Sep 19, 2012

After watching all the episodes so far, I think it is safe say that "NCIS" does better season premieres than finales. And this episode only proves it. "Spider And The Fly" is one of the best episodes ever. The opening scene was absolutely terrific. It was full of action and that is what I like. The suspense throughout the episode is the highlight. There were twists and turns which seemed plausible. The "Paloma Reynosa" plot was an amazing story arc but it has got to stop eventually. The best scene was when Paloma's brother threatened the team in the headquarters. Jethro's plan was clever and well executed. I certainly hope "NCIS" can keep up the good work. An excellent start!moreless
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Wait, the new season has started already? At least it starts of well...

8.0

By bartjeee1, Mar 09, 2011

Over the last season I felt NCIS was loosing its magic. This episode has restored some of my faith in the show, or at least has shown the writers are still capable of delivering some decent work. There are two reasons I liked this one:

1. It contained all the key elements I want to see in an NCIS episode. The plot was interesting without being overly complicated, there was tension, pressure, and outsmarting the bad guys. The pacing was good. Nothing more, nothing less. A big contrast when compared to the previous season, in which (in retrospect) a lot of the episodes focused too much on silly drama and had mostly uninspired, forgettable cases.

2. It neatly tied off last season's multi-episode story arc. The bad guys are either dead or caught, case closed. I'm not a fan of these kinds of arcs as I feel they are often too drawn out and detract from the show's strongest quality, which is not drama but solving interesting cases with a cast of characters we know and like.

Season 7 started off decent but ended up feeling almost like a chore to watch and has produced maybe 2 or 3 memorable episodes. I've always been more of a fan of the one-case-per-episode detective part of the show, which I hope is what the coming season will be about. I also sincerely hope that the cow that is Gibbs' past has finally been milked to its last sourly dribbles. Character development = good; forced drama = bad.moreless
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8.0

By thefanof, Jan 02, 2011

The eighth season premiere of NCIS is a great start for another year of the long-running series. They did not try too hard, they did not try to accomplish too much, it was just what this show does better. They had the comedy between Ziva and DiNozzo, they had all the action scenes you can ask for, and the story was just easy to follow, no stupid distractions and detours along the way. The hour seemed to fly by and if someone watched this for the first time, they definitely became a fan of NCIS. Great start to the new year.moreless
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Would have been a ten if it was two parts.

9.0

By cheysm1, Jan 02, 2011

I loved this episode but I felt as if it were a bit rushed... Now I'm not one for the multiple drawn out over four episodes arc type thing, but I do feel that this episode would have been better as a two parter. First, you never felt as if the team was in any actual danger. The closest we got was some voodoo dolls on cars. I would have liked (in my weird mind) to have gotten something more than that. Maybe like McGee gets shot at, or something almost happens to Abby. Doesn't matter which character, just some danger. Anyway, I still had my nervous moments! It was still a great episode, and the ending left me with a "Come on! Don't end there!" feeling. NCIS is in its 8th season and it's still (imo) the best show on television!moreless
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The old adage: "two wrongs don't make a right"...

9.0

By sandbur, Jan 02, 2011

...just might not apply in the case of LJ Gibbs. In a way it's nice and it's fitting that Gibbs' 20 year old deed gets buried in a box 4 floors below sea level where all such deeds really do go. NCIS did not try to gloss over it nor did they try to absolve Gibbs; it did show us that sometimes shades of grey rule the day. Kind of sad really, but there you have it...and it was telling to see Vance handle the situation in much the same manner that Franks did all those years before.

And speaking of grey tones, I wish I did not feel extreme satisfaction that Paloma's brother will have to live a long tormented life because of his deed, just like Gibbs. But I'll be damned if that's not exactly how I feel!

Good opener. Papa Gibbs is okay, Jethro is home helping him get back on his feet, Franks is "allowed" to go home and Vance is looking like a team leader. All is right with the world, except... ...Hart is not officially gone, though they did allude to the fact that she may be washed up on some beach (?). Just one more shade of grey I guess...moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

EDIT

Mark Harmon	Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs
Michael Weatherly	Special Agent Tony DiNozzo
Pauley Perrette	Forensics Specialist Abby Sciuto
David McCallum	Chief M.E. Ducky Mallard
Sean Murray (I)	Special Agent Tim McGee
Cote de Pablo	Special Agent Ziva David

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

EDIT

Jacqueline Obradors	Paloma Reynosa	Guest Star
Andrew Thacher	Sergeant Paul Westgard	Guest Star
Burton Perez	Estaban Lopez	Guest Star
Brian Dietzen	Asst. M.E. Jimmy Palmer	Recurring Role
Muse Watson	Mike Franks	Recurring Role
Ralph Waite	Jackson Gibbs	Recurring Role

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Spider and The Fly Preview

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Behind The Scenes

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Season 7 Recap

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Episode Photos

Gibbs (Mark Harmon) reaches a boiling po...

© 2010 CBS Corporation
Alejandro Rivera (Marco Sanchez) on NCIS...

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As the Reynosa cartel's vendetta agains...

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Ralph Waite guest stars as Jackson Gibbs...

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (5)
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- GOOF: When Gibbs has McGee trace Paloma's phone call to him, McGee traces it back to "in front of (Gibbs') home." The address on the computer is 500 Block East Laurel Street, Alexandria, VA 22304. However, there is no E. Laurel Street at that location -- on a map of the D.C. area, the street indicated as E. Laurel is actually N. Naylor St, between Taney & Polk St, about two blocks away from Patrick Henry High School, about 10 miles from the Navy Yard.
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- GOOF: When Tony is teasing McGee about being "Canadianized" he starts to sing 'O Canada', but he sings the wrong tune.
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- TRIVIA: The exchange between Gibbs and Franks - "Thought you were dead""I got better" - is the same as from season two after Fornell reappeared after having faked his own death.
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- TRIVIA: Contrary to public belief the RCMP Red Serge (as shown in the episode) is used as a Ceremonial uniform only and is not the work uniform for normal day-to-day operations.
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- GOOF: If Tim was stationed north of NCIS HQ he was most likely in the provinces of Quebec or Ontario. Contrary to popular American belief, there is no snow in September in either province.
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QUOTES (9)
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- Franks: (holding up his maimed hand as Gibbs pours the bourbon) Three fingers for me, Probie.
  Gibbs: (hands him his drink) Thought you were dead.
  Franks: I got better!
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- Gibbs: Dad, I can stop this. I need your help.
  Jackson Gibbs: Whatever it takes.
  Gibbs: Okay, Let's go fishing.
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- (McGee is on-screen in MTAC. A horse nudges him from behind)
  Tony: That horse likes you!
  McGee: This isn't funny, Tony.
  Tony: Ah, poor McMountie. Hey, so have you seen any, like, moose and stuff up there? Hey, ah, where's your buddy, Claude? Isn't that your friendly St. Bernard with the little barrel of whiskey under his chin?
  McGee: Look, I've been up here playing Dudley Do-Right for two weeks, okay? It's September, and there's snow on the ground. Could you at least give me a little compassion here?
  Tony: And what would that be for, eh? Did you forget to take off your tuque when you entered a room-(breaks off laughing as the horse nudges McGee again.) You're going to get in trouble up there, hanging with the blue necks rolling back a 2-4 of pale ale...
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- Tony: Well, you know, West Virginia has five bordering states, Boss.
  Gibbs: You on geography lessons now, DiNozzo?
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- Mike: Do what you have to for family.
  Gibbs: What rule is that?
  Mike: The unspoken one.
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- Jackson Gibbs: Can I help you?
  Reynosa: Yes, Mr. Gibbs. I think you can.
  Jackson Gibbs: No, ma'am you need to go.
  Reynosa: But we have so much to talk about.
  Jackson Gibbs: From what I hear, you didn't come to talk. (pulls his shotgun)
  Reynosa: You are just like your son.
  Jackson Gibbs: No, ma'am. He's just like me.
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- Tony: Are those tan lines?
  Ziva: Where do you think you're looking?
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- Tony: (to Ziva) You smell like ocean and shea butter.
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- Tony: Well hello, little miss Sunshine State. And don't you look balmy.
  Ziva: I do not know what 'balmy' means, but I will assume it is not good.
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NOTES (2)
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- "Off I Go" by Greg Laswell plays during the closing montage.
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- Original International Airdates:
  Canada: September 22, 2010 on Global
  Australia: October 19, 2010 on Channel Ten
  United Kingdom: October 22, 2010 on FX/FX HD
  Sweden: November 16, 2010 on TV3
  Norway: December 7, 2010 on TV3
  Spain: January 21, 2011 on LaSexta
  Germany: February 13, 2011 on SAT 1
  Finland: March 8, 2011 on Nelonen
  Slovakia: July 27, 2011 on Markiza
  Czech Republic: January 2, 2012 on TV Nova
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ALLUSIONS (3)
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- The Spider and the Fly
  The title is either a reference to the 1829 poem, "The Spider and the Fly" by Mary Howitt or the Rolling Stones song called "The Spider and the Fly".
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- McGee: I've been up here for two weeks playing Dudley Do-Right.
  
  Dudley Do-Right is a cartoon character from Dudley Do-Right of the Mounties, which was a segment of The Dudley Do-Right Show. He is the main character, portrayed as a dim-witted man obsessed with catching his nemesis, Snidely Whiplash. He also made an appearance in "She Can't Pay the Rent," an episode of The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. Do-Right also has a horse, aptly named Horse, which could be considered and allusion to the horse that continues to bother McGee during the conversation with Gibbs and Tony in MTAC.
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- Ducky: Thank God I'm a country lad!
  Tony: That's country BOY.
  
  Allusion to John Denver song "Thank God I'm A Country Boy." The team are admiring the Blue Ridge mountains and commenting on the Shenandoah River, both prominent in the John Denver song "Take Me Home Country Road" when Ducky quips the refrain from a different song.
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