NCIS (TV Series) Blarney (2020) User Reviews

Blarney

[bobcobb301 · 7/10 · 5 June 2020]

It is almost impossible to screw up a hostage crisis episode, but this one nearly did. It dragged for too long, it had weird behavior from Jimmy and Kasie.

It was entertaining, but it could have been so much better.

Jimmy & Kasie shine.

[jeffreycrippen-28446 · 9/10 · 5 April 2020]

Nice to see Jimmy & Kasie up frount. I enjoyed the ep very much. Brian has come into his own as an actor & made Jimmy Palmer unique from & distinct from Ducky. Diona is much more enjoyable to watch to me personally than Abby, who was a cartoon figure most of the time. Ms Perette did what she could but the writers made it hard to believe a 50 year old Goth as part of the team. This ep gave both actors plenty to do & I enjoyed it very much. Hope we are still watching & reviewing this series for many more years.

Probably the best episode of the season!

[koohii · 9/10 · 7 December 2020]

I don't know what all the low reviewers are complaining about. The bad guys are acting dumb... Uh, yeah! That's because they ARE dumb. Do you really think all heists are plotted by geniuses? Now, these people are incompetent dim-wits. That's why they're working a jewelry heist instead of actually earning a living. Prisons are not brain-trusts people. Why doesn't Palmer immediately offer to help a crook who has been shot? Um, because he's a pathologist. It's not like he has a duty to intrude on absolutely everyone. And yeah, those people have GUNS!!! And since the guy wasn't obviously bleeding to death, he needed medical attention, but not Urgent Immediate attention.

OK, the law enforcement in this is amazingly bad--by which I mean inaccurate. So what else is new.

This is the first episode in 3 seasons that was actually been FUN to watch. Remember when this show was fun? It's been a while, hasn't it?

I am sick and tired of the depressing soap opera of Ziva the supposedly super-spy/assassin/counter-spy who can't actually seem to perform basic martial arts most of the time. I'm tired of the need for soap-operas about Jack the shrink and her damaged past (there's a character I'd really like to see gone from the show!) This was just a good, fun story.

Excellent

[romieroy · 10/10 · 5 April 2020]

I've only started watching NCIS in Season 16 & 17. I love this show, very suspenseful, engaging & the acting is wonderful. This episode I particularly enjoyed because of the supporting actors coming to front mostly the entire show & they did wonderfully.

Good

[reeceaaleyna · 10/10 · 29 December 2020]

Nice to see Kasie and Jimmy shine. Satisfied with the ending. Quite good even though I find hostage episodes long and boring.

Funny for all the wrong reasons.

[rob hendrikx · 1/10 · 27 April 2020]

Where to begin? Right from the beginning of the episode the plot holes followed so quickly one after the other that in the first commercial break I had to get a pen and paper to jot some findings down in order not to forget them. Firstly: it's OK that the robbers should stake out the juwelry store from the diner...if they do it once. To come back there every morning, so people would recognize them, is beyond stupid. Secondly: on the day they are robbing the store, they make a scene in the diner, to make absolutely sure everyone will remember them, also just what everyone in their position would do...NOT! Thirdly: when the robbers leave the jewelry store their driver backs the car into a fire hydrant. And promptly abandons it. Why would the car not drive anymore? It can backup into a Leopard tank and still drive, totally illogical. I had thought of all these points myself, then found that user cpotato1010 had already written them in his review. OK, so we agree on these points. Then: at the moment Vance shows the NCIS team the tv coverage of the hostage situation, Gibbs immediately yells: "let's go!". Why? They were investigating the murder of Spagnolo. The situation in the diner had nothing to do with the navy, nobody knew that Kasie and Palmer were inside, so there is not a single reason why NCIS would go there. It is strictly police business. In the diner, when baddie number one gets hurt, Kasie tries to take care of him. Baddie number two (the leader, I couldn't stop thinking of Leonard Hofstadter from the Big Bang Theory) asks her if she is a nurse. Kasie answers: Forensic scientist. And he says: close enough. Come on! First: it's not close enough, second: I'm sure he wouldn't know what a forensic scientist is. But most of all: Why doesn't Palmer volunteer. HE is a doctor. Granted, he's an ME, but still: he knows all the parts of the human body and what they are supposed to do. Yet he remains silent. Bonkers! Next, there is shooting inside the diner. People on the outside don't know what's going on, because all the blinds are drawn. But Bishop and Torres are standing in the middle of the street with guns drawn, not bothering to get cover behind a car or something, just standing there as sitting ducks in case anyone decides to take a shot at them. A vest will only protect you so far. Legs and head are unprotected. But the fearless duo stands tall in the middle of the street. But the last one has to be my favourite. Everybody knows that the only thing that can cut a diamond, is...another diamond. It is the hardest material on the planet. But, when Kasie convinces Palmer to break the condom containing the diamonds, Kasie explains this as: there must have been some glass splinters in there which cut through the condom. Yeah, because a diamond could NEVER cut through a flimsy piece of rubber. I saw that Rocky Carroll directed this episode. I like him in the part of Leon Vance. But based on this episode I'm gonna say that he best leaves directing to someone else. NCIS is fast becoming a comedy, because plot twists are so unconvincing you cannot help but laugh out loud. This episode was funny, but for all the wrong reasons.

Just Another Hostage Episode

[vintagegeek · 3/10 · 1 April 2020]

Seems like they do three of these a year when they don't know what else to do. They do the same old; phone calls, hurt person who needs a doctor and part of the NCIS is in jeopardy. Nothing intriguing or comical banter at all.

Really? Spinoff show for Keystone Krooks?

[cpotato1010 · 1/10 · 1 April 2020]

Alternate title, Nothing Competent, Irritatingly Stupid

These crooks are trying to plan & execute a robbery without being noticed, but they are going to cause a scene in the diner?

And they are also casing the jewelry store from this popular diner, with lots of witnesses?

Backing a car into a hydrant disables the car?

They dump the fourth bad guy's body in a dumpster clearly labeled "Property of the U.S. Government"?

And some of the lamest dialog I have ever heard on any of the three NCIS shows.

Sloppy writing at best. What is scary is this was written by one of the executive producers of the show. Maybe he wrote this after going to the St. Patrick's Day celebration?

Dishonorable mention to the guy playing the jeweler, I hope this is not his day job.

btw, the leader of these Keystone Krooks looks like he could be Michael Weatherly's brother or cousin. I am wondering if that was intentional. If so it was the most clever thing about this episode.

Amazingly stupid

[homdeb1058 · 5/10 · 2 April 2020]

I've been an NCIS fan for 16 years but I had to turn this off after 20 minutes. Writers must have asked their kids' elementary school class to write an episode. Kasie and Jimmy alternately bossing, begging, and mouthing off to 3 trigger happy thrives who are supposedly holding them hostage. I wanted to shoot them myself. Maybe it's time to end this show before it becomes an embarrassment.

Going down fast.

[adshiel · 1/10 · 17 April 2020]

It's not even Naval anymore....it is now a lower quality cop drama with daft characters and poor scripting.

Worst episode ever!

[usna-07397 · 1/10 · 1 April 2020]

Characters were caricatures. Plot was simply crap. Dialogue was painful to watch. Felt almost like a spoof of NCIS. Just gut wrenchingly horrible!

Worst show in a long time

[chr36 · 1/10 · 1 April 2020]

Jeez, this was something written in 1966. Horrible. I hope this doesn't last.

A step backwards!

[harrykivi · 4/10 · 9 September 2023]

After three rather enjoyable episodes "Blarney" seems like a step backwards. It's not an awful episode, but could have been so much better if they hadn't taken some stupid routes.

Let's start with the good aspects.

. The production values of the episode are great. The direction's fine, the music fits the scenery and the acting's not bad either.

. There are moments of tension in this story and I did like the setup.

But...

. Agree with some of the previous reviewers: the hostage negotiation storyline does feel streched out and too simplistic. Couple of surprises or heated moments could have made the narrative more interesting. The dialogue is nothing to write home about, the humor misses mark at times and there are moments of laughable stupidity- the robbers themselves are some of the biggest amateurs I have seen in a long time.

Overall, not very good.

4/10 HK.

Missed Opportunity

[Johnny_West · 1/10 · 2 April 2020]

A bunch of third rate thugs that looked like the crew from "The '70s Show" take Kasie and Jimmy hostage. The leader of the thugs seems really harsh when he kills a guy in the first scene, and when he threatens Jimmy and Kasie at the diner.

The thugs are having breakfast at the diner across the street from the jewelry store, right before walking over to rob the jewelry store. Pancakes before robbery. Then they get in a shootout with the security guards at the jewelry store, run to their car, back into a fire hydrant, and run right back into the diner.

At that point, I was hoping that Jimmy Driscoll (Brian Dietzen) finally gets written off the show. A few seasons ago, NCIS was bombed, and it seemed like Jimmy might have been killed off, but no. Then a couple of seasons ago, Jimmy committed fraud against NCIS in order to help out his father in law. He should have been terminated, but no.

It would be nice if NCIS got a competent coroner. NCIS would finally get a new coroner who does not show up late to every crime scene? A new coroner who does not have a smirk on his face every time he talks? A new coroner who is not constantly making dumb jokes about the dead? The show has improved drastically after they got rid of the ridiculous Abby (Pauley Perette), and replaced her with the much more credible Kasie (Diona Reasonover). Similarly, a new coroner would make the show that much better.

When the murderous robbery crew goes back into the diner, Kasie comes to the rescue. Kasie takes charge, and she keeps the dumb thugs confused with all the questions that she asks. It was nice to see Kasie (Diona Reasonover) getting a lot of screen time. She is a good actress, and she is very credible as the forensic scientist. Kasie was great, and she would have been even better if Jimmy had not been in this episode, or he had gotten killed off. Jimmy is whiny and annoying, the opposite of Kasie.

Oh dear !

[ak2020 · 2/10 · 8 May 2020]

Another US series where the writers have run out of ideas, after a long run.

A nonsensical story. An appalling script. And atrocious acting - including from the experienced regular actors, who gave me the distinct impression that they were embarrassed by the script, so just went through the motions, to get their pay-checks. An hour of my life I will never get back.

Worst Show Of The Whole Series

[rah-bobby-938-482964 · 1/10 · 14 April 2020]

Were the writers unable to come up with a good story, so they decided to write this piece of trash? What could have been going on in the writers room for them to think this was a good story idea. How did they come up with a story idea that featured the 2 lamest characters on the show? Jimmy is annoying to say the least; he's not funny; and brings nothing to the table. Then there's Kasie who is totally unbelievable as a forensic scientist. She, like Jimmy, tries too hard to be liked & fails miserably. She's a pale shadow to Abby who never had to try to be liked because everyone liked her. Anyway, the writers saw fit to write this terrible story featuring these lame characters dealing with even lamer bad guys, who were generic, almost cartoon characters. As annoying as Jimmy & Kasie were I'm surprised the bad guys didn't shoot them & put them out of my misery. Please, no more stories that feature either of these characters. When necessary let them have their couple of minutes per episode & let that be enough. I just figured it out. The writers decided to write this lame story for these lame characters to show how lame these characters really are. Now I get it. They did a good job.

#SMFH

[CrimeDrama1 · 1/10 · 9 July 2021]

I initially paused this episode (DVR) 21 minutes into it to write a review because the robbery crew was doing everything EXCEPT not drawing attention to themselves. However, I decided to watch the rest of it and then submit a review. Even worse than the robbery crew was the writer's idea to have four (?) cast members use the same word (commitment) to describe the crew's decision to swallow condoms filled with the stolen diamonds. It got old after the second mention of the word. Now that I think about it, how is it that the robbery crew did not know through all of their surveillance that an armored transport crew would be there on St. Patrick's Day, the day they chose to rob the jewelry store? Also, the robbery should have been cancelled the second they learned that one of the crew members told his wife about it but that makes for boring TV. The title of this episode should have been "Murphy's Law."

I read other reviews too and I think this episode draws attention to other issues in society on top of greed and a stupid criminals. I think apathy and ignorance were very apparent with Max and his crew. I see examples of those problems every single day, mostly in the drivers I encounter on the roads.

Those were not your writers

[brrzzpffrt · 1/10 · 10 April 2020]

Being honest, NCIS isn't known for AAA writing. Likeable character, some more, some less. Okay stories, good metaplots make for a decent series. Apparently, for this episode, they let some of those twitter bluechecked four year old geniuses take over, resulting in a scene where literally the whole diner claps. Yeah, it's true, I was there, I was the coffee. Einstein was the pancakes. It's hard enough to get through an episode with more than a few minutes of Kasie because she's just an assortment of items on a checklist that feel tacked on, overly stereotypical. But add the whole "bullying is bad" (oh really, we're watching a crime series, in case you forgot) and sometimes outright reading off the script (you know, the part that describes characters' feelings and mental state at times to allow actors to get into the role) like "envelope-pushing silver fox renegade" or whatever - did the people who wrote this junk ever watch a movie or play in one? Because I don't think so. This was outsources to some social studies undergrads or whatever they do to waste other people's time. Certainly not professionals. Plot coulda been three minutes long. Robbery, hostages, infighting, there, done. No investigation whatsoever happening, everything just laid out there for them to find, like the biggest mystery the writers ever saw was a board game.

I Hate Hostage Episodes

[movies-109 · 5/10 · 21 October 2022]

All predictable. The only reason I give this a 5 is because they played the crooks in a creative way. All hostage taking episodes should end with sniper bullets, preferably in the first 5 minutes. Every show that ever existed - even sitcoms - seems to do a hostage episode. A crime show in its 17th season is probably up to at least 17, I'm not counting.

Among hostage episodes of all flavors, this ranks about in the middle. I don't know if I have a favorite. The old Mannix episode "Sunburst" is actually one of the first I ever saw and has some interesting twists, especially when it came to the hostages themselves.

The old "Save my buddy" at gunpoint trope is worn out. I'd love to see a doctor, paramedic, or someone thought to be, just give the guy some massive pain. We've all seen the scenario a hundred times and imagined what we'd do. I'd do something off the wall if I had the chance.