Robert Wagner guest-starred on last night’s 150th episode of NCIS as Tony DiNozzo Sr., and seeing he and Jr. (Michael Weatherly) together was both a delight (charm²) and heartbreaking: We learned that after Tony’s mother died when he was 8, his father sent him to boarding schools and summer camps, and once left him alone in a Maui hotel room for two days when he was 12 because he had a deal to close (with a beautiful woman) on the Big Island. Tony never really knew his father — or that he’s been secretly broke for years. Choosing not to bust his dad’s charade at the hotel checkout counter was a great moment. (Instead, he used the money he was going to spend on a spring cruise with his old frat buddies — which I would’ve liked to have seen during May Sweeps, btw — to pay for the grand-a-night room and a plane ticket for his dad to catch up with his Saudi prince friend in Monte Carlo. Do you think his dad really thought that was from the prince?) But for me, the best scene was when Gibbs (Mark Harmon) sat Mr. DiNozzo down to tell him that he should get to know Tony as an adult. “Tony likes to hide behind the face of a clown, but he’s the best young agent I’ve ever worked with.” I teared up. Gibbs has always been the father figure of the show, but I’ll never get tired of tiny moments that remind us of that.
Since that scene wasn’t embeddable, I’ve included the scene in which Gibbs discovers Tony doing morning yoga after spending the night partying with that Saudi prince’s son, who NCIS was guarding following an assassination attempt while he was in a Navy pilot training program. If you’ve watched any number of NCIS episodes, you knew what was coming. But surprise! It was multiple smacks to the head. Gotta go big for the 150th episode.
Loved the episode, since Tony is my favorite character and who doesn’t like Robert Wagner?!? There really is quite a resemblance between the two actors. Loved the last scene with Gibbs, since so often Tony “plays the clown” right to the last moment of any episode so the change-up was nice. Also, great to see the episode held its own against American Idol,ratings-wise!
I hope he marries Jessica Alba
Michael W married last year a Doctor…he was on Bonnie Hunt on Tuesday.
they were engaged and broke up a long time ago. he has an 8 year old or something son, August, with someone else
What a fantastic episode, and a great explanation of Tony. I cried, I laughed, I cried some more, and I kind of felt like my heart had been ripped out at the end – but I didn’t mind at all. Beautifully done.
Thanks for representing, Mandi
That was a wonderful episode, one of the best for Tony and Gibbs. The heartbreaking part for me: in previous episodes, when asked if he has children, Gibbs has always said no (or not answered). His answer this time was so touching.
One thing for me that has never made sense is the multiple marriages for Gibbs. He is clearly in love with his first wife and married to his job. It just doesn’t go with his personality for him to marry so much.
Re: Gibbs’ multiple marriages, I think he was so traumatized by what happened to his first wife, that his remarriages are an attempt at normalcy. When that goes south, as it always does, he gets divorced and is more damaged than before. That’s my armchair psychiatry at its finest.
I liked the show. It was great to see RJ as Tony’s father, long overdue. I did miss the murder story which was weak. Without Robert Wagner it could have been on All My Children. I prefer the shows with action. Hope Tony doesn’t lose his “clown” actions though. Lots of people watch the show and want to see that. A serious Tony turns into season 4 which was the weakest year (ratings and storyline). Mark Harmon was terrific as always playing father to all his children.
Thanks for the review, Mandi! I’m not used to seeing NCIS content at EW, so I hadn’t even looked for it. I loved the episode, and have to disagree with lanieer, in that I’d like Tony to be a little more serious. I understand his clowning is a defense mechanism, but it’s been a little annoying lately.
Wow, someone at EW actually giving NCIS the praise it deserves? Finally! (And thanks). This was a wonderful episode on all levels, and I especially loved the outstanding performances of Michael Weatherly,Mark Harmon, and R.Wagner.
It was a great episode, but the part that made me laugh the hardest is when Tony’s on the phone with bank, who keeps asking him to spell his name over and over. (“D as in dimwit, i as in idiot, N as in nimrod, o as in obtuse, double z as in ZZTop…”)
RW as Tony Sr. = perfect casting! Too bad the main story line was so lame.
That was my favourite episode out of that season I couldn’t stop laughing especially at the start were the people at the bank couldn’t spell his name. And there was some other funny bits with Tony senior being just like ‘junior’ and flirting infront of him and his team that was hilarious!
Got to say both actor (Wagner and Weatherly) did a great job in this ep playing father and son.
Best quotes from this ep:
Tony: ” Let me get this straight you want me to spell my name again? big D for Dimwit, little i for idiot, big N for Nimrod, little o for obtuse, double z for zz top…”
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gibbs: “Tony like to hide behind a face of a clown, but he is the best young agent I have ever worked with”
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Abby: “Maybe Tony didn’t have a mother maybe he was cloned”
=D
this is very funny to me because tony dinozzo is very cute and kate (todd) and ziva david never noticed how cute tony dinozzo is.