Dave’s Top 5: Favorite DiNozzo Episodes
Are you ready for this? Michael Weatherly, who plays Tony DiNozzo is leaving the #1 show on television, NCIS!
So, apparently the corpse is out of the bag. It all started with "Ducky", NCIS co-star David McCallum, dropping the bomb that Michael Weatherly, "very Special Agent, Anthony DiNozzo" would be leaving the #1 series after thirteen seasons. Thirteen seasons! Then CBS issued a press release confirming his departure. Weatherly followed that up with a series of Tweets doubly confirming his exit, and showering praise on his co-stars and CBS head Les Moonves for the opportunity and saying that the DiNozzo character was a "quixotic" character to play. Y'don't get "quixotic" very often...
You can see the details of Michael Weatherly leaving NCIS here.
Aside form being a comic book geek, NCIS is probably one of my favorite shows.
Maybe it's because of Pauley Perrette, who plays Goth lab rat Abby. Or, maybe it's because one of the other lab rats, Agent McGee is a best-selling author. Maybe, every episode is full of DiNozzo movie references and snappy one-liners. Weatherly's DiNozzo is such a huge part of the show, nearly every other storyline involves him somehow. There was an entire season where he was actually working undercover, romancing the daughter of an arms dealer!
Here are my Top 5 Favorite DiNozzo episodes
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Getty Images 5"SWAK"
Or, "Sealed With A Kiss".
Close to the end of Season Two, Tony opens a mysterious letter that turns out to contain The Plague. It looks pretty grim. He could be checking out. While Gibbs and McGee track down guest star Mariette Hartley, who is trying to get revenge for her daughter, Agent Kate Todd and DiNozzo spend the episode in quarantine. Tony is full of quips and movie references. Even though she's cleared, Kate stays with him, which is pretty cool. Even cooler, when Gibbs comes in and tells DiNozzo that he is not going to die, and that is an order.
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Getty Images 4"Baltimore"
DiNozzo used to be a Baltimore cop. When his former partner is killed, the investigation shows how DiNozzo went from a Baltimore cop to being a "very Special Agent" at NCIS. It's pretty cool to see how he went from tee shirts and ripped jeans to expensive tailored suits.
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Getty Images 3"You Better Watch Out"
Robert Wagner was the perfect actor to play Michael Weatherly's father on NCIS. Every episode Wagner appeared in as "Senior" - Anthony DiNozzo, Senior. The family awkwardness between Junior and Senior is hilarious. It's cool to see Gibbs and Senior glaring at each other. And just when you thought it would be a Blue Christmas, Tony's NCIS family pick up Senior from the airport and bring the two together.
No! I just got some dust in my eye...
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Getty Images 2"Flesh and Blood"
Robert Wagner was the perfect actor to play Michael Weatherly's father, slick con-man, Anthony DiNozzo, Senior. I used to watch reruns of Wagner on the '60's show It Takes A Thief. He was Alexander Munday, a thief (go figure) who was recruited to pull legitimate crimes to stay out of jail. Most of the time when Senior showed up he was involved in a case, like this first time, when he was schmoozing an Arab dignitary on a deal.
Wackiness ensues.
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Getty Images 1"Truth or Consequences"
Rule #12, Never date a co-worker.
When Ziva replaced Kate, there was some immediate chemistry between her and DiNozzo. They went undercover together. They shared about who they were seeing. DiNozzo accidentally shot and killed one of her boyfriends. Afterward, she didn't come back to Washington. She stayed on and went undercover. And was taken captive. Season Seven opens with DiNozzo, and McGee hostage. DiNozzo is being interrogated. That's the way the episode plays; flashback answers to the interrogation. It's my favorite episode, 'cos DiNozzo is on truth serum and everything is snarky honest. DiNozzo led the rescue team to bring Ziva back.
He's really going to be a hard act to follow.
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