NCIS 2/6/2007 (S04E14) "Blowback"

[dswallow]

Tony's definitely working undercover (AND undercovers). :)

So many layers of deception... it's gotta be so hard to keep track at times. Makes one wonder how often in real life you end up with two undercover operations run by different agencies essentially dealing with each other unaware who they're really dealing with.

From the very beginning I thought that guy looked a lot like Ducky... so it was really easy to see where that was going once it came up they needed a substitute for the meeting.

[Worf]

Heh. In this episode they mention the "PS3". What happened to the GameStation 3 or GameStation Portable from the last episode?

Funny how all the technical information made sense to me. Wonder where they copped it from. Too bad I didn't have it in high def to vet it.

Also, that GMail email address was invalid - GMail needs 5 characters for the username. 2 characters doesn't cut it.

But that's my techno-nitpicking of the episode :).

[Btrman]

Maybe thats why they used only 2 characters.....its like 555-1234 for a phone number

[Graymalkin]

I'm almost certain that Tony's love interest -- the doctor -- is going to be La Grenouille's granddaughter.

Lauren Holly looked particularly luscious in that sweater. She's put on some weight in all the right places. Or is she pregnant?

[Jonathan_S]

Funny how all the technical information made sense to me. Wonder where they copped it from. Too bad I didn't have it in high def to vet it.
I went back to look at the luggable boot screen, even though I just have standard def.

The "3.2kMhz" processor in the luggable was amusing (although its just a silly way of saying 3.2 Ghz). I'll point out that that system wasn't an original luggable.
The original luggables were:
http://freya.pelagiris.org/~josmith7/compaq_luggable.jpg
Basically a full sized AT motherboard, a small ~4.5" screen and 1/2 height floppy and hard disk. They weighed 10 - 15 pounds and ran off wall current, no battery.

Having the BIOS come up with "PCI / ISA / AGP" was odd, since I don't think many (any?) motherboards that support 3.2 Ghz processors also have ISA slots.

And the 128000 kb memory was odd, (I'm assuming they mean kilobyte, since kilobit would result in an even odder memory size). 128000 kbytes = 125 megabytes. Closest match to likely memory sizes would be 128 megabytes, but that is 131072 kbytes. (And McGee did make the 1024 vs 1000 distinction in the episode, so you'd think they'd be consistent). Even so 128 MB is pretty minimal memory for a modern computer.

Anyway, enough nitpicking on the technical details.

[dswallow]

Having the BIOS come up with "PCI / ISA / AGP" was odd, since I don't think many (any?) motherboards that support 3.2 Ghz processors also have ISA slots.
There's only one manufacturer I've found of such things that can use LGA775 Pentiums, and we buy them. Basically there's an "industrial class" of motherboards that still have ISA slots and they're pricey... typically $300-$350 each. But they also do have some extra features; usually RS-485 support, watchdog timers, etc. And it does support PCI-Express x16 not AGP, but there've been other models/manufacturers with AGP support, though they mostly supported Socket 478 CPU's... still even those were available at higher speeds.

The one we currently use a lot of: http://www.technoland.com/mb886.htm

[Jonathan_S]

On to nitpicking about the trojan horsed ARES unit.

It sounds cool for about a second until you think about how it would work.
Let's assume they somehow built the modified unit so it was totally secure and the Iranians couldn't reverse engineer it or bypass the trojan horse. Even if it works as designed its a really dumb idea.

I assume it can't be used to launch the missiles remotely. (That would be too much of a safety hazard, and the people on ship should be able to control launch) So the Iranians would only be able to hijack missiles in flight. Given the relatively short range of the missiles under a thousand miles the trojan horse can't work as designed in they try to hijack missiles launched against much of the world. (Even if the missiles tried to attack the Iranian defense installations they don't have the fuel to reach them).

So the trojan horse can only work as designed if the Iranians attempt to hijack cruise missiles inflight that are launched against targets in the Persian Gulf. That is likely to happen only during heightened tensions in the Gulf (and yes the current war would certainly count as heightened tensions).

The Iranians who attempted to hijack the missiles might understand what happened when their defense installations were hit instead, but to the rest of the world it would appear that the US Navy launched an unprovoked attack again Iran! And who would believe the US if they claimed the missiles were hijacked?

So best case, with the trojan horse working exactly as planned, the US reaction to heightened tension appears to be to attack a 3rd party, triggering international condemnation of the US and quite likely expanding the war to include Iran. Not exactly a cunning plan

[drew2k]

Here's what I don't get: The guy who walked up to Ducky at the end asked if they got the call, meaning the Director? I remember Jenny getting one call, with 911 on the caller ID, and Ziva asking for instructions and then Tony asking for instructions. I don't remember seeing Jenny answering. Did I miss it?

[drew2k]

I'm almost certain that Tony's love interest -- the doctor -- is going to be La Grenouille's granddaughter.I like this theory. :up:

[Lord_Skywalker]

Here's what I don't get: The guy who walked up to Ducky at the end asked if they got the call, meaning the Director? I remember Jenny getting one call, with 911 on the caller ID, and Ziva asking for instructions and then Tony asking for instructions. I don't remember seeing Jenny answering. Did I miss it?
Right at the moment that Ziva was asking for instructions is when Jenny answers her cell phone very quickly. Pretty much, if you blinked, you might have missed it.

[Worf]

Here's what I don't get: The guy who walked up to Ducky at the end asked if they got the call, meaning the Director? I remember Jenny getting one call, with 911 on the caller ID, and Ziva asking for instructions and then Tony asking for instructions. I don't remember seeing Jenny answering. Did I miss it?

Yes, you did - I believe Jenny saw the 911 then told Ziva and Tony to stand down right after answering the phone (we see her answering, then cut to Ziva and Tony requesting instructions, I think).

As for Ares, well, it's a fictional missile system (though it looks like it was modeled after the Ares ICBM?). I doubt it's used to "take over" existing missiles, but more like the "terrorists" acquire the necessary parts to build their own Ares system, including missiles. Except their satellite guided missiles can't ever be programmed to leave Iranian borders. So it would appear to the world that the Iranians launched a missile that mysteriously fails and hits their target.

The confusing part was the slides describing the Ares system described it as an encryption/decryption system...

[MikeCC]

Come on... nobody commenting on the conversation between Tony and Gibbs on the small private jet?

They're working on a crossword puzzle, and Gibbs asks, "TV drama, eight letters?"

To which Tony replies, with a smile: "St. Elsewhere."

Gibbs looks up at Tony with a slight grin.

Some of you may be way too young to have seen it, but Mark Harmon played a surgeon on the series for a season or two.

I love these little "inside" jokes. Since I get most of them, I guess it means I watch way too much TV. But I gotta keep up with my TiVo!

[Worf]

Probably because none of us got it?

[murgatroyd]

Hey, I got it -- but it wasn't as funny as the in-joke they made about Ducky in an earlier episode. So I didn't comment.

Jan

[cthomp]

Or Gibbbs throwing the football.

[MikeCC]

Hey, I got it -- but it wasn't as funny as the in-joke they made about Ducky in an earlier episode.
And it wasn't as funny as Tony's in-joke about Jessica Alba...

But this is one show where they are obviously not afraid to do a lot of joking about their prior TV work. Several times Tony has made comment's about Magnum PI, one of Don Bellisario's earlier series.

And the in-joke cthomp remembers: football.

Its a reference made about Mark Harmon's stellar college quarterback days: in the episode Gibbs wistfully watches some kids playing with a football, and when the pigskin lands at Gibbs feet, he is able to hurl the ball with pinpoint precision to the kid furthest away, almost a block.

[JLucPicard]

Hey, I got it -- but it wasn't as funny as the in-joke they made about Ducky in an earlier episode. So I didn't comment.
That Ducky moment was one of those moments that I just smiled and thought, "you know, I really like this show!"

[Worf]

But this is one show where they are obviously not afraid to do a lot of joking about their prior TV work. Several times Tony has made comment's about Magnum PI, one of Don Bellisario's earlier series.


Actually, JAG made lots of references to Quantum Leap - especially in the beginning, but they still kept the various injokes at the end. Heck, Bud ends up on Bellisario's star and ends up "Hey, it's that Quantum Leap guy!" (followed by a close up shot of star).

Though, I'd guess these earlier references are more or less related to the character - Tony and Magnum PI (you know he's the type), Bud and Quantum Leap...