{ waking up at the start of the end of the world. }

[delga]

But, see, the NCIS I watched was Eye Spy (? maybe) and definitely pre-Bete Noir and this was back before Gibbs' first Big Mental Episode (which, uh, is actually in that episode just prior to Bete Noir), in those beautiful 'I'm-a-new-show' episodes, right at the beginning. AND HE IS SO SHINY AND HAPPY AND TEASING AND EASY GOING. And then pre-Bete Noir episode happens and he takes a hit, and then Ari Fucking Haswari turns up and two things happen. ONE. Jethro Gibbs gets his Hardcore on. TWO. Jethro's relationship with Kate changes. He reinstates a stricter subordinate/CO relationship with her. It's subtle, and can be put down to NCIS stepping up (having reached its half-season mark and being renewed for a full run). But storywise it also maks sense because he has a new focus, and Kate loses a bit of that shine. Jethro knows already that certain elements of a case can cloud her judgment, but the Haswari thing takes it a step up: some trust is broken there. He doesn't directly question her until Twilight (which, strangely, is more effective as a season finale than the season 4 finale, even though Twilight felt oddly placed and lacking in point/direction). What was I saying? Oh, yeah, so, he doesn't actually question her until Twilight, but Bete Noir begins that separation of Kate from Jethro, and thus begins that (RIDICULOUS, man, I still get FUCKING IRRITATED by parts of season 2, and I spend a lot of it wanting to SMACK DINOZZO SO FUCKING HARD) unification of Kate and Tony which culminates in SWAK.

I don't really know why I'm talking about this.

No, I do, because I feel like Kate gets a hard rap sometimes because she can be a prudish, and they always set her up as this two-faced coin where on the one hand SHE USED TO PROTECT THE PRESIDENT, YOU KNOW, and on the other, she fucks things like protecting Ducky and Mama Ducky. Also, they go from making her someone who, in many ways, can step to the plate where Jethro is concerned, to someone who can't. And emotionally, that makes a lot of sense, because she gets more comfortable with the team and the rules, Jethro gets more comfortable with her as a team member, not an opponent, and like I said, ARI HASWARI turns up and Kate does exactly what makes sense for her character - she's attracted by Ari's interest in her, is attracted by that sense that he's not a Good Guy. It plays with her ideas of honour and her ideas of guilt, duty, rules and rule-breaking. In short, it plays (quietly, maybe cheaply if more overt, but it's not) with her Catholicism. And she couldn't kill him. Which comes back to bite her. But my point is, she's way more than capable.

And she wouldn't mesh with Ziva because their ideas of honour and duty though similar are founded in very different places (I'm not talking about religion here). It would be combative, and I think Kate would be ad because in a lot of practical ways she wouldn't be seen to add up to Ziva's capability. But I also think that Kate's projected femininity would be something that would intrigue Ziva, and would be something that would disturb Ziva's notions of femaleness. Because Ziva is FOREIGN and DIFFERENT and SEXUALLY OPEN and EQUAL TO A MAN. (Gah! Her power, her ability, these things are perceived to be militaristic, masculine, unfeminine. There's still something GROTESQUE and SO UNSETTLING to me about the stereotypes to which Kate and Ziva conform.) And there would be a battle of wills there that would result in a lot of resentment, the sort of resentment that emerged between Ziva and Cassidy (where, theoretically, under other circumstances it would not have) because Ziva and Kate perform different roles in the team, roles that overlap and yet - PARADOXICALLY - are antithetical.

Um. By which I mean to say, I watched Eye Spy and I sometimes miss that old dynamic (non-romantic) relationship between Kate and Gibbs which deteriorated not only because the producers were pushing the Kate/DiNozzo angle, but because of ACTUAL PLOTTY THINGS, IS ALL I'M SAYING.

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BUT I STILL LOVE ZIVA. You can love both! The team shows us this. (I think that it's entirely possible that Ziva knew of Kate, had some inkling of her brother's passing interest. And that Ari's interest in Kate swerved dramatically from inquisitiveness, to lust, to obsession and back again depending on what he was thinking of, or what he was doing. Because a lot of his relationship with Kate was powerplay, and for him to kill her the way that he did, I think that speaks to her sexual interest in him being stronger than the other way around. And Ari really was Kate's weakness, in the way that Gibbs was Ari's because Ari/Ziva's father was Ari's weakness. So. Like-- his interest in her was very patronising. That he knew she was attracted to him in a feral way, and that he could have that effect was on the one hand something that amused him and on the other, quietly disgusted him, that she couldn't keep that desire in check? And that in one swoop she not only made him look twice, but also repulsed him in some way?)

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Did I mention that I was randomly psyched for season 5? BECAUSE: TOTALLY.

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RANDOMLY, I really want to see the detail on this gorgeous dress:

A huge percentage of that show was definitely India-inspired. This dress looks like a suit, and I covet it. Like, A LOT.