NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service--The Third Season

I first began watching NCIS-Naval Criminal Investigative Service during the middle of Season Three. Since then, I have been catching up on the program's earlier episodes watching and enjoying the first two seasons on DVD. Now I have finished watching the Season Three DVD set, catching up to the point where I first began watching the show.

Returning cast members from Season Two include Mark Harmon stars as special agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, the no-nonsense leader of the NCIS team. Gibbs' teammates include special agent and former homicide detective Tony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly), agent Tim McGee (Sean Murray), forensics expert/goth chick Abby Sciuto (Pauley Perrette) and Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum, best remembered as The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'s Ilya Kuryakin), a quirky medical examiner. Lauren Holly joins the cast as NCIS Director Jennifer Shepherd, and Cote De Pablo comes on board as Israeli Mossad agent Ziva David. Ziva replaces Caitlin "Kate" Todd (Sasha Alexander), who had been killed by a terrorist at the end of Season Two.

The two-part season opener follows Gibbs and the NCIS team as they seek out Kate's killer. Jennifer Shepherd and Ziva David are also introduced in this episode. "Kill Ari" finds Gibbs and his crew trying to cope with the emotional impact of the loss of one of their own. The fact that Gibbs and Shepherd were once lovers, and that she once worked under him, complicates matters further. And Cote De Pablo's Ziva has certainly become the perfect foil for Weatherly's wannabe playboy DiNozzo, making for some very witty dialogue between the two.

The writing for Season Three is as sharp as ever. The action and drama are great, and the relationships between the characters have grown, making NCIS a lot of fun to watch. The cast members have truly brought their characters to life and made them believable. This program continues to get better with each season.

The bonus features for this DVD set include audio commentaries for "Kill Ari, Part 1," "Boxed In" and "Bloodbath." Also featured are several featurettes including "The Real NCIS Declassified" (a look at the real-life NCIS and the work its agents actually do), "The Women of NCIS" and "NCIS: Season of Change." Also included is a "Hit the Head" montage, with many instances of the characters slapping each other in the back of the head taken from numerous episodes. And creator/producer/writer Donald Bellasario holds a round table discussion of the third season with several senior members of the show's production staff.

NCIS has become one of my favorite programs of the last few years, and it is one of the best shows on television today. This DVD set is a must-have for fans who have loved the show from the beginning, and it's also great for helping newer fans get caught up with the program's past. I am looking forward to the release of the fourth season DVD set, which is due out in stores October 23^rd. In the meantime, I shall continue to enjoy watching the first three seasons on DVD.

Other television DVD sets you might be interested in:

NCIS-Naval Criminal Investigative Service: The Complete First Season

NCIS-Naval Criminal Investigative Service: The Complete Second Season

Criminal Minds: The First Season