"NCIS" Review: And the Point Was...?

If there’s one thing I hate to see shows do it’s introduce a pointless story just to attract ratings.

But when the show is “NCIS,” it’s hard to get really upset since the ratings ploy worked (It actually topped “House.”) and I really want this show to succeed.

That doesn’t make the story any less frustrating, however…

As you may recall, when last season ended, new NCIS Director Vance (Rocky Carroll) split up Gibbs’ (Mark Harmon) team sending Tony (Michael Weatherly) to an aircraft carrier, Ziva (Cote de Pablo) back to Israel and McGee (Sean Murray) to the computer division.

When the premiere opened, Gibbs was still with his new team, while Abby (Pauley Perrette) begged him to get the old team back.

During an investigation, Gibbs’ team discovered a connection to Ziva, which led to Gibbs discovering his team was split up not as punishment, but so they could assist the director in other areas. And, Gibbs was given the new team because one of them was a traitor that needed flushed out.

Of course, in order to do that, Gibbs needed help from his old team, bringing them one by one back into the show.

After some investigation and a bit of a twist (Why does Palmer’s girlfriend have to be the bad guy?), the team was back together again, with the exception of Tony, who was still on the carrier.

So, what was the point? The story had zero dramatic value, especially since the team reunited so quickly. Ratings were the only reason.

But when you’re going head-to-head with “House” (and later “American Idol”), can you really blame them?

And since the story is giving us a Tony-centric episode this week, as he is forced to remain on the carrier, I can overlook it—for now…

“NCIS” airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on CBS…