So now I'm working my way through NCIS, from the pilot to the present. I'm on season 2, episode 13. What strikes me in this, as it did when I was working my way similarly through Bones, is the portrayal of women, or the use of women as a foil.

In Bones, Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan is often taught some sort of lesson about her faults--she's attracted to Booth's deadbeat brother, she has to humble herself to her fugitive brother because she has trouble seeing beyond black and white issues, she often leans on Booth for paternal hugs, and so on and so forth. She constantly needs a man--a paternal figure, whether it be her brother, her father, her partner--to tell her what she's doing wrong, and act as a sort of guardian or mentor. Booth doesn't get this kind of treatment--he only answers to God. None of the other characters get the sort of pep talks that she gets--like when her protege was found to be the apprentice of a cannibalistic serial killer and Booth sat down next to her on some steps, gave her a talk, and was a strong shoulder for her to lean on. Even though she's supposed to be a brilliant forensic anthropologist, she's somehow lacking something--flawed. And the men in her life have to make her into a better person.

On NCIS, Kate Todd is given similar treatment. She is part of the ensemble, and not the focus of the series as Bones is in Bones, but there are certain similarities in their treatment as characters. A former Secret Service agent assigned to protect the President, Todd is designed to be the best of the best. She's not afraid of being one of the guys, as she grew up with brothers, is a pretty good marksman, and is capable in hand-to-hand combat situations. However, it is she who ends up making significant mistakes that blow cases and get people hurt, kidnapped, or killed...not her playboy male coworker DiNozzo, the inexperienced probationary field officer McGee, or her loose cannon ex-marine boss Gibbs. Somehow, DiNozzo manages to save the day in the end, or McGee, or Gibbs. But it is the somewhat elite Todd who accidentally shoots an innocent civilian (he was trying to commit suicide, anyway), allow a jilted woman to blow her ex-lover and herself up, allow the coworker she's protecting to be kidnapped (and she once protected the President?!), allow herself to be overpowered when protecting a family, hesitate when she could have incapacitated a terrorist which would have prevented her coworker from being shot in the shoulder joint, etc. etc. etc.. It is Todd who makes these glaring mistakes which cost the lives and safety of herself and others. None of the other characters have had accountability for similar mistakes. The onus is all on Todd.

In her persona as a superwoman--an elite Secret Service agent, a fervent Catholic, relationship-oriented heterosexual--Todd fulfills a role as scapegoat. Her background is perfect, whereas the others of the team are not (Sciuto can be disregarded, as she isn't a field agent; same for Ducky and Jimmy) have skeletons. Yet, it's almost like the writers feel she has to be taken down a notch from her pedestal of the ideal service woman. She's not a perfect shot--she destroys her pda when it's placed to the side of her target--and even green McGee easily bests her in sparring (he had been holding back, letting her win, because she was a woman). While DiNozzo is able to shot his kidnapper before his throat is slit, Todd is kidnapped not once, but twice, and has to be rescued in some shape or form by men. Thus far, only Todd and Ducky (and Gerald, but he's since passed as a recurring character, I think) have been taken captive, and Ducky as a medical examiner and older man is definitely not in the same physical league as the former bodyguard position that Todd had had before joining NCIS.

Todd's situation as the flawed woman (if she had had a penis, perhaps she wouldn't be so hesitant to act, as seen in Gibb's comments on her firing practice and in her hesitance to take out her terrorist kidnapper) is even more pronounced because of the very paternal, familial motives of the show. Gibbs is obviously the mysterious father figure, and his subordinates vy with each other for his attention and approval, often squabbling or carousing like child siblings than like serious professionals. Perhaps the most infantilized figure in this mix is Sciuto, with her youthful Cindy Brady-like pigtails and little-sis position in the group. Gibbs is noticeably softer and most paternal in his treatment of her--perhaps also because she is not a field agent and poses no physical threat. Next are DiNozzo and McGee, who are like older and younger brothers, challenging each other's boundaries and vying for approval from Gibbs--with the potential to succeed as Alpha male (in later episodes, I believe DiNozzo is occasionally alluded to as a younger version of Gibbs, and like a son figure). Then comes Todd.

Todd's Catholicism and her strong moral compass transform her into an almost Madonna figure within the group. She is the Alpha female--though she does not mate with the Alpha male, she has higher status in the pack than the newbie McGee, and again Sciuto plays the role of the little sister and is not a threat. Actually, Sciuto's alternative lifestyle as a kinky Goth acts as a foil to Todd's rigid sexual mores--we even hear her asking a date if he's Catholic. As stated above, however, Todd's personal morality, while unbendable, is depicted like a gendered flaw rather than a laudable viewpoint. This realization surprised me because, as a politically conservative show dedicated to showing the military (president, and post 9/11 wars) in positive lights, I'd have thought that a religiously conservative figure would be more positively executed. However, as she is the only main character to consistently bring up her religious beliefs, and she is only one of two women on the main cast, her spirituality then becomes conspicuously linked to her gendered position, as well. This idea is backed up by her successor's identity as a Jewish Mossad agent--yet another religious woman, and member of the upper echelons of the service.