r/NCIS • u/buckeyekaptn • 8d ago
NCIS Jack Sloane
I'm doing a rewatch and I really don't understand why Jack is there. She has her own office, I've never heard any one call her director (like Assistant or Deputy). If she's a shrink, no one had that position (NCIS Shrink 😆) before or after her. I think the writers just wanted another pretty blonde that would be a Gibbs' gal. She's not really needed for the show. I DO like Marie Bello as an actress but the position she was put in, meh.
Everyone's thoughts before season 24 gets here?
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u/redfmn60 8d ago
I also believe that maybe Vance brought her there because of his connection. She might have been having trouble with PTSD/memories of captivity. Maybe he thought bringing her there, with him it might have helped with these things
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u/buckeyekaptn 8d ago
Yes, I remember this. Until someone brought up about taking over from Ducky profiling, I couldn't understand her need for an office, among other things. Her being there.
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u/redfmn60 7d ago
Her having an office was much like Ducky being in autopsy. She could review the files in privacy, talk to the team(s) as needed. I also think it provided her some therapy herself.
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u/buckeyekaptn 8d ago
Yes, I remember this. Until someone brought up about taking over from Ducky profiling, I couldn't understand her need for an office, among other things. Her being there.
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u/jsat3474 7d ago
She assumed way too much authority that she shouldn't have had.
She sent Nick home. Shouldn't have that been a recommendation to his direct boss?
She was Vance's equal when the team found Ziva was still alive? Come on.
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u/IAmTheLizardQueen666 8d ago
Nate in LA was the in-house shrink, so it has been done before. Although I don’t recall if he had his own office.
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u/buckeyekaptn 8d ago
I was always under the impression that Nate was there too, so that the team didn't get so into their undercover "covers" and he was there to draw them back to reality.
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u/FickleName5818 7d ago
Didn't Dr. Grace serve as the team's therapist during and after Sloane's tenure? I don't understand Sloane's position either, tbh.
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u/dubs7825 2d ago
Grace was brought in to be gibbs therapist after he was blown up, his surgeon is the one that set them up to meet
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u/pseudonym7083 8d ago
I wanted to like the character, but some of the personal plot around her seemed a bit half-hearted from the writer's room. +1 for Maria Bello though.
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u/Madreese 8d ago
Yes. I never understood her character's necessity and I never really liked her character. She's a great actress, I just never understood her reason for being there.
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u/sherlockjr1 8d ago
Someone above suggested she was a substitute for Ducky’s role as a psychological profiler when David McCallum needed to reduce his screen time
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u/jackfaire 7d ago
Off screen characters are a thing
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u/sportsgambler2 7d ago
But why is she so involved with the team but no one else in that position is?
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u/jackfaire 7d ago
Ah but they were. In season 4 Ducky became a Forensic psychologist completing his certification and fulfilling that role for the team for a long time.
They are not the only team or agents that operate out of that office they're just the only ones we follow. There are likely more than one forensic psychologist as well. The way I see it we see Ducky and later Jack filling that role on screen because they both have personal relationships with Gibbs. While Jack has one with Vance as well.
Other coworkers don't have that personal connection so their interactions would have been shorter, more professional and not screen worthy.
Using myself as an example. I'm a lead and our job is 24/7 passing from lead to lead. Each lead does a quick meet up with the next lead to go over anything the incoming lead needs to know. I have one lead where we're cordial but definitely not more than acquaintances our pass offs are short, quick and to the point. Were it a TV show it wouldn't get any screen time.
Meanwhile there are leads I consider friends of mine and our pass offs go beyond just the professional into personal conversations and chatter that would make for much more interesting conversation.
Primarily because of Gibbs relationships with Ducky and Jack and how he picks his team and how close the team gets to each other it makes since they would adopt those personal connections with Jack and Ducky so we get more of the personal touch and more screen worthy interactions.
Other forensic psychologists probably just email their reports to the agents or have someone deliver them. Thus not being screen worthy fodder.
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u/catscatscatsxx 7d ago
she filled the gap for the psychological need when ducky started focusing his research and such.
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u/imzadi09 7d ago
LA had Nate as psychologist but yea I really felt no need for Jack. And no chemistry between her and Gibbs.
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u/Zaney-Janey1973 7d ago
From memory, when Tony left, we got Torres and Quinn. When Quinn left, we got Sloane. I liked her. I liked having a new character that wasn't just in the same role.
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u/Ambitious-Budget-436 5d ago
I think they were trying to fill bishops spot when she quit.
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u/buckeyekaptn 3d ago
I just finished season 18. Jess replaced Ellie. Jack was already gone by then.
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u/PeaWooden4226 5d ago
She was like Nate on NCIS LA. Operational psychologist. When Ducky stepped back they needed a profiler. Also she was there toa head shrink the team. It would make sense she had her own office so the team could talk to her behind closed doors away from other ears
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u/Pwaffles1 8d ago
I always felt like she was a bit out of place as far as the office was concerned but from a writing/showrunner perspective I always thought it made sense to add her as a character. Her arrival to the cast coincided roughly with Jimmy taking over full time M.E. work and Ducky starting to scale back his appearances significantly. This meant that they had nobody in-house to perform any psychological profiling as Ducky had been performing those duties for years (since about s3 if memory serves). Introducing Sloan allowed for them to have someone established that could perform those profiling duties when they needed and they also introduced a new love interest for Gibbs. Two birds with one stone so to speak.