NCIS: New York Season 1, Episode 5 ‘True Love‘ gives us a little backstory on Nick Schaeffer (Scott Caan); it just does so in a way that doesn’t really help us connect with the character. The hour is still somewhat interesting, mostly because of what it gives us of Addy (Jacqueline Byers), but it’s starting to be a little concerning that five episodes in we’re nowhere near actually caring about Nick.
The show tries, let’s be clear. It even ends ‘True Love’ with a scene that’s meant to feel like a bonding moment between Sam (LL Cool J) and Nick. It’s just that we never really get there, emotionally, and the uncomfortable comparisons between Nick and Sam’s previous partner, G. Callen (Chris O’Donnell), continue to hurt the new partnership. Apparently, Callen and Sam really were the gold standard.
Nick and Sam’s relationship is very, very different. On that, the show has done a good job. But the uncomfortable reality is that unless they find a way to make Nick a more interesting character in his own right, instead of a stereotype, it’ll be hard to invest in his partnership with Sam, or any other relationship, for that matter.
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WHO ARE YOU, NICK SCHAEFFER?
The problem isn’t even just Sam and Nick’s relationship or the lack of investment we have there at this point; it’s that Nick himself seems just like a caricature of a man without much depth. There have been a few glimpses of an interesting character, like when he talked about his father near the end of the episode, but in general he seems like a man-child who has no interest in growing, which makes it hard to really engage with the character.
I’m being a little harsh here because we’re only five episodes in, so there’s still time for the show to turn it around on Nick. But they’ve done such a good job with the rest of the case, and it’s especially striking that the decision has been to make Nick’s entire personality a collection of annoying quirks. At least Wyatt’s milk thing is wholesome! Kinda weird for a grown man, not gonna lie. But wholesome. Makes you want to learn more.
Nick, on the other hand, has been stuck with the man-who-cannot-commit, tragic family past he won’t really discuss, refuses to really lean on anyone, uses jokes to hide his real feelings thing, and as charming as Scott Caan can be, it’s just not clicking, despite the attempt to throw him a bone with the partner storyline. We need something different, and hopefully we get it fast. It doesn’t even have to be much; just leaning into the real feeling would be helpful.
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ARE YOU GOOD, ADDY?
Another unfair comparison for Nick comes with this episode’s development of Addy. Ironically, we know a little less about Addy than we do about Nick at this point. And we know way less about Wyatt than we know about either of them. And yet even Wyatt beats Nick in likeability so far, and Addy is without a doubt the most intriguing of the characters this show has introduced.
We know Addy’s got a complicated relationship with her father, who is probably both a “legend” and a “felon.” We know that she is extremely closed off, and that the closest relationship she has on the team is with Wyatt, who seems to be chipping away at her wall, little by little. We know that she’s been hurt, because “it’s easy to believe the men we love” is a dead giveaway, whether that is about her father or someone else.
And we also know that, at some point, Addy has learned that whatever happened to her, whatever mistakes she made, whoever she trusted that she shouldn’t have, that’s not all on her. Or, at least, her brain knows that. Sometimes it takes the heart a little longer to catch up. But we’re actually pretty invested in the journey of her putting it together.
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Things I think I think:
- Nick, I wish I cared about you and random girl. Or like, I don’t.
- “Maybe one day I’ll meet your sisters.” And maybe we will!
- Wells being like, “Hey, Nick, get a lawyer,” is kinda funny.
- “It doesn’t sound natural coming out of your face.”
- Poor Wyatt, lol.
- Spare me the you can’t share a bed BS.
- “People like to get in other people’s business because they don’t want to look at their own problems.”
- Ouch, Sam.
- Everyone’s feeling guilty this episode.
- I’m also very interested in learning how Sean ended up here.
- “When she’s right, she’s right.”
- Best Nick moment is when he tells Addy he wants her back in one piece.
- “That’s not weakness, that’s just being human.”
- Wyatt looking at Addy from the corner is VERY loud.
- The Nick revelation about his father helps humanize him a little, but I need a lot more.
- “You can’t take care of grown men.” Indeed.
- “Whatever you need, I’m here.”
Agree? Disagree? What did you think of NCIS: New York Season 1, Episode 5 ‘True Love’? Share with us in the comments below!
NCIS: New York airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on CBS.
