'NCIS' Spin-off Looks Stable

Tonight will mark the second part of the NCIS two-part special that launches and judging from initial reviews of the first one and the relevant ratings, the spin-off continues to look like a sure thing. The first part last week reeled in 16.32 million viewers; a figure which saw a seven percent drop, but still considerably enough reason to extend the procedural to the shores of Los Angeles.According to the CBS press release on the episode, the appearance of Mossad agent Michael Riykin (Merik Tadros) has Tony (Michael Weatherly) questioning Ziva's (Cote de Pablo) loyalty to NCIS dvd. Meanwhile, back in Los Angeles, Special Agent Callen (Chris O'Donnell) goes undercover to try to catch a terrorist cell while OSP psychologist Nate Getz (Peter Cambor) discovers the startling truth about Gibbs (Mark Harmon) and Special Agent Lara Macy's (Louis Lombard) relationshipsWe previously reported that NCIS dvd executive producer Shane Brennan summed up the spin-off as "No forensics. No autopsies. And no Abby." And he cautioned that while the spin-off will be set in an environment that is recognizably NCIS, it won't be a carbon copy of it."The agent lies to them, wins their confidence and ultimately betrays them. There's a big emotional cost for the agents when they do that - it's kind of a Stockholm Syndrome effect."Critics point out that NCIS dvd is taking a page from the CSI playbook, having launched successful spin-offs in Miami and New York. In fact, NCIS dvd itself is a spin-off of JAG, which used to be hugely successful.