Welcome to "A Beautiful Mind", a (temporarily) one-page tribute to the NCIS character Abby Sciuto. I've wanted to do a site for this character for a while, but I figured I wouldn't because I didn't have enough information to make something truly comprehensive enough. Then, when a "single page shrine marathon" was suggested as a part of Amassment, I knew that this was my chance. Now that I have worked on this site, I realized that, while I may not make this a fully comprehensive site with episode summaries and the like, I still have a lot to say about Abby and I will eventually expand this site into a full tribute. ^^

Series Introduction

NCIS, which stands for Naval Criminal Investigative Services, is an American TV crime drama that follows a team of investigators stationed in Washington, DC. According to Wikipedia, NCIS is “the United States Department of the Navy primary security, counter-intelligence, counter-terrorism, and law enforcement agency,” about half of which is made of up civilians. On the show, the team primarily investigates criminal activity (however distantly) related to either the Navy or Marine Corps. The primary team consists of Leroy Jethro Gibbs, Special Agent in Charge and Major Case Response Team Supervisor, and Anthony “Tony” DiNozzo, Ziva David, and Timothy “Tim” McGee, the Special Agents under his command. Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard, the Chief Medical Examiner and Forensic Psychologist, Jimmy Palmer, Assistant Medical Examiner, and Abby Sciuto, Forensic, Evidence and Ballistics Specialist, provide lab support and expertise. Together, they fight crime… literally.

A typical episode involves some sort of crime, usually a murder, in which a military person is either a suspect or a victim. The team works together and solves the case, which usually means that the bad guy or gal is punished for his or her crime, though this is not always the case. There are also larger story arcs that take up several episodes with single story episodes in between. Besides the investigative aspect, the show is also character driven, so parts of the episode may be dedicated to smaller, more personal stories involving the lives of the team members. Although some of these stories are serious, often they are used to lighten the show’s atmosphere and provide comic relief.

Like many successful shows, the investigative aspect is interesting, but it is really the characters that make the show enjoyable. They are all very different from one another, but yet, as in many shows of this nature, they work together quit well. The characters are generally very skilled at their jobs, clever in their individual ways, and usually very fun to watch.

NCIS is perhaps not the most original show out there, but it is interesting, relatively well written, and generally entertaining.

About Abby

If Abby Sciuto were to be described in three words, those words would be “gothic” “cheerful” and “brilliant.” It may seem like a strange combination, but these three elements really define her character and make her an interesting person to watch.

The gothic aspect of her personality is the most obvious element because of the way she dresses and wears her hair. While “gothic” can describe a fashion style, it also represents a life style and a way of thinking. Abby sleeps in a coffin, adores black roses, and on occasion has been known to attend parties in graveyards. She possesses a worldview which challenges the traditional order of things and celebrates that which is dark and grotesque. According to Academia Gothica, “the common thread in goth culture is an appreciation for the dichotomy of life, the contrast between (for example) light and dark, with an awareness that the two can't exist without each other, and that the traditional value judgments assigned to those opposites are not necessarily true.”

Often Goths are portrayed as lethargic, depressed, and generally unhappy with life, but Abby displays none of these qualities. In many ways, Abby is the most cheerful and happy characters in the entire show, with an almost manic energy and an incredible sense of joy that responds to the strangest things. A lot of her energy comes from her drink of choice—the Caf-Pow—which she drinks in 52 ounce cups throughout the day. Still, much of her spunk is part of her personality and simply a part of the enthusiasm she has for life. At times she can seem rather childish and rather silly, which can be both off-putting and charming. For example, when Gibbs appears to forget her birthday, she begins to act like a disappointed child rather than a professional adult, dropping hints about his mistake and behaving passive aggressively. In general, she is very optimistic, especially when it comes to her own abilities or the abilities of others on her team. She is confident in her skills and knowledge.

Her confidence in her abilities is not hubris in anyway because she is in fact a brilliant scientist. She is an expert in several fields and graduated with honors with a triple major in “sociology, criminology and psychology” (Wikipedia). The team relies on her expertise and her ability to utilize a variety of machines to help uncover clues in their cases. Still, it is not just the machines that do all of the work. Abby often has brilliant insights or ideas that allow her to extract evidence in cases that would otherwise be impossible to solve. Although her gothic lifestyle and general cheeriness may seem cute, she backs up her eccentricity with a great deal of knowledge and wisdom.

About Abby Professionally

Abby is considered one of the finest forensic scientists and an expert in her field. Not only does she have considerable knowledge about the science involved in her job, she also knows a great deal about computers and different machines. Her co-workers often rely on her extensive expertise to solve the cases on which they work. Despite rarely working in the field, she is one of the most important members of the team and she is well respected by almost everyone with whom she works.

If one simply observes Abby’s style in the lab, one might believe that she is completely out of place and belongs somewhere else, like in a record store. She wears clothes that are generally described as gothic—black skirts, leather, funky T-shirts, dog collars, boots, and so on. Her hair is pitch black and often styled in cute, interesting ways. She listens to heavy rock and plays it quite loudly, though only Gibbs is allowed to turn it down. She also behaves a little silly in the lab—naming and talking to her machines, dancing, and playing games. She even keeps a stuffed hippo in her office named Bert, who makes farting noises when hugged.

Although Abby’s attire, music, and sometimes behavior in the lab might suggest a lack of gravitas, she in fact takes her job very seriously. She takes pride in doing a good job and solving crimes for the sake of the victims. She is also very patriotic, as McGee points out in an episode where Abby pretends to be a traitor in order to catch the real person behind leaks in the NCIS office. She carries out her job with honor and skill; she simply does so with her own style. Her idiosyncrasies are generally considered minor inconveniences or charming quirks when taken with her considerable expertise.

While she really likes the rest of the people on the team and seems to regard them as a family of sorts, she generally likes to work alone in her lab. In one story arc, Abby requests a raise and is instead given an assistant to help her in the lab. Abby recoils at the idea, especially when the young man appears to rather uptight and detached. Although he objects to it, she insists on calling him “Chip” instead of his proper name, which is “Charles”. He does not agree with her unique way of operating so the two often butt heads, though Abby generally wins out. He is perhaps the only recurring character to develop an actual distaste for Abby, although he does appear to have a grudging respect for her as an able scientist. Their time together is cut short, however, when it is reveled that Chip got the job at NCIS only to frame Tony and tries to kill Abby. After that, Director Sheppard agrees not to give her another assistant.

To Abby, the only assistants she needs are her computers and lab equipment. She treats them as if they are human—expressing gratitude when the work, displeasure when the fail, and sorrow when they break down.

Favorite Quotes

Ducky (on the time of death of a victim): Actually, three months is probably quite accurate. I'm afraid our victim was in the Potomac at least that long.
Abby: What, racking up frequent floater miles?
Ducky: Being an ice queen. She was frozen.

Abby (after spending a LOT of money on perfume for a case): Perfume is expensive, Gibbs. I can't just hang out at the Macy's tester tray with my lab kit. They frown on that sort of behavior.

Abby (on examining porn to find secret messages): My cursor has moved across places that would make Tony blush.

Why Abby

Abby is without question my favorite character on NCIS, and possibly on TV in general. She is quirky and fun without being completely ridiculous. I love how she is smart without being obnoxious, kind without being sappy, and strange without being freakish. Despite her occasional childishness, she is an example of a woman being strong and kickass without being combative. It is certainly awesome that Ziva can take down a man nearly twice her weight without breaking a sweat, but it is also cool to see a woman who cannot do these things, but can still hold her own. Abby demonstrates that it is possible for television to create characters that break the mold and challenge the formula.

Adoptables


Icons


Link In
If you would like to link "A Beautiful Mind", please use http://alexiel.net/abby/ . Thanks!


Link Out


Listed at: Amassment / Idiot Box
Credit: NCIS Gallery
A Part of: Alexiel.net