NCIS: Hawai'i Fans Are Questioning Jane's Open Door Policy
Vanessa Lachey plays the character of Jane Tennant on "NCIS: Hawai'i" with both the strength and authority of a leader and the tenderness of a mother, something that the show's creator, Jan Nash, told Looper was a big part of the reason for casting her. "We saw a lot of actresses before her, some really talented women, most of whom could do one or the other side of Jane Tennant — either the leader side or the mother side, both of which were important to us," said Nash. Luckily, Lachey became available, and they found the one person who could find the right balance they were looking for. In the latest episode, however, Tennant had a lapse in judgment as both an NCIS leader and a mom.
In the Season 2 episode "Silent Invasion," the NCIS team is investigating a robbery turned homicide that bears a striking resemblance to a similar murder from seven years prior. The problem? The killer in the first incident is already in prison. Unless the NCIS put away the wrong man, that is. As the investigation unfolds, it becomes clear that a former NCIS agent named Jim Carter (Jake Weber) forced a confession out of an innocent man. But Jim maintains his innocence until the end, and shows up at Jane's home to confront her about her investigation.
Jane is in the midst of serving dinner and arguing with her children and, when Carter knocks at her door, she shouts "Come in!" without even checking to see who's there. Shouldn't the head of a military crime investigation unit have the sense to be more cautious than that? For all she knew, it could have been a disgruntled ex-employee with a grudge against her. And oh look, that's exactly who it was.
I hear you knocking and you can come in
Fans on Twitter agreed that Jane's policy of letting someone into her home without even checking to see who they are is just terrible. "Can we modify the open door policy Tennant?" asked @StarryMag regarding the bizarre incident. "See this is why we question the open door policy Jane," tweeted @AlicesMadHouse. Still, there were others who were angrier at Jim for showing up in the first place. "Uhh.. excuse you Jim Carter. Coming into Jane's house and talking to her like that in front of her kids?!" wrote @_Jackie019. Meanwhile, @JBraxt29 tweeted, "Showing up to Jane's house unannounced? Talk about a stupid move!"
To her credit, though, aside from potentially letting a serial killer into her home by not checking who was at the door, Jane handles the rest of the situation like a professional. She doesn't get overly mean or violent, which seems to be what some fans thought was about to happen (or hoped would happen). But instead, she invites Jim to come in and help her work on the new case with the newly-formed assumption that they had gotten it wrong the first time. Considering the way that Jim showed up unannounced at her home and spoke to her in front of her family, she could have been justified in showing a lot less restraint than she did.