How NCIS Fans Really Feel About Jeanne Benoit
The main cast of "NCIS" gets a lot of love from the fanbase, but let's not forget the many supporting players that have appeared on the show throughout its 18 season long (and counting) run. In fact, you could make the argument that guest stars like Tobias Fornell (Joe Spano) are almost as integral to the show as some of the series regulars. But for all the beloved supporting characters "NCIS" has had, there are almost as many that fans aren't quite so fond of.
One such "NCIS" character who was almost pre-destined to be controversial is Jeanne Benoit (Scottie Thompson). The daughter of notorious arms dealer René Benoit aka La Grenouille (Armand Assante), she was first introduced in Season 4 when Tony was tasked with going undercover as her boyfriend in order to get closer to her criminal father. Of course, keeping one's heart out of such endeavors is easier said than done. Tony and Jeanne developed genuine feelings for each other, leading to a painful split when she discovered the real reason they started dating in the first place.
The character has long loomed as a divisive figure in the "NCIS" fandom, which led Reddit user u/youngclarky to start a thread that asked the question, "Why do people hate Jeanne?" They received a wide variety of responses, which help shine some light on one of the series' most controversial figures.
Some fans don't love that Jeanne got in the way of Tiva
In their opening message, u/youngclarky noted that they had seen "loads of comments on Youtube videos and stuff saying that they hated Jeanne but why." Several commenters were quick to offer one very simple solution. As u/gp-mr put it, "I think most people also hated her bc she was 'in the way' of Tony and Ziva."
Considering how integral Tony and Ziva's (Cote de Pablo) drawn-out romantic arc was to the early seasons of "NCIS," it's not surprising to think that Tony's sham relationship with Jeanne would raise the hackles of some diehard Tiva fans. User u/boredwithlife22 wrote in to say, "I agree!" in response to u/gp-mr's theory, but followed up by clarifying, "I also don't like her that much because I love ziva and tony, but I don't hate her. And I can't blame her for anything ... But I'm glad that it ended up that way so that tony could get together with ziva."
User u/MadBats was also not interested in assigning blame to Jeanne for Tiva's long-delayed coupling. They wrote, "Well that's just stupid. if they want to blame anyone they should blame Gibbs for his 'never date a coworker' rule. Or even the writers who spend 7 years teasing a romance ..."
So, Tiva extremists only account for a portion of the Jeanne haters of the world. Other users brought up yet another factor as to why they aren't on board with the character.
Others take umbrage with the fact that she framed Tony for murder
While no one can deny that Jeanne found herself in a very upsetting set of circumstances through no fault of her own, some fans did jump into the comments to point out one particular detail of her situation with Tony that they found objectionable. Namely the fact that in the Season 5 episode "Internal Affairs," Jeanne attempts to frame Tony for her father's murder.
For many fans, that false accusation took things way too far. User u/ACCER1 wrote, "Benoit framed an innocent man for murder. She LIED to investigators (a federal crime) and suffered no penalty for it." Meanwhile, u/Kaylarmagic was slightly more sympathetic, saying, "I didn't hate her at all actually." However, even they admitted, "Hated that she tried to frame Tony though."
User u/jayt00212 saw it all a bit more clinically. They explained, "I never hated her. Life happens and that was a messy situation ... She was heartbroken and made the mistake of accusing Tony of her father's murder thus not winning anyone over. In short, this was destined to end badly and it did."
Between being a wedge in the middle of Tiva and almost getting Tony thrown in jail, it's understandable why some "NCIS" have complicated feelings about Jeanne. However, also represented in the Reddit thread were those who not only enjoy the character but think she's one of the best in the entire series.
Despite her haters, Jeanne does have plenty of fans
Although there is clearly a certain amount of Jeanne bashing going on in the "NCIS" fandom, not everyone is content to hop aboard that bandwagon. Several fans used the thread as an opportunity to push back against the prevailing narrative and declare that they actually liked the character of Jeanne a lot.
User u/Gndurham1 commented, "I always liked her. And it made me sad that Tony never told her the truth." Another Jeanne fan was u/billythygoat, who wrote, "She was a great character. You could feel the enjoyment they had when together as well as the anger, hatred, and sorrow when she found out the truth."
And u/johninga even went so far as to say, "She was a great side character in the history of NCIS."
Even though much of the conversation around Jeanne comes from a place of negativity, the fact that she inspires so many opposing viewpoints only gives credence to u/johninga's argument. She may be a controversial character, but she's clearly one that has captured the attention of "NCIS" fans.