In September 2013, a group of dedicated NCIS and NCIS: Los Angeles fans, from various parts of the world, came together online to form and begin working on special undertaking now known as “NCIS: Blue”.
The phrase “Fanfiction Project” is used for a long-term story/series that is created by several authors to fit into a specific fandom in a way that keeps the material true to the characters, world, or otherwise of the fandom. It is still, at its core, a non-profit fanfiction, but the authors and betas involved do their best to create a story that pays accurate tribute to the fandom.
The “Blue Project” team for NCIS: Blue have taken this concept a little further, while also involving actual Military, medical, and government contacts to retain accuracy throughout the story. Instead of a “start to finish” style of storytelling, NCIS: Blue will be in the form of a new spin-off series. Careful time and dedication is being put into the project to make it like a real show, while maintaining the freedom to be creative in the way they lead the characters on their journey.
The purpose of this project is to help raise awareness of NCIS and NCIS: Los Angeles. The project team want to pay tribute to the awesome work the cast and crew of both shows do, to further engage fans all around the world, and perhaps reach out to some new ones as well.
There is a teaser, full-length series promotional video, and an informal video all viewable on the official NCIS: Blue YouTube account.
It is also where all episode promos will be released once the project officially launches. There is no official release date yet, though the time range of December – January is most likely. Much like a real show, there will also be hiatuses, season finales and premieres, as well as two mid-season breaks. Work has significantly begun on the pilot episode 1×01 “Revive”. Season 1 has already been carefully planned, through all 26 episodes of the season, as well as extensive ideas noted down for season 2.
The base plot for the series is kicked into motion by Gibbs mysteriously retiring from NCIS. His parting words inspire Director Vance to resurrect a previously failed unit – the Blue Team. Hetty, from Los Angeles OSP, also wanted a change and will therefore be leading the new Blue team. The members of this new unit are characters pulled from both NCIS and NCIS: LA – Ziva, Deeks, Tony, Kensi, and McGee.
The purpose of the team is to act as a mobile unit living together as they travel around the world to prevent major crimes, or solve those that have already happened. The dangerous missions may involve tracking suspects, taking out Terrorists, gathering crucial Intel, assisting others relating to NCIS or the US Military, protecting US secrets, and a variety of other important high-priority tasks. It’s a combination of the undercover work done in Los Angeles, and the major cases worked on in Washington DC, while introducing a new “persona” concept the Blue team will specialise in. This will involve taking on a personality or identity for a very short period of time. No back story or identifications are generally needed, only a stereotypical interpretation through behaviour and appearance of a certain person or title. Such as a trucker on the road, a single mother shopping for groceries, a building maintenance worker, an arrogant CEO, and so on. They will need to blend into a constantly changing surrounding, and adapt to new personas as quickly as possible. Each team member will also have their own speciality – such as McGee with technology, and Ziva with interrogation.
The main focus of the series will be emotional character journeys, written as true to the portrayals on the shows as possible. This will include pairings. Much like NCIS and NCIS: LA, there will be enough “open to interpretation” portions for a variety of pairings, but the canon pairings for the series will be Ziva/Tony and Deeks/Kensi. Due to not including many the later plots from NCIS: LA, while keeping most of the plots for NCIS, Tiva is much more advanced than Densi at the start of this project. However, each will be developed at what the NCIS: Blue Project Team strive to be a realistic pace fitting the situations and characters involved. A large variety of other characters from both NCIS and NCIS: LA will also make appearances through the series – even temporarily joining the Blue team on a mission, which may include living with them inside their mobile home for the duration.
The timeframe of NCIS: Blue is around the beginning of season 11 of NCIS, and season 5 of NCIS: LA, with some major changes. The main events that led to the finale of season 4 in NCIS: LA will not be included, in interest of originality and not to have two series putting the same character through similar consequences. The NCIS stories are generally intact, apart from the events of Ziva’s departure. These will not be ignored, however the outcome was altered to allow her a place on the Blue team. This issue will be touched on during the series – she didn’t leave, as Tony was able to convince her to come back to NCIS, and that will have consequences of its own.
All fans will be able to read the episodes, when they’re released, on the official NCIS: Blue website: http://ncisblue.com where they can also partake in episode discussions from any of the three shows – NCIS, NCIS: LA, or the new NCIS: Blue. There they can submit fanfiction or fan art, play games/activities, debate over characters or shippings, theorise, and generally socialise with a wide range of other fans from all around the world. Project members are actively involved as well – with future plans for more site features, as well as competitions to give members a chance to win some really cool prizes.
Don’t forget to follow the projects twitter @NCISblue.
Updates, special content, or news will also be regularly tweeted by Project Manager @meleenacollins.
