“Never go anywhere without a knife.”
That’s Gibbs’ rule number nine, from the TV series NCIS, in its better days, when they weren’t afraid to discuss such things a little… or afraid to portray knives in a positive light, or afraid to portray men in a positive light, maybe even… gasp!.. as possible role models.
It took courage then. Apparently it’s impossible now.
– Robert the Wombat
________________________________________
UPDATE: In season 2, episode 5 of the PBS biographical series Victoria (about Queen Victoria of England) entitled “Entente Cordiale” (which aired in January 2018), King Louis-Phillipe of France says to Queen Victoria “My years of real life taught me that you should never go anywhere without a knife.”
I hope it goes without saying that there is reason to doubt that King Louis-Phillipe was an NCIS fan. I’m going to stick my neck out and assume that nobody really expects us to believe that Gibbs (or the writers of NCIS) did not create Gibbs’ Rule #9 but took it from the historical Louis-Phillipe. Nor do I think it is a coincidence, so my guess is that the writers of Victoria slipped it into the dialog as an homage to Gibbs. Not the sort of sentiment one would guess would come from PBS writers, but perhaps there’s hope for some of them. Or perhaps the writer behind Gibbs’ Rule #9 and this line in a PBS special are even one and the same?
Interesting.
– Robert the Wombat
Gibbs’ Rule #9