NCIS is one of the longest-running television series currently on the air. NCIS captivates fans with military-based crimes that differ greatly from classic cop shows. This series manages to strike the perfect balance between a spy thriller and a cop drama.
NCIS has some of the best dramatic storylines on television and manages to make each one more shocking than the last. This show has covered everything from fake deaths to biological warfare with plague strains. There is no telling what NCIS will think of next to shock fans.
Special Agent Caitlin Todd’s Death Changed NCIS Forever
Special Agent Caitlin Todd joined NCIS after previously being a Secret Service agent. In the pilot episode, she transitioned roles after meeting Gibbs and Dinozzo when NCIS and the Secret Service crossed paths on the first investigation of NCIS. Kate brought great energy to the earliest seasons of NCIS, and her banter with Tony helped establish the comedic tone of the series.
Season 2, Episode 23, “Twilight” and Season 3, Episodes 1 and 2, “Kill Ari”
The beginning of the end of Kate Todd’s time on NCIS began with the introduction of Mossad double agent Ari Haswari. Ari took Kate, Ducky, and Gerald hostage in the autopsy room to retrieve evidence from the body of a dead terrorist. He would manage to escape capture and rear his head in the Season 2 finale, where he uses a sniper rifle to murder Special Agent Todd in a vendetta against Special Agent Gibbs. Kate’s shocking death rocked NCIS fans, as it was the first major character death in the series. NCIS after Kate’s death was rawer, and the characters were more willing to cross boundaries, especially when it came to protecting their own.
Vance’s Kidnapping Proved Nobody is Safe in NCIS
Traditionally, the Directors of NCIS haven’t had the best luck when it came to mortality. Leon Vance has proven to be the exception, as he is the longest-tenured director in NCIS history. However, this doesn’t mean he is immune from danger and violence. Vance has been in peril before, but his kidnapping in the Season 15 finale places him in some of the most immediate danger yet.
Season 15, Episode 24, “Date With Destiny,” Season 16, Episode 1, “Destiny’s Child”
Vance is kidnapped by the dangerous terrorist known as Mashaun, who had previously kidnapped Special Agent Sloane when she was serving abroad. Mashaun slipped through Sloane and the team’s grasp and kidnapped the Director for over a month, forcing Gibbs to step into his role. Mashaun and the terrorists attempt to force Vance to aid their cause and reveal top-secret information. Luckily, Vance holds strong until he is rescued by his agents, and Mashaun is finally brought to justice. The kidnapping of Director Leon Vance shook up the whole foundation of NCIS, and that instability increased the intensity of the story arc.
The Cloak and Dagger Episode Duology Was Electrifying
Agent Lee and Agent Gibbs talking to a man in NCISImage by CBS
The “Cloak and “Dagger” episodes of NCIS brings a truly engrossing storyline to a dramatic conclusion. Director Vance and Special Agent Gibbs have been conducting a mole hunt within the ranks of NCIS. Throughout Season 6, they narrowed down the targets to a few specific agents. In order to narrow down the true identity of the mole, a war game is orchestrated to root them out.
Episode 8, “Cloak,” Episode 9, “Dagger”
By using a mole storyline, the attention turned inwards to NCIS. This perspective is incredibly fresh compared to the normal cases featured in the crime drama series. This storyline revealed a new side of NCIS and evoked a classic spy-thriller vibe. The “Cloak” and “Dagger” episodes pulled back the curtain on NCIS and showed that the agency was not immune from bad apples. However, even when the mole was found, there was more to them than meets the eye. Details like that are partially why NCIS has thrived for over 20 seasons and counting.
Gibbs Retiring Seemed Impossible to Believe
Mark Harmon portrayed Leroy Jethro Gibbs for over twenty seasons of NCIS.
For many people, Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs is synonymous with NCIS itself. He was many fan introductions to NCIS, from the backdoor pilot in JAG and then for 19 seasons of the series as the team lead. However, in life, all good things must come to an end. After 19 seasons, Gibbs hung up his badge and gun and retired to the great Alaskan outdoors.
Episode 4, “Great Wide Open”
Gibbs has suffered more than any man ever should. His wife and daughter were murdered when he was serving abroad in the Marines, and he has never known peace since then. Gibbs’ final storyline sees him go rogue to take down a killer and a corrupt enterprise wreaking havoc. Once justice is served, he shares a final moment with his longest-serving agent, Tim McGee. Then he shares that he finally feels at peace after so many years of restlessness and grief. Gibbs’ sendoff was well done, but it still feels surprising that he left at all, given how vital he was to the success of the series.
Tony and Ziva’s Secret Daughter Was a Hidden Bombshell
Michael Weatherly as Tony DiNizzo plays with Emelia Golfieri or Layla Golfieri as Tali David-DiNozzo on NCIS
Special Agents Tony DiNozzo and Ziva David have been a fan-favorite relationship of NCIS fans ever since Ziva joined the series in season 3. The pair had instant chemistry and breathed new life into a series that was reeling after the dramatic murder of Kate Todd by Ziva’s half-brother. Ziva kept everybody on their toes and endeared the characters and fans with her upbeat personality and deadly spy skills from her Mossad days. Fans were raring for the day Ziva and Tony would become a couple, and it did happen, but not the way fans hoped.
Episode 24, “Family First”
Ziva and Tony did have a relationship, any hope it progressing into something stable in their current circumstances was shattered when Ziva’s father was killed. Ziva returns home to Israel to handle his affairs and leaves NCIS. Ziva had Tali in secret, and her identity was only revealed after an attack on Eli David’s former home apparently killed Ziva. Tony was rocked by the revelation of his newfound fatherhood but immediately rose to the occasion. Tony left NCIS himself to raise Tali with the help of his father who was abroad in Paris. A secret Tony and Ziva lovechild was a complete surprise to fans and something positive to soothe the aching wound of Ziva’s offscreen demise.
Ziva Faking Her Death Changed The Trajectory of NCIS Forever
Ziva David is one of the most iconic characters in NCIS. The Mossad-turned NCIS agent strode into NCIS to track down her half-brother on Mossad orders in the Season 3 premiere, and in a few episodes, she became a fan favorite before the season was over. Ziva’s suave and sly nature, paired with her haunting good looks, made her a compelling character to follow throughout her tenure on NCIS.
Episode 1, “Out of the Darkness,” Episode 2, “Into the Show”
When Ziva moving home to Israel turned into her dying offscreen in the Season 13 finale, fans were rocked. In true Ziva David fashion, nothing was quite as it seemed. She was revealed to be alive seasons later and reappeared again in Season 17. She explained that she faked her death to track down those who were truly responsible for the attack. With the help of her old team, Ziva is able to put the past behind her and reunite in Paris with Tony and their daughter, who the fans can see again in the upcoming spinoff NCIS: Tony and Ziva.
The Murders of Eli David and Jackie Vance Were Heartbreaking
The Vance family and the David family were two pillars of middle NCIS era. Director Leon Vance of NCIS may have been serious and stone-faced in his office at NCIS, but at home, he revealed an inner warmth around his wife Jackie and their two children. Across the world in Israel, the David family operated in the highest levels of Mossad, with Eli David being the Director and Ziva being a former operative.
11, “Shabbat Shalom”
Eli and Leon’s paths have crossed before on covert operations, and the men shared a camaraderie. With Ziva now working under Leon Vance as an NCIS agent, the two families came together for a dinner in Season 10. The dinner was then targeted by assassins who murdered Eli David in an assassination, and Jackie Vance is caught in the crossfire. Leon and Ziva were devastated by the loss of their loved ones and forever changed by this shocking and tragic act.
The NCIS Navy Yard Bombing Was Very Emotional
For the entirety of NCIS, NCIS headquarters has stood tall and headquarters is situated in the D.C. Navy Yard and has been the most iconic setting for the series. Despite whatever chaos occurred within its walls, the building and what it represented endured. That is until domestic terrorist Harper Dearing committed a deadly terror attack.
Season 9, Episode 24, “Till Death Do Us Part,” Season 10, Episode 1, “Extreme Prejudice”
The team were hunting for Dearing when he strapped a bomb under Vance’s car and detonated it when he parked outside the NCIS office. An unknown number of NCIS agents and personnel were killed, and numerous more injured. The main characters of NCIS were horrified by the tragedy and devoted to catching Dearing and making him pay for acts of domestic terrorism.
The Murder of Director Jenny Shepard Was a Gut-Punch
Former NCIS Director Jennifer Shepard was played by Laura Holly.
Director Jenny Shepard came onto the scene as a past from the past for protagonist Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Shepard is Gibbs’ former probationary agent, as well as an ex-girlfriend. This complex past only became more complex with Jenny re-entering his life as his new boss.
Episode 18, “Judgement Day: Part 1”, Episode 19, “Judgement Day: Part 2”
The past would continue to be a major source of problems for Director Jenny Shepard. An old case in which Jenny and Gibbs worked alongside another agent would see European operatives crossing the ocean to exact revenge on the NCIS agents. Jenny’s final stand would be in an abandoned diner in the desert as she took down all her attackers before succumbing to her wounds. Jenny’s death rocked the structure of NCIS and threw the whole agency and fans alike into a tailspin. The classified and undercover elements of the case would see a cover story emerge to conceal Director Shepard’s true manner of death, making the death feel that much more shocking.
Tony Contracting the Plague Was Mind-Boggling
An average day at the NCIS office turned into a nightmare for Gibbs’ team when Tony opened an envelope that released suspicious white powder into the bullpen. Despite hoping it was a prank, it turned out to be a biological attack that infected Tony with one of the deadliest diseases around, a strain of plague that decimated medieval Europe almost entirely.
Episode 22, “SWAK”
Tony contracting a strain of the pneumonic plague is one of the boldest NCIS plotlines of the series. The pneumonic plague is incredibly deadly and has an incredibly low survival rate. Seeing Tony with the odds so stacked against him had fans glued to the television for the whole episode. This intense episode of NCIS doesn’t take its foot off the gas for one second.
