On NCIS, Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) has never been lucky in love. His first wife, Shannon (Darby Stanchfield), and daughter, Kelly, were murdered by a drug lord. Second wife, Diane (Melinda McGraw), divorced Gibbs and married his best friend, Tobias Fornell (Joe Spano). She subsequently was murdered by a terrorist. Wife #3, Rebecca (Jeri Ryan), cheated on him and married her boyfriend following the divorce, and #4, Stephanie (Kathleen York), left him because he was obsessed with a killer. And although he never married Jenny Shepard (Lauren Holley), she became his boss at NCIS where they had a complicated relationship before she was murdered.
His fascination with redheads always has been Gibbs’s Achilles Heel, but he did veer off to a few non-reds like Col. Hollis Mann (ARROW’s Susanna Thompson), attorney M. Allison Hart (THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL’s Rena Sofer) and Dr. Samantha Ryan (Jamie Lee Curtis, TRUE LIES).
On tonight’s episode of NCIS, “Hail & Farewell,” another woman from Gibbs’s past surfaces…literally. When a construction crew breaks ground for a new luxury condo development, the body of a dead Marine is found buried on a plaza that has been vacant for 20 years. NCIS determines that the deceased was a major believed to have been killed during the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon.
The major had a personal history with Gibbs, and when his blood is found on her uniform, McGee (Sean Murray) kicks his boss off the case. Will Gibbs step aside, or violate his own Rule #10…” Never get personally involved on a case.” Except that he already is.
On the lighter side, McGee and Bishop (Emily Wickersham) watch the countdown for Comic-Con tickets to go on sale. Been there, done that. So, either you know exactly what is happening, or like Torres (Wilmer Valderrama), you probably never will.
Lastly, an enormous congratulations to the cast and crew of NCIS, broadcast television’s highest-rated drama and cable television’s most-watched off-network drama. The show has been renewed for its 17th season, a huge accomplishment enjoyed only by a handful of television series. Look out GUNSMOKE, THE SIMPSONS and LAW & ORDER…there is someone in your rearview mirror and Leroy Jethro Gibbs is driving!
Guest cast includes Garrett M. Brown, Doug Savant, Erin Cummings, Cassandra Creech, Andrew Bilgore, J. Teddy Garces, JJ Hawkins and Danielle Demski. “Hail & Farewell” was written by Jennifer Corbett and directed by Michael Zinberg.
NCIS airs tonight (April 16) at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on CBS in the U.S. and on Global TV in Canada.
