While many mysteries are frequently addressed in a single “NCIS” episode, viewers can become fixated on unsolved elements that don’t seem to match up. While Gibbs (Mark Harmon) and his crack team of Naval investigators typically find the bad guys and bring them to punishment, the cases they investigate occasionally put them in situations that a typical police procedural would not address. At least, that’s how the two-part Season 5 finale of NCIS plays out, in which the show’s director encounters demons from her past and pays the ultimate price for atonement.
The core case of the episode opens with the death of Special Agent William Decker (Mark Vahanian), who was initially diagnosed as having died of a heart attack. NCIS Director Jenny Shepard (Lauren Holly) believes Decker was assassinated in retaliation for a clandestine operation she, Decker, and Gibbs were involved in nearly a decade before the events of the season finale. Sasha (Besty Rue), Decker’s girlfriend, explains that William had put together a “insurance policy” consisting of a number of possibly damaging documents that he planned to use to keep himself safe while investigating his apparent death. The policy is given to Gibbs by Mike Franks (Muse Watson), Shepard’s partner in her off-the-books investigation, and this is where things start to get a little complicated for fans.
Who was Decker on NCIS?
William Decker was a retired NCIS Special Agent who worked in Paris, France, with then-NCIS Special Agent turned-former NCIS Director Jennifer Shepard and now-retired NCIS Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs to recover a Russian spy ring and eliminate both KGB Hitman Anatoly Zhukov and his handler/fiancee Svetlana Zhukov.
What is Leon Vance’s secret?
Leon Vance first appears in Season 5 as the NCIS Assistant Director, and after the death of his predecessor, Jenny Shepard, he is promoted to Director.
Vance is from Ohio, but he grew up in Chicago and studied to be a boxer. Vance attended the United States Naval Academy and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps, but due to surgery to repair a detached retina suffered during his boxing career, he was forced to take a medical discharge before ever serving. Vance’s close childhood friend, Tyler Owens, had died, and had also suffered from a detached retina, as Ducky later revealed to Gibbs. Vance further reveals that it was this friend that made the decision for Vance to depart Chicago while he remained. Despite Vance’s insistence to Gibbs that his friend was a Marine, despite the fact that there is no record of His Friend’s military service, Vance claims this. Owens and Vance switched identities in order for the current Vance to have a future, according to this episode.
Vance began his interest in black operations while a student at the Naval War College in Rhode Island in 1991. He even comes up with his own: Operation Frankenstein, which would go on to play a major role in the NCIS Season Eight finale. Special Agent Whitney Sharp of NIS (later became NCIS) takes an interest in him and recruits him. Sharp trains Vance, and after a six-week training course, he departs for an operation codenamed Trident in Amsterdam. Riley McAllister, his Handler, informs him that the Target is a Russian Agent known only to Vance as “The Russian.” He’s bribing Sailors for Intelligence, according to NIS. Vance meets Eli David, a promising Mossad agent who informs him that he is aware of the operation and that the Russians intend to assassinate him. Eli later betrays Vance to the Russian, but it is revealed that he does so so that he can kill him himself. Vance has also been picked because he is Expendable and would not be missed, according to Eli. The Russian’s Hit Team is killed by Eli and Vance, but the Russian manages to flee. Eli is unable to locate him or determine who he was. Vance is credited with putting the Hit Team out of business, and he quickly rises through the ranks at NCIS. He, like Eli, continues to believe that there was a shady NCIS agent who had tipped off the Russian about Vance’s mission. It is later revealed that this is McAllister; a Russian expert, he saw that the collapse of the Soviet Union had shifted attention away from the Middle East, and planned to have Vance killed by a Russian operative to demonstrate that Russia remained a major threat, thereby securing his appointment as Director of NCIS.
In Jenny Shepard’s absence, then-Assistant Director Vance takes control, establishing himself as a Formidable Presence with Gibbs and The Major Case Response Team. When he is named Director, he spreads Tony, McGee, and Ziva to various departments and assigns Gibbs to a new team; however, it is later revealed that he did so to flush out a Mole in The Agency. During this time, Vance and Gibbs clash, resulting in a Cold War between them that concludes with a Détente at the start of NCIS Season Six. Later on, though, the two clash because Gibbs believes he cannot entirely trust Vance, while not being able to pinpoint why. Vance leads the investigation into Shepard’s death and is enraged when he is not kept informed by Gibbs and Mike Franks, who manipulate the situation to exonerate Shepard from her past failure, which is not what Vance had in mind. After Shepard’s death, he makes a strong case to the Secretary of the Navy to take over NCIS, but SecNav informs Gibbs of a major operation that will require Vance to lead it, and that NCIS and the Navy will require Gibbs and Vance to get along. When Gibbs accuses Vance of selling out his team to Mossad Director Eli David, things come to a head. Vance responds that Ziva is a plant who was utilized by Mossad to gain access to NCIS through Gibbs. Vance also reveals that he is aware of the true story of Ari Haswari’s death. Following this, the two realize that circumstances will prove one of them to be correct. Vance Approves Ziva’s Transfer to NCIS at the start of Season Seven, proving that Gibbs was correct and Ziva is loyal to NCIS. Vance shows that he cares about The Major Case Response Team at least once when Alejandro Rivera threatens Abby, despite his professional attitude toward them. He tells Rivera to go before he is hurt, and when Rivera inquires about who hurt him, he snarls, “By Me.”
What was Jackie Vance hiding from Leon?
The squad is dispatched to investigate the death of a Marine private during training, and they uncover that he had sustained several wounds as a result of numerous beatings and stabbings. They initially assumed his injuries were caused by his involvement in an underground fighting ring, but he hadn’t fought in months. A death of another Marine private with comparable wounds leads the squad to the commanding officer of the privates. They learn that the CO’s brother was tortured and killed in Iraq, and that he was attempting to “toughen” up his troops in preparation for fight.
Meanwhile, Director Vance, who is still on administrative leave after his wife Jackie’s murder, discovers that she had opened up her own bank account and engaged a lawyer to create a Separation of Property letter while he was on leave. Vance returns to NCIS, assisting in the investigation rather than immediately resuming his post as director, as he is concerned about the ramifications. Vance consults Gibbs, who informs him that Jackie was most likely concerned that Vance would die in the line of duty and had prepared appropriately, as Shannon had done in the Marine Corps. Vance is still unclear what he wants to do with his life now that Jackie is gone, but Gibbs reminds him that he still has his two children to look after, which gives him purpose.
Why was Jenny Shepard killed on NCIS?
Three seasons later, Holly’s character died on the job. Jenny was involved in a firefight at a deserted diner. Despite the fact that she assisted in the killing of four hitmen, she died as a result of the injuries she sustained during the gunfight. In the season finale, Gibbs solved the case, but Vance (Rocky Carroll) threw a wrench in the works with some unusual assignments.
“To be honest, now that the work bug had hit me again, I felt bored with my part of the ‘Director,” Holly wrote on her departure from NCIS. Then they decided to murder me, and boy did they kill me.”
“I was only supposed to perform six episodes when it started,” Holly told Smashing Interviews Magazine in 2016. “I was there the next thing I knew, and I did 80 or so episodes.” It was always intended to be a temporary arrangement, therefore it ended up being a gift. It was almost ideal.”
NCIS is now in its 19th season. Many of the characters from those early episodes are no longer on the show. After a four-episode story arc, Mark Harmon eventually resigned earlier this month. Gibbs solved a crime, made peace, and then left.
Who killed Jenny Shepard?
Director Jenny Shepard’s (Lauren Holly) father Colonel Jasper Shard was murdered by La Grenouille years ago, and she has been trying to find him ever since. Finally, she was about to get her way when her arch rival contacts her at home and requests a meeting because it has been a long time coming.
Was Tyler Owens a Marine in NCIS?
Vance and the NCIS went to Chicago to investigate the death of an old friend of Vance’s, a boxer named Tyler Owens. Vance’s wife, Jackie, revealed to the team that Vance had previously been a boxer before joining the Marine Corps when investigating Owens’ past. Vance once told his wife that he was discharged from the Marine Corps after suffering a detached retina while boxing. He ended up in the NCIS as a result of this.
But it wasn’t that easy. Vance said Owens served in the USMC as well, although there was no evidence of this. Gibbs then had Ducky inspect Owens’ body again, and Ducky discovered that Owens had a detached retina as well. After Owens’ boxing injuries prevented him from serving in the Marines, Vance and Owens most likely switched names. Fans caught up on that even if the show didn’t explicitly express it.
What illness did Jenny Shepard have on NCIS?
Holly, on the other hand, didn’t seem to have any animosity for NCIS. “I adored being on the show and formed some fantastic friendships,” she added. Holly, however, was pleased to leave the series after two years, claiming that she was tired after playing the same character day in and day out for so long and wanted a new challenge.
She was satisfied with how Shepard died in the end. After Holly informed the showrunners of her desire to leave, “They decided to kill me, and boy did they succeed. There are around five different options!” (Before being assassinated, Shepard had been diagnosed with a deadly brain tumor.)
NCIS continued without Holly’s Jennifer Shepard, and the actress hopes the show’s long run is extended even further for the cast and crew’s sake. “Many people rely on it to support their families. For that reason, I hope it continues indefinitely “she penned “It’ll most likely happen. All of them come to mind frequently.”