6 NCIS Plot Twists Fans Never Saw Coming

There’s a reason that NCIS remains one of the most popular crime procedurals of all time more than twenty years after it first premiered. As the show returns for the second half of its twenty-third season, even long-time fans aren’t sure what to expect after the most recent episode, which sees the return of a former main character in a potentially villainous role.

NCIS succeeds by keeping its viewers guessing when it comes to major plot twists. After making the world fall in love with its main characters, the crime procedural puts those characters in seemingly impossible dilemmas, often caused by unforeseen plot twists. While the show has had plenty of jaw-dropping twists over the years, these surprises still shake fans to their core.

Eleanor Bishop’s Return Promises Major Reveals to Come

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In the midseason finale of NCIS Season 23, a past cast member returns in the most unlikely way. Emily Wickersham’s Agent Eleanor Bishop was a main character of NCIS from Season 11 until her resignation in Season 18. However, the latest episode of the series ends on a cliffhanger when Agent Jessica Knight (Katrina Law) is given a new mission that she is warned might be personal for her. The last moments of the episode reveal that Knight’s latest target is none other than Eleanor Bishop, who is shown watching her from afar.

Audiences know that Bishop most likely hasn’t turned to the dark side, but is more likely wrapped up in a larger conspiracy than anyone realizes. The circumstances of her exit in Season 18 were mysterious, as she framed herself for an NSA leak so that she could go on a long-term undercover mission. This is most likely where her storyline is headed in the back half of Season 23. Still, to see Bishop again, but being framed as a villain, is a major shock for NCIS fans.

Gibbs’s Coma Led to Major Reveals About His Past

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In the two-part NCIS Season 3 finale, Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs falls into a coma after he is caught in the blast of a detonating bomb aboard a Navy ship. In his comatose state, Gibbs recalls key elements of his past, including the deaths of his wife and daughter. When he awakes, his comrades are distraught to learn that he now suffers from retrograde amnesia, having forgotten the last fifteen years of his life.

This entire ordeal is one major plot twist after another. Gibbs’s flashbacks reveal the tragic loss of his family, whose fate he never liked to discuss in the past. Audiences also learn that Gibbs took it upon himself to kill the man who murdered his family. Upon waking up, Gibbs’s amnesia is yet another massive twist that forces his fellow agents to rally around him during his recovery.

Although Gibbs does get his memories back eventually, it leads him to resign from NCIS in one of the show’s biggest cliffhanger endings (he would return to his old responsibilities in Season 3).

Gibbs Shoots McGee in “Sturgeon Season”

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If there is one throughline in NCIS‘s long run, it is the love and connection that the agents share. This goes double for the original team, whose relationships are still iconic twenty years later. This makes it all the more shocking when, during the Season 18 episode “Sturgeon Season,” Gibbs turns a weapon on his longtime friend, Agent Tim McGee, shooting him in the leg. Viewers are given almost no context for this scene, with the series then flashing back to several days earlier and working toward the decisive moment over the next several episodes.

It isn’t until “Head of the Snake,” five episodes later, that audiences finally learn why Gibbs shot McGee. Thankfully, it wasn’t for any nefarious reason, but rather to save his life. As McGee rushes to stop a nearby plane from taking off, Gibbs learns that the aircraft is rigged to explode.

With communications jammed and no other way to stop his teammate from pressing forward, Gibbs shoots McGee in the leg to stop him from getting any closer to the blast zone. While everything turned out okay, NCIS still kept fans on the edge of their seats with this reveal.

Tony Discovers That He Has a Daughter With Ziva

Cote de Pablo’s Ziva David is one of the most popular characters in NCIS‘s entire run. This makes it all the more heartbreaking when Ziva leaves the show during Season 11. Years after leaving NCIS, Ziva’s fate is explored in greater detail. The Season 13 episode “Family First” reveals that Ziva is missing in action after her farmhouse in Israel is bombed. Even more surprising, her death leads Tony DiNozzo to discover that she bore his child, Tali, after leaving.

It is difficult enough for fans to accept that Ziva David died off-screen, but even more upsetting that she kept DiNizzo’s child a secret from him for so many years. This massive plot twist is introduced as a way to explain Michael Weatherly’s departure from the series, giving Tony an adequate reason to leave NCIS. Tony opts to be the father that he never had, leaving his work behind to raise Tali after her mother’s death. Years later, this still remains one of the most emotional twists in NCIS history.

Ziva David’s Return Is Just as Surprising as Her Off-Screen “Death”

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Years after suggesting that Ziva David died off-screen, NCIS reveals that Cote de Pablo’s beloved agent is still very much alive. After hinting at her return the previous year, Season 17 brings Ziva back for another arc, which reveals that she faked her death in order to throw off her enemy Sahar, who wants to kill her as revenge for Ari’s death in Season 3. Her return doesn’t reunite her with Tony DiNozzo, however, who left NCIS several years earlier to raise her child.

Ziva’s return is convoluted and messy, but NCIS fans are more than willing to look past it to get Cote de Pablo’s character back. Ziva’s apparent death and subsequent resurrection remain two of the most shocking moments in NCIS history. The latter also allows for Ziva to return in later adventures, including her recent spinoff series alongside Tony DiNozzo.

Caitlin Todd’s Death Changed NCIS Forever

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One of the most shocking moments in the history of NCIS comes in its Season 2 finale, when the show kills off a main character for the first time. Sasha Alexander’s Special Agent Caitlin Todd is one of the central cast members in the first two seasons, building a rapport with DiNozzo and Gibbs during her brief tenure at NCIS. Just as she and her team seemingly clear a warehouse of suspected terrorists, Todd is shot in the head by an unseen assailant, dying instantly. The Season 3 two-part premiere, “Kill Ari,” follows Gibbs and his team as they track down Todd’s killer.

Up until this point, viewers took it for granted that NCIS‘s main characters were safe. No matter how precarious their weekly cases might be, the NCIS agents would always make it back home in the end. Caitlin Todd’s unexpected death changed everything. From this point on, no one is guaranteed to survive. Caitlin is far from the last NCIS agent to die in the line of duty during the events of the series, but her death will always be one of the most memorable for its sheer shock value and rippling effects on the rest of the show.