Hundreds of NCIS episodes, amassed from the show’s 21 seasons on air, are highly enjoyable — and some naturally stand out. While the show can sometimes feel repetitive due to its case-of-the-week format, which resets the narrative week after week, some NCIS episodes are more profound than the formula the series is known for. Standout episodes have unique qualities, like special characters or storylines, that differentiate them from the general business of police procedurals and achieve a more complex offering for the audience.

For the most part, the best episodes of NCIS share the common denominator of emotionally appealing to the human condition the viewers can relate to without coming off as inauthentic. While this is done best in some of the earliest seasons of NCIS, a few standout episodes were also pulled from NCIS season 21, despite a shortened season due to the writer’s strike. There are also times when the series lands the perfect blend of comedy with its narratives, mastering the challenging mix of humor at the scene of a serious crime.

10

Doppelgänger

Season 2, Episode 12

“Doppelgänger” is pure comedy. It’s one of the best because the episode is a self-aware meta-reference to NCIS. When a call center employee overhears a sailor getting murdered, the team investigates. Gibbs arrives at the crime scene and is introduced to local law enforcement officer Lieutenant Cheney, a facsimile of the team leader. Cheney and Gibbs are synchronous at the crime scene, working in harmony, even down to the way they drink their coffee. It becomes apparent that Cheney has multiple ex-wives, another quality shared with the Special Agent in Charge.

The mirrored behavior carries over to the teams that Cheney and Gibbs employ. The leaders have workers who fill similar niches in their team dynamic. There is a replicant persona of Tony, Kate, and McGee. For instance, Cheney’s second-in-command is a sleazy flirt named Monteleone, who makes passes at Kate throughout the episode in a manner consistent with Tony. The dynamic mirrors the team down to the back of the head slap. Mark Harmon also has excellent chemistry with his love interest in the episode — his real wife, Pam Dawber.

9

Yankee White

Season 1, Episode 1

“Yankee White” is one of the best NCIS episodes because it sets the tone for the franchise. The team investigates a death aboard Air Force One in the opening episode. Gibbs, Ducky, and Tony pull a trick on the other federal agents, including FBI agent Tobias Fornell, at the crime scene to ensure that NCIS investigates the death of the fallen Navy commander. This immediately sets the stage for the Major Case Response Team and its operation under Gibbs’ leadership; he is willing to do nearly anything to get the job done.

The episode successfully established the series’ core premise: while NCIS isn’t as widely recognized as the CIA or the FBI, it warrants the same respect as other federal investigative bodies. “Yankee White” carried over most of the original cast introduced in a backdoor pilot on JAG, and it added Sasha Alexander’s Caitlin Todd as the team’s final member. Gibbs is insistent even when the investigation appears to be over and, while not even allowed his gun aboard the plane, he ends up taking down the perpetrator attempting to assassinate the president when aboard Air Force One a second time.

8

A Thousand Yards

Season 21, Episode 7

A milestone for the franchise, “A Thousand Yards” marked the 1000th episode of NCIS. It’s an episode that holds weight for the MCRT because, at the onset, a long-range sniper shoots NCIS Director Leon Vance in the back. Shortly after that, as the team investigates, several explosions take place around the area, and, ultimately, the team links the terrorist attacks to the team’s first case in “Yankee White.” While Leon Vance is recovering in the hospital, he has a memorable conversation with his son Jared about why he’s put his life on the line for NCIS.

The team ultimately discovers that the daughter of the journalist who tried to assassinate the president in the inaugural episode of NCIS has come to finish the job her father started. Parker, McGee, Knight, and Torres rush to where Air Force One is taking off, breaking through the security gates to ensure the plane stays grounded. While not as exciting as the “Yankee White” conclusion, it fits the current NCIS team’s dynamic. The callback to the first-ever case of NCIS was a meaningful inflection point to revisit in the series’ landmark episode.

7

Kill Ari Part II

Season 3, Episode 2

“Kill Ari Part II” is one of the best episodes of NCIS since it facilitates one of the most critical transitions in the team’s history. The team is grappling with the murder of Sasha Alexander’s character after Caitlin Todd’s shock NCIS death at the end of season 2. She was killed by the Mossad double agent, Ari Haswari, who terrorized the team throughout seasons 1 and 2. In “Kill Ari Part II,” the team is seeking vengeance for Kate’s death while they process their loss. The episode feels cinematic, showcasing exceptional writing and production.

The double episode introduced Cote de Pablo as Ziva David, Ari Haswari’s half-sister. Ziva initially tries to protect her brother, but when she realizes Ari has betrayed Mossad, she shoots him in the head to protect Gibbs when Ari comes to murder him. Ziva’s choice to save Gibbs’ life earned her his enduring trust, and ultimately, Ziva took Kate’s place on the team shortly after that as a Mossad liaison officer. Kate was near and dear to the team, so she had to be replaced skillfully, and “Kill Ari” successfully facilitated her memorial and Ziva’s introduction.

6

The Stories We Leave Behind

Season 21, Episode 2

Another episode from NCIS season 21, “The Stories We Leave Behind,” paid tribute to one of the show’s veteran actors. The episode memorializes Dr. Mallard after the Ducky actor David McCallum died at 90. The team begins the process of mourning one of their most beloved members after his protégé, Dr. Jimmy Palmer, found the doctor after he passed away in his sleep. As the team grapples with the death of their NCIS Historian, they attempt to solve a case that he was working on before his death.

The episode features a series of flashbacks to some of the most prominent NCIS episodes for David McCallum’s character. The team processes the loss individually and as a community, sharing wisdom throughout. The episode even features a surprise return to NCIS from Tony DiNozzo, who is there to attend the funeral and comfort his friend Jimmy, who he calls “the autopsy gremlin.” Uncertain in the face of a beloved team member’s death, MCRT members revisit the doctor in his own words, cherishing the shared connection they have in having known him.

5

Heartland

Season 6, Episode 4

In Heartland, the team goes deep into Leroy Jethro Gibbs’ past when a case brings them to his hometown of Stillwater, Pennsylvania. Ziva and McGee accompany Gibbs to Pennsylvania, while Tony and Abby stay back at NCIS Headquarters and assist with the case. Ziva and McGee are shocked when they meet Gibbs’ father, Jackson Gibbs, portrayed by Ralph Waite. The introduction of Waite’s character is a massive moment for the series, and the audience subsequently learns that Jackson and Jethro have been estranged for 15 years.

The episode features flashbacks to Gibbs’ past, revealing how Jethro met his future wife, Shannon Gibbs. It establishes that while he may have struggled to raise his son after his wife’s death, Jackson Gibbs cares for his son deeply and is a loving and adoring father. Waite’s character reveals that he saw Shannon and Kelly as dear family members and was torn apart by losing them. It also shows a different side of the Special Agent in Charge. For example, he initially refuses some of his usual investigation tactics to respect his father’s desire to keep the peace.

4

Truth Or Consequences

Season 7, Episode 1

The season 7 opener, “Truth or Consequences,” is one of the best NCIS episodes and one of the most exciting. After the team begins to worry about Ziva’s prolonged absence from their lives, Gibbs, Tony, Abby, and McGee track down where Ziva was last seen. Tony believes that Ziva could be gone, so he travels to Somalia with McGee to avenge her death. Tony and McGee intentionally get captured at a terrorist training camp so that they can be led to whoever took their former partner. It’s a shock when the episode opens with Tony being questioned instead of Ziva.

Tony’s captor injects him with a truth serum to extract information about why he came. While Tony fights the serum, he ultimately can’t resist the urge to talk, telling Salim that he’s there to watch him die. Eventually, Ziva is brought in, revealing that she is alive. While left alone, Ziva asks Tony why he came, and he admits that he couldn’t live without her. Watching how deeply Tony cares for Ziva as he tries to find her and is being tortured is profoundly moving, making “Truth or Consequences” essential to Tony and Ziva’s NCIS romance.

3

Call Of Silence

Season 2, Episode 7

“Call of Silence” is a shining example of how NCIS has connected with its military roots in the past and a model for how to do so authentically in the future. The episode reckoned with how active military duty causes trauma to those involved in a war when a World War II Medal of Honor recipient shows up at NCIS Headquarters to confess to the murder of his best friend years ago. While Gibbs doesn’t think the veteran could be guilty of his alleged crime, he humors him with an investigation, which becomes necessary when others decide to prosecute.

When the team tries to uncover the motive behind why the veteran, Corporal Ernie Yost, would kill his best friend, he insists he can’t remember. Ultimately, Gibbs goes above and beyond to evoke Yost’s memories of the day, and he is able to recall that he killed his best friend by accident while trying to silence him. He had suffered an excruciating injury and was unable to quiet himself, but Japanese soldiers were encroaching on their location. The episode exonerates Yost of his guilt and revisits Gibbs’ past with the Marine Corps.

2

Family First

Season 13, Episode 24

An episode of significant consequence for Anthony DiNozzo is “Family First.” It’s Michael Weatherly’s final regular appearance in the NCIS series, so the episode is a farewell to the character. The episode is a beautiful model for NCIS to part with actors that feel quintessential to the show. It’s an emotional episode because, after a fire burns down the David family farmhouse where Ziva was staying, it’s believed that Ziva is dead. The loss of Ziva tears apart Tony, and amid his grief, it’s revealed that Ziva and Tony have a daughter together. She’s named Tali, after Ziva’s late sister.

Tony is overcome with the complicated, new emotions of parenthood as he spends time with Tali and grasps his role in her life. The senior field agent comes to understand that he has no desire to put himself in the line of fire when knowing that he’s all his daughter has. Watching Tony process his new role as a parent and the death of someone he loved evoked an exceptional performance from Weatherly that feels like an authentic grappling with the grief that Tony would be experiencing. “Family First” is another essential Tony and Ziva NCIS episode.

1

Hiatus Part II

Season 3, Episode 24

“Hiatus Part II” is far and away one of the best NCIS episodes. After he experiences an explosion aboard a Naval ship, Gibbs is in critical condition at the hospital and suffering from a coma in “Hiatus Part I.” While unconscious, the Special Agent in Charge relives some of his most significant traumas: another explosion he survived in Kuwait and the death of his wife and daughter. Gibbs wakes from his coma at the end of “Part I” after he remembers avenging his family’s murderer, but the memory from 1991 is the last thing he can recall.

“Hiatus Part II” sees Gibbs process the death of his wife and daughter as if it just happened. The combination of grief and amnesia puts Gibbs in a vulnerable position, which is a first for Mark Harmon’s portrayal of the character. Harmon’s performance is a credible response to the enormous grief Gibbs experienced. Watching Gibbs relive the loss again is genuinely devastating. The episode also features Tony leading the team with an impressive display of Gibbs-like leadership, trying to prevent another explosion. The season closes as Gibbs retires after the team fails to stop the terrorist attack.