No one can say NCIS isn’t a profitable TV present. With 20 seasons and counting, it has turn into downright iconic and spawned a number of spin-offs.
The authentic sequence has a confirmed episodic components with compelling crimes and intriguing mysteries.
What it doesn’t have a lot of is blissful relationships.
If you’re a shipper, be warned. With uncommon exceptions, long-term romances are doomed on NCIS.
Couples are both teased however by no means get collectively, solely get collectively offscreen, or break up far too quick to be satisfying to the followers who root for them.
And if a pair one way or the other miraculously does find yourself in a secure, loving relationship, nicely, the clock is ticking as a result of certainly one of them is prone to die.
So learn on as I record the NCIS {couples} that infuriated, depressed, or just broke my coronary heart.
Gibbs and Shannon – DEATH
NCIS began with a tragic love story, albeit largely offscreen and proven in flashbacks.
Leroy Jethro Gibbs’ romantic historical past on the present begins with tragedy and by no means will get a lot better.
Gibbs’ first spouse, Shannon, and their eight-year-old daughter, Kelly, had been murdered by a Mexican drug vendor after Shannon witnessed a homicide.
During NCIS Season 3 Episode 24, we’re instructed that the homicide occurred on the final official day of Operation Desert Storm whereas Gibbs was nonetheless deployed as a US Marine.
Gibbs by no means will get over this epic loss, and it clearly shades each different relationship or try at a relationship he has for the remainder of the sequence.
Gibbs and Diane – DIVORCE and DEATH
Gibbs did marry once more, really a number of instances, however none of these relationships lasted.
Out of all of his marriages, Diana was my favourite ex-wife.
Although Gibbs preferred Diane sufficient to marry her, she beloved him and realized she would by no means be capable to compete together with his love for his late spouse, Shannon.
Diane had a sarcastic wit, and she or he by no means backed down from a very good verbal sparring match together with her ex. She later went on to marry and divorce certainly one of Gibbs’ greatest buddies, FBI agent Joe Fornell.
Unfortunately for Diane, even being in Gibbs’ neighborhood was unhealthy.
During NCIS Season 12 Episode 11, Diane was shot within the head and immediately killed by the sniper bullet of certainly one of Gibbs’ enemies, Sergei Mishnev.
You might say that Diane’s homicide not directly led to her and Fornell’s daughter’s dying, after which Fornell grew to become simply as lonely as Gibbs. The complete storyline was extra miserable than entertaining.
Gibbs Many Other Loves and Losses – DEATH, DIVORCE, and BREAKUPS
Gibbs has beloved and misplaced so many instances that I might dedicate this complete article to it, possibly even should make it a two-parter.
Instead, I’ll simply hit among the highlights, or lowlights relying in your standpoint.
During NCIS Season 4, it seems that Gibbs is in a considerably critical relationship with Army CID agent Lt. Col. Hollis Mann, performed by Susanna Thompson.
I preferred Hollis and had excessive hopes for this pairing. She was low drama, and she or he and Gibbs had chemistry and many in frequent. Although this couple appeared promising, it ended offscreen earlier than the next season started.
Gibbs additionally had a romantic relationship together with his former accomplice and later NCIS Director Jenny Shepherd, performed by Lauren Holly.
Although their relationship was difficult, it was over for good when Jenny was shot and killed in a firefight throughout NCIS Season 5 Episode 23.
Did Gibbs and Jack Sloan, performed by Maria Bello, have a romantic relationship? It’s tough to inform.
But when the forensic psychologist left the sequence in NCIS Season 18 Episode 8, the 2 did share an onscreen kiss, and that is as a lot as followers ever bought from this potential pairing.
Leon and Jackie Vance – DEATH
Director Leon Vance and his spouse Jackie had been a contented, married couple with two youngsters, so why Jackie’s dying took me unexpectedly is a thriller. Happy {couples} do not usually survive within the NCIS world.
During NCIS Season 10 Episode 11, Jackie ended up being shot and killed, collateral injury throughout the assassination of Eli David.
Jackie died, leaving Leon, a widower, and her two youngsters with out their mom. Predictable? Only on NCIS, and goodness is aware of, it was miserable.
Tony and Ziva – DEATH, however not
The majority of Tony and Ziva’s onscreen moments might be described as romantically ambiguous, and but I spent years rooting for them to get collectively.
Fans had been teased for a lot too many seasons with a Tiva pairing that led nowhere. There had been longing seems, film nights, and quite a few instances they saved each other’s lives.
These two went undercover as married assassins throughout NCIS Season 3 Episode 8, leaving followers questioning why Ziva referred to Tony as “my little bushy butt.”
In NCIS Season 7, Tony admits he doesn’t suppose he can dwell with out Ziva after they consider she might have perished, however nothing a lot modified within the aftermath.
And after getting even nearer in Germany on NCIS Season 10 Episode 21, the installment concludes with the touching second of Tony reaching for Ziva’s hand, a second I actually believed meant they had been headed for extra.
But as soon as once more, it turned out to be extra of a tease than any actual motion of their relationship, at the least onscreen.
Over and over once more, the sequence gave shippers simply sufficient to maintain us coming again for extra however by no means sufficient to depart us something even near happy.
And after they lastly did get Tony and Ziva collectively, as they should have to supply Tali, it was accomplished utterly offscreen as a result of Cote de Pablo had left the sequence!
Talk a few slap within the face to long-term followers who spent years rooting for this couple.
Tony didn’t even discover out Tali existed till she was a toddler, and Ziva was presumed useless, and that is the primary affirmation that followers had that these two had slept collectively.
Thankfully, Ziva was alive and hiding, and this household was finally reunited, however frustratingly, extra of this couple exists in our creativeness than onscreen.
McGee and Delilah – ALIVE and WELL
Honestly, I used to be by no means a lot of a fan of McGee and Delilah, so it’s simply my luck that they ended up as one of many only a few blissful, long-term relationships on the present.
They survived tragedy when, on NCIS Season 11 Episode 13, Delilah was badly injured and ended up wheelchair sure.
But McGee and Delilah are seemingly the healthiest couple on the present, now elevating their twins, Johnny and Morgan.
Jimmy and Breena – DEATH
NCIS has a behavior of giving their secondary characters higher love tales than their leads, which is a disgrace. Jimmy and Breena had been a candy couple, however in true NCIS trend, nobody might be blissful for lengthy.
It’s revealed on NCIS Season 18 Episode 7, that Breena died of the Covid-19 virus throughout the pandemic, leaving Jimmy to lift their daughter alone.
It’s nice to see Dr. Jimmy Palmer get extra of his personal storyline, nevertheless it’s a awful and miserable method of creating it occur.
Nick and Ellie – BREAK UP (we predict)
Nick and Ellie felt like Tony and Ziva half two.
They had a great deal of chemistry. They went on dates that they didn’t name dates. They even did goat yoga collectively!
On NCIS Season 17 Episode 14, Torres even bodily threw Bishop out of the way in which of an oncoming automobile and took the hit himself. If that’s not love, I don’t know what’s.
But in the long run, Ellie pulled a Ziva and disappeared on an undercover mission as actress Emily Wickersham left the sequence.
Were Nick and Ellie in love? More than companions? Friends with advantages? We actually don’t know and it makes me surprise why I ever trouble investing in any potential couple on NCIS.
How about you, NCIS followers? Are you a shipper? Have you had a favourite pairing on NCIS break your coronary heart?
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C. Orlando is a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. Follow her on Twitter.
