The Ending Of NCIS Season 5 Explained

[TMC]

https://www.looper.com/825863/the-en...n-5-explained/

The Judgment Day finale killed off Jenny Shepard

The majority of "Judgment Day" is as tense as a tightly wound violin string desperately seeking to be in tune. During the first part's conclusion, Jenny Shepard (Lauren Holly) met her end after a gunfight with four assassins in an abandoned diner. While investigating, Vance explains to Gibbs that she held her own, taking out a few. It's discovered in the second part that Shepard was killed by a vengeful hitwoman named Svetlana Chernitskaya (Kathleen Gati). Gibbs killed her husband in an old covert mission nine years ago, and she's had it out for him and Shepard ever since. In one of the final scenes of Part 2, the string is about to snap as Gibbs has lured Chernitskaya to Shepard's study. Pointing her gun at him, Gibbs may soon end up joining Shepard. But another shot rings out. NCIS Supervisory Agent Michael Franks (Muse Waston) emerges from behind Chernitskaya with his gun smoking. He and Gibbs have managed to get revenge for Shepard and finally tie up all loose ends to their past covert mission.

The ending of Season 5 shows Gibbs at his deadliest and most calculated as he finally gets justice for someone who meant a lot to him. It almost mirrors his vengeful streak in Season 3, when he was after Kate Todd's (Sasha Alexander) killer, Ari Haswari (Rudolf Martin). Yet, besides the concept of vengeance, the finale was meant to jolt fans with one of the most surprising major character deaths. Few could have predicted Shepard going out because of a shootout, as she had already been diagnosed with a brain tumor. Behind the scenes, however, the unexpected death was a convenient way for the showrunners to write off Shepard, as her actor, Holly, was more than ready to depart "NCIS."