(S0518/19) Well, the previews didn't lie. For weeks now, we've been told in previews and commercials -- not to mention numerous stories in the press -- that one of the principals would die on the finale of NCIS. The producers delivered; someone died. In one way, the death of Jenny Shephard, NCIS director, is the least painful loss, and also the most obvious. If you had Lauren Holly in the NCIS pool, you're the winner. For most of the episodes since the return from the strike, viewers have known that Ducky had determined that the director was sick. Jethro knew it; so did Jenny. But Jenny didn't know that Jethro knew. (Can you follow that?) Anyway, what it means in the big picture is that before tonight's two-hour finale, Jenny Shephard was the most likely candidate to bite the dust.






Fortunately, the way the show chose to kill her off was pretty creative. It was kick-ass, if you ask me. Instead of wasting away from a disease that was never identified -- but would have resulted in severe pain and loss of motor skills according to Ducky -- she went out guns blazing. And kind of like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, you don't see her getting riddled with bullets.

As the episode began, Jenny was in L.A. attending the funeral of a former NCIS agent named Decker. The cause of death was a heart attack, but Jenny knew better when she overheard a code word -- Oshimida -- which was key to an op she, Jethro and Decker had worked nine years before in Paris. She knew Decker's death was connected to a loose end and she would be the next agent targeted. She reached out to Jethro's mentor, Mike Franks, to track down Decker's "insurance" -- a McGuffin to the very end of the show -- and in some ways, to make sure he would help her achieve her ultimate goal. That goal was not self-preservation; it was protecting Jethro.

Franks, wonderfully played by Muse Watson, was a welcomed return for this two-parter. In a show last season, Jethro helped him to clear his son's name and get away to Mexico with his grandchild. His loyalty to Gibbs and knowledge of the spy game comes in handy. As a plot point, he's also one of the only characters with whom you could imagine Jenny sharing her real feelings about Jethro. She told Mike that she gave up Gibbs and regretted it. He wasn't part of her five-point plan. When Mike responds, "You're still young," the look in her eyes revealed that she knew she'd never live long enough to fix the mistake she'd made by losing Gibbs. Franks knew it, too, because he'd found her pills.

The first hour was mainly Jenny's case, culminating with the shootout at the diner and her death. Ziva and Tony had blown it big time by allowing her to get away from their detail; they were assigned to protect her. It seemed throughout the show, they were always a step behind -- and in the end, Tony was beating himself up for his failures. It reminded him too much of his failures with Jean and the Frog.

Back at NCIS headquarters, Abby and McGee were doing the procedural stuff, analyzing the data as they usually do. Abby, in her Abby way, sensed something was wrong. When Ducky received Gibbs' call about Jenny's death, it was up to him to break the news to them. When he turned to McGee and Abby, they looked like two kids about to hear the worst news ever -- it played that emotionally.

Gibbs went to the diner where he crossed swords with Vance, the acting director. With Gibbs pulling the strings, meeting with Franks behind the scenes, getting Ziva, Tony, Abby, McGee and Ducky to do the work without consulting Vance, breaking all the rules to tie up the loose end responsible for Jenny's death, he smokes out the killer. Jenny's legacy is protected when the killer (Natasha) is killed -- by Franks -- and her body burns up in the director's Georgetown home. The news reports that Jenny died in the fire. Everything would seem to be tied up in a neat bow.

Not so fast. Gibbs, Ziva, Tony and McGee are called on the carpet before the new (no longer acting) director -- Vance. He lets them all have it for "going off the reservation" to solve the case. Ziva is told that the liaison with NCIS is being terminated; she's going back to Israel. McGee is reassigned to cyber crimes unit. Tony is being sent to sea, agent afloat the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan. And Gibbs? Vance handed three confidential folders and told him, "Meet your new team."

Whoa! What the hell? Didn't see that one coming. What will this mean for next season, if you want to know, check out the spoiler at the end. If you don't want to know, stop reading after the other points of interest.

Overall, this was a good finale. Lauren Holly was a good foil for Mark Harmon, and the sexual tension between their characters and the allusions to their past, brought something extra to the show. She'll be missed. There will be no sexual tension between Vance and Gibbs, I promise you that. But Jenny's exit does create a lot of conflict and that's good for drama. So, I'm not happy Shephard's dead, but I see why they did it.

Other points of interest

-- The best one-liner was Abby's. After seeing the cellphone pictures sent by Jenny for identifying, she shows McGee the five bad photos and says of Shephard, "A great director. Annie Leibovitz she's not."

-- As if Jethro wasn't already torn up about Jenny's death, Mike tells him, "Her last stand was protecting you."

-- Before giving Ziva, Tony, McGee and Gibbs the new assignments, Vance takes from Shephard's locked files his own jacket. He removes one page and shreds it. Was the contents of the page something Jenny had over on Vance? Was he destroying something incriminating?

-- Decker's insurance is absconded by Franks from the annexed NCIS files. When Vance later asks Mike about the file, Franks tells him, "You can read it. I'll leave it for you in my will." I wouldn't be surprised if Mike uses this to help Gibbs down the line.

-- Working with Tony and Ziva, Jenny was no-nonsense. Even more no nonsense then Gibbs is. When Tony calls her fearless leader, she says, "Don't call me fearless leader" -- and she means it.

-- Mike asks Jenny why she called him. "I need someone I can trust and you're on the short list." He answers, "I didn't know you were a fan." Jenny explains, it's Gibbs' short list. "He trusts you with his life and that's good enough for me."

-- Abby showed her emotions more than usual considering the circumstances. When she said she regreted not telling the director that she was a snappy dresser, she managed to get a smile from Gibbs.

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CBS, crime scene, CrimeScene, diner, finale, Lauren Holly, LaurenHolly, Mark Harmon, MarkHarmon, may sweeps, MaySweeps, Muse Watson, MuseWatson, NCIS, spoilers, two-parter