Episode Guide for NCIS:
Even though I am a Tony/Gibbs girl, I can see the attraction/possibility of several pairings on this show. On the other hand, there are some I cannot, so you won't see them get much airtime on this page.
With that in mind, if I think a particular pairing seems highlighted on any particular show, I'll tell you right off, so if you're looking for a particular pairing, you can just look for those. If you don't see a certain pairing, it's because I didn't see it. Don't get in a twist about it, please. LOL.
But, feel free to convince me about a pairing in an episode if I haven't listed it, and if I get enough fussing, I'll add it so others who like your pairing can watch the episode. Also, if you know a great story for a particular episode, send me the URL and I'll add it.
By the way, this episode guide is mostly for pairings, and significant first times for canon. Not much plot chat will be going on. I put the DVD brief episode description after each name to help jog your memory.
SPOILERS AHOY!!! Tons and tons o' spoilers. Don't read if you don't want to know stuff.
Season 1:
1. Yankee White: A Navy commander carrying the "football: on Air Force One collapses mid flight and dies.
(Gibbs/Kate). Not one of my favorite pairings, but you can see some possible sparks here. Tony takes a backseat to the story line of Kate joining NCIS. It's interesting going back and watching this episode after watching half way into the 6th season of the show. I think Gibbs has become more and more of a bastard as time has gone by. Either that, or he really liked Kate. LOL. Anyhoo, you have to watch this show, because it's the first episode. Now, you can truly meet Gibbs and Tony, and other cast members, though I can't remember who exactly, during a JAG episode, but this is the first true NCIS episode.
There is a very funny story called Highly Classified and Very Hush Hush which you will find here: http://www.glitterati.talkoncorners.net/log/snapshots/ncissga-highly-classified-and-very-hush-hush/ . (There's a sequel, too, I've just discovered! Yay!!) Anyway, in it, Gibbs says of Kate, after learning that she lost a coin toss to Tony: "Gibbs can't believe that she used to protect the president, was part of the most elite protective force in the world--and two years with Tony has reduced her judgment to making professional decisions based on spare change. Gibbs can't ever let Tony leave NCIS, the man should be qualified as a weapon of mass destruction." Very amusing line, and you see the first part of it in action in this episode. Kate is good at what she does here. Very capable. Of course, Gibbs is better; they make that very clear, too.
You meet Fornell for the first time in this episode, as well as Ducky and Abby, both doing their stuff. And there is a charming and very funny scene with Ducky and Tony as they take pictures of each other in the "oval office" on Air Force One. It shows a good friendship between them. We also meet the woman in the silver convertible who picks Gibbs up. This episode got me hooked right from the start.
2. Hung Out To Dry: A Marine is killed during a night training jump, and Gibbs thinks it's a murder
(Kate/Abby, Gibbs/Tony if you squint) It's a short scene between Kate and Abby, but there's juice there if you want it. For Gibbs and Tony, it's more the familiarity between them, the way Tony helps himself to Gibbs' house, the way Tony's used to being abused by Gibbs. <g>. You get to see Gibbs' need to help widows and young children in this episode. You could also see Tony being a little threatened by Kate and her secret service ways, especially as she and Gibbs team up a little to bash him. This is the episode where Tony gets pushed off a plane. You get to see Gibbs panic for a moment, but when he sees Tony's chute deploy (even though Tony's never jumped before) he gets very cavalier. I love Tony's woo hoo as he falls. He's clearly having a hell of a time.
3. Seadog: A Navy sailor is killed, an apparent casualty of a drug war, but Gibbs and his team refuse to believe the sailor was dirty.
(Tony/DEA agent) I see Tony's ability to flirt and connect with men and women in this episode. Yes, they're bonding over women, but I could see them totally meeting after work for a little more male/male bonding. Loved that the drug dog's name was Tony. LOL. Fornell shows up again. And we see Gibbs charming a woman reporter. Somehow I expected that he would rip her a new one, so the charm surprised me. It's been a long time since I watched the first season. Gibbs is an intense man, and when all his attention is focused on you, I doubt anyone would be immune. Whoa momma!! And may I just take a moment to say how much I like Morrows. I was so sad to see him go and for Jenny (boo hiss) to take his place. Sigh. Oh, Gibbs and Abby sign to each other in this episode. The writers are inconsistent with what Tony knows about Gibbs. In one episode, its like they've worked together for years, but then in this one, Tony doesn't even know what they're doing when they're signing. I hate that.
4. The Immortals: A young sailor is found drowned in what appears to be a video game gone wrong
(Tony/Gibbs) Not much, but there are a couple of long eye fucks, imho. <g>. This is where we first meet Kate's belief system coloring her judgment. It's also very nice to see how well Kate and Tony can work together as they manage to save the day. Plot revolves around on-line gaming. This is also the episode that made me wonder why Kate didn't slap an harassment suit on both Tony and Gibbs. LOL.
5. The Curse: When a Navy lieutenant's mummified remains are discovered almost ten years after he was reported missing along with one million dollars from his ship's safe, Gibbs and his team investigate the death as well as the theft
(Tony/Gibbs, although to be fair, much of the Tony/Gibbs I see is Tony obsessing over Gibbs in one way or another, and Gibbs letting it happen, maybe even getting off on it, if the small smiles are any indication). Because Tony is obsessed with Gibbs, and he gets more so as the series goes on. In a couple of episodes in 6th season, it's so obvious, I don't get why everyone who works with them doesn't see that Tony is gaga over Gibbs. Anyhoo, in this episode we hear the infamous line that the second b is for bastard. We see how jealous Tony is of anyone getting Gibbs attention but him as he races for the facts against another agent.
We see ongoing affection between Gibbs and Abby. There might be some of you who could challenge why I don't claim this episode as a possible Gibbs/Abby ep, but the truth of it is that I rarely see it that way. I see it as a parental affection, because Gibbs is so honestly caring for her that it says to me that he is fearless about losing her affection, which would not be the case if they were dating, I think. I do see sparks every now and then, but not in this ep. We again see Kate making up her mind about something without the evidence to back it up. I wonder if she keeps doing this? I know she does it in at least one other episode, but I was surprised to see it happen twice on the first disc. Again, it's been a while.
6. High Seas: Two sailors from the same ship overdose on meth, despite their claims of never having touched the drugs.
(Tony/Gibbs) Here we see Jealous!Tony at his best. He is miserable because he thinks Gibbs likes his old agent, Stan Burley, better than him. Even Kate tries to console Tony--it's that obvious. So is it Tony/Gibbs or just Obsessive!Tony? I don't care. LOL. It's all about Tony/Gibbs to me. <g>. Kate and Tony are fun to watch in this episode. Great sibling sniping and support. We also hear about Tony's past work experience in this episode. Two great stories that refer to this episode:
The New Kid by Juli: http://writingonthewall.slashcity.net/challisgal/NCIS/ncis6.htm
The Second B is for Belonging: http://writingonthewall.slashcity.net/challisgal/NCIS/ncis35a.htm
This story starts after the first Ari episode, but Gibbs calls Stan Burley to talk to him about Tony.
7. Sub Rosa: Gibbs and Todd investigate the possibility of an imposter on board a nuclear submarine.
(Tim/Abby) There's also a moment of Kate/Gibbs, but Gibbs ruins it pretty quickly. LOL. I like submarine eps, and this was a good one. We also meet McGee here, yay!! We learn he got an MS from MIT, and a BS from John Hopkins, and that Tony got a BS in phys ed from Ohio State, which he feels a little insecure about compared to McGee.
One of my favorite lines happens in this episode. Kate spills Gibbs' coffee as Tony watches in horror. As Gibbs stomps away in a huff, Tony says: "I've never experienced Gibbs without his morning coffee before; we're in uncharted waters, Kate." LOL. Another interesting tidbit from this ep is when Tony is showing Abby something and she asks about what McGee is like. Then, she says something about 'bi'. Tony just assumes that she means bi-sexual, and he thinks about it seriously, and then says he doesn't think so. She was talking about something completely different, but I found it interesting that he took such an interest in the question, as if he had a dependable gaydar or bi-dar as the case may be.
8. Minimum Security: A mysterious death leads Gibbs and the team into hte heart of the terrorist detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
(Tony/Gibbs; Tony/Kate; Tony/Paula Cassidy). Quite the Tony ep. LOL. We really start to see more layers of Tony here in his whole relationship with Paula. We also see Kate, once again, try to come to Tony's defense with Gibbs, and also try to do some matchmaking with Tony and Paula. We get to see Tony do some divine dancing, yum.
I said it was a Kate/Tony story because we see Naked!Tony (woo hoo!!) and Kate gets herself an eyeful which she clearly appreciates, and she gives Tony a very leerish wink. <g>. Tony and Gibbs because Gibbs (for those of us who are diehard Tony/Gibbs folks) comes across as being a Jealous!Gibbs, because of Tony and Paula. When Paula tells Gibbs that Tony blew his chance to get laid, Gibbs seems quite pleased about that. It's when Gibbs is giving Tony a hard time about thinking with his dick, as regards Paula, that Kate jumps to his defense, and Gibbs also doesn't think much of Kate trying to matchmake the two of them. Hmmm. I think the man doth protest too much.
We hear Gibbs' rule about romance between agents being a bad thing here, although he doesn't assign it a number. He won't go into detail with Kate about why, but I swore his eyes sort of follow Tony down the hall like he's trying to convince himself.
And we come face to face with more writing inconsistency. We already know Tony is a huge movie buff and yet in this movie he denies knowing anything about the movie Shane, or the movie The Maltese Falcon. Please, I'm no movie buff and I know both those movies, and understood both references. Sigh.
9. Marine Down: A Marine, purported to have been killed in action, contacts his owuld-be widow from 'beyond the grave'.
(No pairing, maybe a second of Tony/Abby, really stretching it Tony/Gibbs). Didn't see much sizzle in this ep, but it's a good one. Abby seems very comfy getting comfy with Tony's body but it only lasts for a few seconds. On the other hand, we do see how well Tony reads Gibbs in this episode, as he somehow can tell the difference between usual Gibbs and really pissed off Gibbs. Tony can also tell when Gibbs is actually sleeping, and how would he know that? Hmm? LOL. Still, like I said, all the pairings are really stretching this episode.
This is the ep where Gibbs makes Kate and Tony use their personal belongings on the shooting range to better their skill. Tony shoots up his hat, and Kate her PDA. Kate discusses Gibbs' 4 marriages, although Gibbs corrects her to 3. Did she know? Or was she throwing out a high number. And needless to say, Gibbs totally lies.
Funny exchange between Kate and Tony where Tony affirms that he is a man of action, and Kate says, Yah, an action figure. LOL. Makes me laugh. Oh, and the mysterious redhead appears again to pick Gibbs up.
10. Left for Dead: A woman who digs herself out of a grave after being buried alive comes to the attention of Gibbs and his team when she says she remembers something about a bomb being hidden on a Navy ship, even though she has amnesia.
(Kate/Jane Doe) Kate blows it big time in this episode, her ongoing blind spot for a someone she feels sorry for. Gibbs mocks her about it to Tony, saying she's "bonded" with Jane Doe, and he's not happy about it.
Ducky is particularly blabby in this episode and Gibbs is not happy about that, either. I keep looking for signs of Ducky/Gibbs as it's such a popular pairing, but I just don't see it.
Is there any Gibbs/Tony stuff going on? Maybe. This is the episode where Tony needs somewhere to stay as there is something going on in his apartment. He asks Gibbs, and Gibbs says no, not after last time, so we find out that Tony has stayed with Gibbs, which explains why Tony knows Gibbs only has one TV in his house. Funny exchange: Tony is trying to talk Gibbs into it: "I was younger, unfocused, a little immature." Gibbs snaps: "It was six months ago, DiNozzo." LOL. By the end of the show, Gibbs changes his mind and tells Tony that his house is unlocked. Tony says he knows, as if he had no doubt that Gibbs would let him stay. So, what did happen six months ago? Hmmm? There have been quite a few PWP stories written of this, but I don't have any to recommend. Sorry about that. <g>.
Oh, we also find out about Tony's 20/10 vision. Just for those of you who want to know what's canon versus fanon. LOL.
I can recommend this story as an episode epilog: It's called Houseguest http://www.otakuwolf.org/fics/houseguest.html; if you can't find it there try: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2535989/1/houseguest
11. Eye Spy: A satellite operative inadvertently witnesses a murder while spying on a nude sunbather.
(Abby/satellite guy) Other than that, which is canon, although over, no pairings to speak of. But I really liked the satellite guy, even if I can't remember his name. Maybe Tony and Kate could be paired here because of all the verbal teasing? You do get to see that Tony has a good eye for shapes of women here. Get to see Gibbs go toe-to-toe with the head of another agency, although I'm not sure who. Needless to say, Gibbs wins. LOL.
12. My Other Left Foot: NCIS is called in when the leg of a missing Marine is found in a dumpster in West Virginia
(Gibbs/Melissa, Gibbs/Kate, Tony/Kate, Abby/Kate, Gibbs/Kate/Abby) Woof, we get to see Gibbs attracted to and going after a woman, and hoo boy, I need to fan myself. I don't think there's a person alive who wouldn't find herself heating up under his flirty attentions. Weirdly, when she asks him what he's good at, he says he can sample the frosting on a cake without leaving a fingerprint. Sounds sexy, even if I'm not sure how it relates. LOL.
This show deals with Kate's alleged tattoo, the lack of information about which is driving Tony crazy, because he wants to know what it is and where it is. Abby seems to know where it is, and at the end of the show, Gibbs says he knows where it is. Very interesting. Could be a threesome between Gibbs/Kate/Abby. LOL. I also put Gibbs/Kate because she seems to be a tad jealous of Gibbs attention toward Melissa.
We see Abby really smack Gibbs in his episode, right in his gut, which I found amusing. Ooh, and we get to see just how good Tony's sense of smell is. He totally could be a Sentinel. Gibbs also has no trouble reading Chinese caricatures. Granted, they were fairly common ones, but still.
I like this episode. The mom was creepy. <g>
13. One Shot, One Kill: Marine recruiters are being killed by a sniper, and the team tries to find the killer before he strikes again.
(Tony/Gibbs, Gibbs/Kate, Tony/Kate) Good episode. Tony/Gibbs because Gibbs takes his Chinese Food and eats from the same container with the same chopsticks. Tony also is eye-fucking Gibbs at one point. Tony also describes Gibbs to someone as the good looking guy with all his hair. Plus there is a very funny conversation where we know Gibbs has been at Tony's at least once. It goes something like this:
They're in an alley. Gibbs: Reminds me of your apartment except for that minty fresh urine smell. Tony: I'll have you know, I have a maid now. Gibbs: You can afford a maid? Tony: It's amazing what you can afford if you don't have to pay three alimonies. LOL.
Gibbs/Kate, because he gets awful personal with her when he's dressing her up as a Marine captain. Tony/Kate, because they set us up, having us overhear something that could, for a moment, be misconstrued as sex talk. Oh, and Tony tells her, at one point, that he needs her in front of him on her knees. And when Tony and Kate are bitching at each other, Gibbs tells them they bring back memories of marriage.
Here's where we learn that Tony likes to eat Chinese food with a fork. We hear Gibbs #9 rule, never be without a knife. This episode is where Abby takes all the heads off of all those dolls. Very funny scene. We also, maybe, have canon or almost canon for Abby knowing that Tony swings both ways. He tells her that he once dates his high school music teacher. Abby asks: Was he a man?
Awesome line from Gibbs about the honor of protecting the Marines. Brought a tear to my eye. Really!!
14. The Good Samaritan: The nude, bound bodies of young Naval officers are bing discovered off the roads leading to Norfolk.
(Gibbs/Abby, Gibbs/Charlie) First episode I've seen even a hint of this, and it's because Abby is, in Gibbs' words, being feisty, and you can tell he likes it. However, the main 'romance' in this episode is between a sheriff, a woman named Charlie, who goes after Gibbs like a house on fire. Tony and Kate enjoy themselves tremendously at Gibbs' expense. But, truly, Gibbs is a trooper, and takes her out for dinner in the cafeteria. LOL.
We find out here that Tony played varsity basketball in college.
15. Enigma: Gibbs' former commanding officer, AWOL from Iraq, enlists Gibbs' help in uncovering a dangerous conspiracy.
This was an awesome episode. No pairings to speak of. We see Loyal!Gibbs in action, we see Go it alone!Gibbs in action. We see Loyal!Tony in action. And more Fornell. I really hadn't realized he was in the show so much. LOL. As usual, lots of Kate/Tony sniping. There's also some amusing Fornell and Gibbs underling bonding.
16. Bete Noire: An unknown terrorist enters the NCIS headquarters and takes several members of the team hostage.
No real pairings here that I could see. This is when we meet Ari. I think it's interesting that Abby has dreams of being cut open in autopsy, as if she had died. I wonder if she had gone down to autopsy, if she would have been the one Ari fixated on, instead of Kate, and she would have ended up dead, instead of Kate. In that case, the dream actually saved her life.
We find out in this dream, that Tony has nightmares about vampires. His mom had him sleep in a Louis XV bedroom, complete with canopy. This is also the mom, we find later out, who dressed him in sailor suits until he was ten. She sounds like a whack job. Tony also seems to have an odd knowledge of how tea is made in this episode.
Poor Gerald gets shot in this episode, setting the stage for Jimmy Palmer to join the cast.
17. The Truth is Out There: The body of a young officer is found at the scene of an underground rave.
(Abby/Gibbs?, Tony/Kate?) Again, not much pairing stuff going on, and I wasn't crazy about this episode. Gibbs is already showing his obsessive side about Ari. I say Abby/Gibbs, because there is a very funny conversation between them about fetishists. Abby, needless to say, knows all there is to know, and much from personal experience. She is teasing Gibbs about not wanting to say anything in case she offends his sensitive sensibilities, which she does, as soon as she starts talking about personal experiences. LOL. Tony asks Kate to join him for dinner at the end of the episode, for those of you looking for Tony/Kate stuff.
18. Unsealed: An ex-Navy Seal, convicted of killing his wife, escapes from Leavenworth to pursue the real killer.
19. Dead Man Talking: An NCIS team member is found murdered while exploring a cold case.
20. Missing: A Marine is kidnapped and systematically tortured, and the team tries to find him before it is too late.
21. Split Decision: A Marine is found murdered by an anti-tank weapon, and the investigation leads NCIS to a local militia group.
22. A Weak Link: A Navy SEAL is found dead under mysterious circumstances on the eve of a top-secret mission.
23. Reveille: Gibbs' determination to track down the terrorist from "Bete Noire" becomes an obsession that concerns his entire team.