10 Best Episodes of ‘NCIS’

With hundreds of cases across many seasons, ‘NCIS’ has delivered standout hours that define characters, launch long arcs, and reshape the team. These episodes mix high stakes with procedural precision, often introducing key figures or closing chapters that ripple across the series.

Below are ten essential episodes that fans revisit and newcomers can use as guideposts. Each entry notes the season and episode number along with the story beats and lasting impact on the team, so you can jump in and know exactly why these hours matter.

Bête Noire

Season 1 Episode 16
A gunman infiltrates the Navy Yard and takes Autopsy hostage, putting Ducky and Gerald in immediate danger. The intruder reveals himself as Ari Haswari, whose calculated moves and clean escape turn a routine day beneath the squad room into a turning point for the series.

The hour marks the first appearance of a foe who will shape the early years of ‘NCIS’. The incident exposes security vulnerabilities inside the building and sets up a long pursuit that tests Gibbs and his team through the rest of the season and beyond.

SWAK

Season 2 Episode 22
Tony opens a letter that bursts with white powder and a lipstick print, triggering a biohazard lockdown that forces the team into quarantine. Medical tests confirm a fast moving infection and the investigation pivots to track the sender before the exposure spreads further.

The case becomes a race across lab results, postal records, and surveillance pulls while protocols seal parts of the Navy Yard. The episode shows how federal response procedures unfold during suspected biological threats and how evidence handling changes when contamination is on the table.

Twilight

Season 2 Episode 23
An ongoing manhunt collides with a coordinated attack that targets Gibbs and his agents during a citywide sweep. The team splits across multiple locations as Ari manipulates events from a distance and counters their moves with a final shot from a concealed position.

The fallout closes out the second season with immediate operational consequences for ‘NCIS’. The investigation that follows reshapes assignments, adjusts security practice for field work, and becomes the foundation for the opening of the next season.

Kill Ari Part II

Season 3 Episode 2
The search for Ari tightens inside Washington as multiple agencies maneuver for position. Ziva David arrives from Mossad with access and history that complicate the pursuit, and a final close quarters confrontation ends the threat inside Gibbs’s own home.

The resolution formally introduces Ziva to the team and confirms Director Jenny Shepard’s leadership of ‘NCIS’. The outcome closes the Ari chapter while opening new dynamics between agencies, setting the personnel lineup and diplomatic context for the seasons ahead.

Hiatus Part I

Season 3 Episode 23
A deadly explosion aboard a Navy vessel leaves Gibbs critically injured and unable to recall years of his life. While the team works an active terror thread, Mike Franks steps in to fill gaps and connect Gibbs’s past to a present day threat that is still moving.

The investigation runs in parallel with medical updates as the crew reconstructs timelines and revisits old operations tied to Gibbs’s history. The hour lays out the personal backstory that guides Gibbs’s decisions and explains long standing rules that shape how the unit operates.

Requiem

Season 5 Episode 7
A young woman seeks Gibbs’s help and reveals a childhood link to his family. Her plea pulls the team into a case involving organized crime and trafficking that culminates with a vehicle driven off a pier and a rescue attempt below the surface.

The underwater recovery becomes the centerpiece of the investigation while forensic work traces money, phones, and associates to identify the network behind her stalkers. The episode connects a self contained crime to Gibbs’s personal history and shows how older cases can resurface through victims who were children at the time.

Judgment Day Part II

Season 5 Episode 19
An off the books pursuit tied to a prior operation ends with the death of the Director, triggering an internal review and a shift at the top of the agency. Evidence from Los Angeles is collected and cataloged as the Office of Special Projects assists with site processing and interviews.

Leon Vance steps in and immediately reassigns team members, splitting the core group and placing them in new roles. The conclusion resets the command structure of ‘NCIS’, closes out a long running arms dealing storyline, and positions the team for a new phase when the next season begins.

Truth or Consequences

Season 7 Episode 1
Tony and McGee go dark on an unsanctioned mission to locate a missing teammate inside Somalia. A suspected cell leader holds them during an interrogation while hidden trackers and coded calls line up a strike package that depends on precise timing.

The operation culminates with a rescue that reassembles the team and documents the detention site for follow up by partner agencies. The case resolves a summer long cliffhanger and clarifies the status of all agents, while also setting rules for future international work away from U.S. soil.

Shiva

Season 10 Episode 12
A coordinated attack takes the life of Eli David and strikes Director Vance’s family, placing the investigation under federal protection and foreign liaison oversight. Ziva works the case from inside the squad room while external teams canvas ballistics, vehicles, and airport footage.

The search traces a trail of forged documents and shell companies that point toward a specific operative with ties to multiple services. The episode documents funeral honors, chain of command steps after a strike on a senior official, and the interagency procedures that follow a domestic attack with international leads.

The Arizona

Season 17 Episode 20
A nonagenarian walks into the squad room claiming he served aboard the USS Arizona under a borrowed name and asks for burial honors that require proof of service. The team pulls personnel logs, fingerprints, and archival records while the witness recounts movements from the days around the attack.

The inquiry runs through federal archives and museum resources to verify identity beyond standard databases. The case concludes with documentation that supports the request and details the process for interment at the memorial, while also noting how special cases are handled when records are incomplete or conflicting.

Share your own favorite ‘NCIS’ hours in the comments so everyone can compare watch lists.