NCIS seasons, ranked from worst to best

This season isn’t the show’s strongest as NCIS finds itself adjusting to life post-Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo Jr. (Michael Weatherly). His absence upended the group dynamics, and it took a few seasons of trying out new regulars before the core cast would click back into place in season 19.

A couple of highlights, however, are the episodes “Philly,” in which agents Alexandra Quinn (Jennifer Esposito) and Ellie Bishop help MI6 Officer Clayton Reeves (Duane Henry) solve the mur.der of a petty officer, and “Keep Going,” in which Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen) risks his own life to literally talk someone off a ledge. And while there’s a “NCIS Most Wanted” suspect to catch, an increasingly dangerous plot against a Congresswoman to stop, and international investigations to follow through on, season 14 is just too heavy on character development to really shine.

The season starts strong with the team hunting a mole in the NCIS headquarters, but it fizzles out after they’re found. A new NCIS Director, Leon Vance (Rocky Carroll), is brought into the fold, and we’re introduced to Gibbs’ long estranged father, Jackson – played by Ralph Waite – when a mur.der investigation takes Gibbs to his hometown in “Heartland.” However, the way Special Agent Ziva David (Cote de Pablo) is left in the hands of her father, Mossad director Eli David (Michael Nouri), at the end of the season can leave a bad impression on many viewers.

Season 19 of NCIS marks the beginning of the series’ current character lineup. After the team tracks down the serial ki.ller Gibbs has been seeking, the long-time lead agent finally takes a step back after the emotionally-charged episode “Great Wide Open.”

Former FBI agent Alden Parker (Gary Cole) replaces him, and over the course of the season, Palmer and Agent Kasie Hines (Diona Reasonover) are exposed to a dea.dly toxin, and Nick is haunted by an undercover mission he worked on a year ago when arms dealer Reymundo Diaz is released from prison. The season finale, “Birds of a Feather,” brings viewers into familiar territory as Parker is framed for mur.der, and while the team jumps in to clear his name, the show leaves audiences with a major cliffhanger.

This season is all about shake-ups. Gibbs survives his gunshot wound and he goes on to bond with a wounded soldier (also a sniper) who’s recovering at Walter Reed. “Spinning Wheel” is a treat of an episode that’s all about Ducky and his relationship with his half-brother, long thought dead, and Abigail Scuito works to clear her brother Luca’s (Tyler Ritter) name when he’s suspected to be behind several poisonings on a private plane. Guest appearances by Jon Cryer and former First Lady Michelle Obama, who welcomes Gibbs to the White House in “Homefront,” are bright spots in an otherwise mediocre season.

Season 11’s second episode “Past, Present, and Future” is always hard to watch, as viewers are forced to say goodbye to a fan favorite character. However, NCIS gains some great Midwestern sass with the introduction of Eleanor “Ellie” Bishop, a former NSA analyst who we learn has a connection to Parsa, a terrorist the NCIS team is hunting, in the episode “Monsters and Men.”

McGee contemplates taking his relationship with Delilah to the next level (after seeking advice from DiNozzo), and we see Abby and Jimmy help the Naval Medical Research Center discover what caused an outbreak of a mysterious disease afflicting children of military families. And although NCIS waves goodbye to another familiar face in the season’s final episode, “Honor Thy Father,” the touching flashbacks are worth it to learn a little more about Gibbs’ past.

NCIS season 10 is solid, though it lacks a major villain after Gibbs deals with the big bad from season nine in the first episode. And while the core team makes it out alive, no one is left unscathed. McGee is in the hospital, Abby is having recurring nightmares, and Ducky is forced to take some medical leave, though he does take this time to revisit a closed case from 12 years prior that he suspects has connection to a present-day cr1m3.

Later on, Ziva reunites with her father in the emotionally-charged episode “Shabbat Shalom” when he visits unexpectedly. However, it ultimately ends in tears and an international manhunt that ends up putting the NCIS investigators’ careers on the line after they defy orders to relinquish the case. While some of the storylines are neat and tidy, others seem a little far-fetched, like Gibbs’ barber asking the Special Agent to prove his son’s innocence, which keeps this season more mid-list in the rankings.

While the first season of NCIS isn’t its best, it certainly isn’t one to skip, either. After a few core characters had already been introduced in another CBS procedural, JAG, the first full NCIS installment kicks off with the memorable episode “Yankee White,” which is followed by a little bit of everything — a hostage situation, mur.ders, and a plot to assassinate the president — as the audience gets more familiarized with Gibbs and his (initial) team. It also starts the NCIS tradition of featuring actors before they became TV staples, like Breaking Bad’s Dean Norris as a marine, and Lost‘s Terry O’Quinn, who plays Gibbs’ former commanding officer.

Season seven is simply one of NCIS’ best, and it’s not just because Ziva becomes a permanent member of the team. High points are Vance keeping his family safe from a North Korean assassin and Gibbs resolving an international conflict involving his former mentor, Mike Franks (Muse Watson). There’s even a robbery/mur.der that causes Washington D.C. to lose power, which forces the team to rely on old-fashioned detective work rather than the top-rate technology they’re known for.

However, this season really picks up steam when cr1m3s committed by the Reynosa Drug Cartel come to the team’s attention, and Gibbs is kidnapped by order of the cartel leader, Paloma Reynosa. She turns out to be the daughter of Pedro Hernandez, who Gibbs ki.lled 20 years earlier because Hernandez was responsible for the dea.ths of Gibbs’ wife and daughter. In the finale, we’re left wondering just how far the family feud between Jethro and Paloma will go after a major cliffhanger.

NCIS truly hit its stride with season three, starting off strong with a two-parter that sees Gibbs set out to “K.ill Ari” after a devastating loss in the previous season, while serving as the introduction to the highly capable Ziva David, a former Mossad officer who ends up joining the NCIS team. Later on, Ziva and Tony go undercover together, and we get our first glimpses of what will be a long, slow-burn flirtation that fans simply love.

The season’s two-part ending is particularly captivating, as Gibbs briefly falls into a coma and viewers get some real insight into his past while he’s unconscious, including how happy he was with his wife and daughter, and how their dea.ths have continued to rattle him over the years.