History Fridge / NCIS

** As of 2023, McGee is Senior Field Agent, Palmer is heading up autopsy, Tony and Ziva quit to raise their daughter, Abby's off being Abby somwhere and Gibbs decided to retire knowing his team would be fine despite the many changes.

* At first glance, [=McGee=] appears to be the {{Unfavorite}} (at least compared to Abby, Tony and Ziva) where Gibbs is concerned. But after a few seasons of watching Gibbs interact with various people, it's clear that he cares about [=McGee=] as much as any member of his team. But while [[ObfuscatingStupidity Tony]], [[ActionGirl Ziva]] and Abby are allowed to operate with a freer hand (in part because of their respective experience levels and individual personalities), [=McGee=] is kept on a shorter leash because he HAS to be. He has [[AbsentMindedProfessor a tendency to get lost in the details]], become easily distracted by issues in his private life (women, his writing, video games) and occasionally is still intimidated by power (a disadvantage when investigating crimes occasionally involving high-ranking officials). But thanks in part to [[PapaWolf Gibbs]] and his "tough love", he's now a [[NerdActionHero more proficient agent]] and seems far more comfortable in his own skin. And thus, a much more effective member of the team. Now, if Gibbs ever does join Mike Franks in Mexico (or wherever), he can be completely confident that NCIS (and ''NCIS'') is in good hands. And one also gets the feeling that he's training Palmer in the exact same manner. -- ''[=TVsTim1=]''

* As late as Season 17, "On Fire" all but states that Gibbs committed an assassination of the episode's culprit and framed his criminally-culpable girlfriend for it to get them back for nearly killing Torres. Mr. Oshimura never truly retired, and it shows that even in his old age and his supposed responsibility of trying to come to terms with some of the things he's done, he'll still go off-the-grid and put a bullet in you the moment [[ItsPersonal his team is in danger.]] The man is effectively a ''government-trained assassin'' in the shoes of a Navy police officer, and is ready to get merciless all over again if he feels it necessary; in some twisted sense, [[NotSoDifferentRemark he's not so different from Ari after all]].

* In Season 8's "Pyramid," Ziva is kidnapped by the Port-to-Port Killer, mostly as a distraction. Tony and Gibbs are ''livid,'' and both end up threatening Trent Kort with bodily harm, as he is the one who possibly sent her into a trap. They (or at least, Tony) gets called out on the excessive response, but it's not until Tony says "It's just different for some of us" that you realize it's been only about a year and a half since Somalia, and it's probably bringing back some horrible memories of the ''last'' time Ziva went missing.

* Sloane established herself as the TeamMom, always cheerful and smiley...and then it was revealed that she was captured and tortured in Afganistan. And ''then'' it's revealed that before that, she was ''raped''. And she's still haunted by both traumas. Now the cheerful TeamMom seems more like a StepfordSmiler.

* The climax of "Family First" has the team, particularly Tony, enact a RoaringRampageOfRevenge against Trent Kort for ordering the attack on the farmhouse that supposedly killed Ziva. That is explicitly the reason given as to why they all just open fire on him. Except, as revealed in season 17, Ziva is alive. Meaning the team just gunned down a man in cold blood with no concrete reason--yes, he'd killed other agents, but that's a reason to ''arrest him'' not ''kill him.'' This is never addressed.
** He reached for a gun on his waistband as if he was about to specifically try to kill Tony to close up loose ends, which was grounds for everyone there to commit self-defense. The NoKillLikeOverkill was definitely too much, yet as far as NCIS and apparently the CIA were concerned, Kort crossed the line and then went TooDumbToLive right at the end.

* As late as Season 17, "On Fire" all but states that Gibbs committed an assassination of the episode's culprit and framed his criminally-culpable girlfriend for it to get them back for nearly killing Torres. Mr. Oshimura never truly retired, and it shows that even in his old age and his supposed responsibility of trying to come to terms with some of the things he's done, he'll still go off-the-grid and put a bullet in you the moment [[ItsPersonal his team is in danger.]] The man is effectively a ''government-trained assassin'' in the shoes of a Navy police officer, and is ready to get merciless all over again if he feels it necessary.

* In "Chimera," Commander William Skinner, who is in charge of the titular "black ship," is played by Steven Culp. He also played [[Series/{{JAG}} Clayton Webb]], a CIA agent who had [[spoiler:faked his own death in the parent show of ''Series/{{JAG}}''.]] Think about that for a second.

* In "Faking It", an early season 4 episode, the team's prime suspect and [[spoiler: murderer of the week]] is connected to an arms dealer the CIA is using named [[spoiler: Arkady Kobach, who is killed by Mike Franks]]. A few episodes later, the team learns that La Grenouille is [[spoiler: being handled by the CIA]], and at the start of season 5, it's suggested that he is [[spoiler: actually a CIA asset]]. Maybe after [[spoiler: Kobach died]], they brought La Grenouille to take his place, and spite NCIS.
* The father-daughter dynamic between Gibbs and Ziva gets a boost if one noticed Ziva's birthday when it was revealed: if you figure out how old his daughter was when [[spoiler: she was killed by the drug cartel]], it works out that she and Ziva were born around the same time. Ziva is literally his daughter's age.
** It gets more interesting: [[spoiler: Gibbs' daughter was around 9-10 when she was taken from Gibbs. Ziva ends up being with Gibbs for 8 years before leaving. In essence, Gibbs had a daughter for roughly 18 years and had an experience of letting his daughter leave the nest.]]
* At the end of season 12 premiere "Twenty Klicks", Vance mentions to Gibbs that [[spoiler: Sergei survived Gibbs shooting him]]. Gibbs thinks it's impossible, but it's very possible. How? [[spoiler: Sergei]] was one of Ari's friends, and took a page from [[spoiler: "Bete Noire" - a bulletproof vest that took Gibbs's rounds]].
** [[spoiler:Forget friends, Ari was Sergei's half-brother!]]

* In the episode "Life Before His Eyes," Gibbs spends most of the episode in a 'purgatory' diner [[spoiler:populated by the people in his life, both living and dead]]. Only one [[spoiler:currently living]] character says anything to Gibbs inside the diner: [[spoiler:Ducky]], because [[spoiler:Duck talks to the dead.]]

* In "Institutionalized", the prime suspect is Kasie's childhood friend, Dante (who has gotten in trouble with the law prior to this episode), and she keeps insisting to the other team members that he's innocent and fighting tooth-and-nail for her friend. At one point, Vance praises Kasie for her determination and loyalty and has no intention of telling her to stop; however, he asks her if Kasie is one-hundred percent sure Dante is innocent of the murder. This makes sense when you remember he went through a very similar situation back in Season 9's "The Good Son"; his brother-in-law, Michael (who has also gotten into trouble with the law prior to that episode), was the prime suspect in that week's murder, [[spoiler: and despite Vance's insistence that he's innocent, it turns out that Michael ''was'' the killer, leaving Vance no choice but to have him be arrested]]. Vance sympathized with Kasie's situation, but he was also worried that it was going to end the same way. [[spoiler: Fortunately, in Kasie's case, [[EarnYourHappyEnding Dante turned out to be innocent, the real killer got busted, and Dante managed to get that interview for being a dog-trainer at the end of the episode]]]].

* In "Life Before His Eyes", the various characters try to convince Gibbs not to let himself be killed by a random guy by showing him [=AUs=] of things being differently, because "everything happens for a reason". Only that [[spoiler: had Kate not been killed, it would have actually been better for everyone (except Ziva perhaps), and worst of all, if Gibbs had died as a marine, Shannon and Kelly would still be alive, Abby wouldn't have had to carry his secret (or alternatively, she wouldn't have had to dealt with non-functional!alcoholic Gibbs), and everybody would be, indeed, better off.]]
** Also, the guy who talks to Gibbs about him shooting Hernandez: [[spoiler: Gibbs doesn't feel remorse about having killed him (and with good reason), but then he feels guilty when he's reminded by that guy that Abby knows about it and has to keep the secret now, only then Gibbs says it may have done more harm than good. Nevermind that he left, at the time, two children without a father (because Paloma and Alejandro were children back then, or that it caused them to take revenge on him and almost kill his father, or all the effects it has had on the rest of the team. Since every character and interaction was a fabrication of Gibbs' mind at the moment, one can't help but think Gibbs only thinks murdering a man could be somewhat bad because Abby (a person he didn't know back then) knows what he did. Good to know his priorities.]]
*** [[spoiler: If Gibbs felt guilty over every single bad guy he killed who left a family behind, he probably wouldn't be able to function. That it negatively affected someone he eventually became almost like a father to later, well, that makes it personal.]]
** [[spoiler: Equally worrisome would be the idea that GIBBS believes everyone in his life would be better off without him.]]
* A blink and you'll miss it moment in "Shabbat Shalom". Jackie mentions early on that the kids were spending the night at a friend's and she and Leon would have the house all to themselves for the evening. [[spoiler: Then Eli David comes over for dinner and the house gets shot up and both Eli and Jackie are killed. What if the kids had been home?]]
* In Berlin, it's assumed [[spoiler: Tony and Ziva were purposely run into.]] Gibbs' wife and daughter died in similar circumstances years ago. This is probably going to bring up horrifying memories for him.

* In season 11 premiere "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot", what if Parsons had not tried to question Morrow about [[spoiler: Gibbs's JSOC mission]]? Then, [[spoiler: Morrow would have been killed along with SecNav Jarvis. Morrow owes Parsons his life.]]
* In "What Lies Above", a dead body (or what's left of it, rather) is found under the bedroom floorboards in [=McGee=]'s apartment. Everyone freaks out at the realization that Tim and Delilah have been sleeping--and, you know, ''not'' sleeping--over a friggin '''''CORPSE''''' (and even worse, as of "Something Blue," it is possible that [[spoiler: Delilah and Tim's twins were conceived]] before the body was removed). But it gets even worse when you remember that the apartment used to be Tony's. This means that for almost '''''15 years''''', he (and his, ahem, overnight guests) have been sleeping and not sleeping over that thing too. It would have been nice to know his reaction to that.

* The climax of "Family First" has the team, particularly Tony, enact a RoaringRampageOfRevenge against Trent Kort for ordering the attack on the farmhouse that [[spoiler: supposedly killed Ziva.]] That is explicitly the reason given as to why they all just open fire on him. Except, as revealed in season 17, [[spoiler: Ziva is alive.]] Meaning the team just gunned down a man in cold blood with no concrete reason--yes, he'd killed other agents, but that's a reason to ''arrest him'' not ''kill him.'' This is never addressed.

* In the pilot episode "Yankee White" it is not really strange Gibbs knew the plot of ''Film/AirForceOne'' and about the traitor. [[NamesTheSame The traitor was also named Gibbs.]] Because of the same name and NCIS!Gibbs' patriotism he remembered the plot out of dislike of his name being the name of a traitor.

* At first glance, [=McGee=] appears to be the {{Unfavorite}} (at least compared to Abby, Tony and Ziva) where Gibbs is concerned. But after a few seasons of watching Gibbs interact with various people, it's clear that he cares about [=McGee=] as much as any member of his team. But while [[ObfuscatingStupidity Tony]], [[ActionGirl Ziva]] and [[HotScientist Abby]] are allowed to operate with a freer hand (in part because of their respective experience levels and individual personalities), [=McGee=] is kept on a shorter leash because he HAS to be. He has [[AbsentMindedProfessor a tendency to get lost in the details]], become easily distracted by issues in his private life (women, his writing, video games) and occasionally is still intimidated by power (a disadvantage when investigating crimes occasionally involving high-ranking officials). But thanks in part to [[PapaWolf Gibbs]] and his "tough love", he's now a [[NerdActionHero more proficient agent]] and seems far more comfortable in his own skin. And thus, a much more effective member of the team. Now, if Gibbs ever does join Mike Franks in Mexico (or wherever), he can be completely confident that NCIS (and ''NCIS'') is in good hands. And one also gets the feeling that he's training Palmer in the exact same manner. -- ''[=TVsTim1=]''

* More like Fridge Tearjerker, but Gibbs' fondness for children gets this when we learn what happened to his wife and daughter.

* Repeated camera work is made of Gibbs' home, a two-floor building with a massive basement, and it's a building he keeps all series long. It's [[TheLostLenore family-sized]] and ''far' too large for a single man like him. He likely has the opportunity, paycheck and capability to move to a single bedroom house or an apartment, but opts to stay there the entire time, effectively surrounded by a reminder of his first wife and their daughter, quietly shouldering the guilt of their deaths from start to end.

* In Life Before His Eyes, the various characters try to convince Gibbs not to let himself be killed by a random guy by showing him [=AUs=] of things being differently, because "everything happens for a reason". Only that [[spoiler: had Kate not been killed, it would have actually been better for everyone (except Ziva perhaps), and worst of all, if Gibbs had died as a marine, Shannon and Kelly would still be alive, Abby wouldn't have had to carry his secret (or alternatively, she wouldn't have had to dealt with non-functional!alcoholic Gibbs), and everybody would be, indeed, better off.]]

* In season 7's "Truth or Consequences," it's revealed that Ziva has been held captive by Saleem for months when she's dragged into a makeshift interrogation room and unmasked in front of Tony. When the camera does a close up to gauge her reaction to seeing Tony sitting across from her, you can see her hair is underneath her shirt collar. Implying she wasn't wearing it prior to this scene and that her torture might have been [[ImpliedRape more than physical.]]

* In season 7's "Truth or Consequences," Saleem rips the hood off of his prisoner, revealing that it's Ziva and she's been held captive by him for months. When the camera shows a reaction shot of her realizing Tony sits across from her, it's clear that her hair is underneath her shirt collar. Implying she wasn't wearing it prior to being dragged into this makeshift interrogation room and the FridgeHorror that her torture might have been [[ImpliedRape more than just physical.]]

* The ME's name is Donald Mallard. A mallard, as his nickname (Ducky) implies, is a duck. Essentially, we have a character named "DonaldDuck" on the show. -- Tsunoba