Kill Ari

"Kill Ari (Part I)" and "Kill Ari (Part II)" are the first two episodes of the third season of the American police procedural drama NCIS, and the 47th and 48th episodes overall. They originally aired on CBS in the United States on September 20 and 27, 2005. Both episodes are written by Donald Bellisario, the show's creator and executive producer at the time. Part I, directed by Dennis Smith, was seen live by 15.48 million viewers, while Part II, directed by James Whitmore, Jr., was seen live by 15.09 million viewers. The "Kill Ari" story arc centers on Gibbs' hunt for Ari Haswari, who shot and killed Special Agent Kate Todd in the second-season finale of NCIS. It also introduces two new main characters to the show—Mossad Officer Ziva David and NCIS Director Jenny Shepard. Due to these changes in the cast, Bellisario labeled the third season as "the season of change". Plot Part I The episode opens with a recap of the second season's finale, "Twilight": as the NCIS team by Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) engage in a gunfight against Ari Haswari's terrorist cell, Ari (Rudolf Martin), identified as a rogue terrorist, attempts to kill various NCIS agents including Tim McGee (Sean Murray) before Ari decides to fatally shoot NCIS Agent Kate Todd (Sasha Alexander) with a long range sniper shot, killing her instantly with a horrified Gibbs and Tony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) witnessing Kate's death. In the aftermath of the murder, the team struggles to come to terms with her death while an enraged Gibbs seeks revenge against Ari. Shortly afterwards, Ari attacks again, firing at Abby in her lab. However, she survives physically unharmed.