Killing Ari: NCIS In Transition Quiz

Answer: Caitlin "Kate" Todd

The lovely Sasha Alexander (Suzana S. Drobnjakoviæ) played former Secret Service Agent Caitlin "Kate" Todd for the first two seasons of "NCIS". Kate was both an unrequited love interest and a frequent foil for Michael Weatherly's character Tony DiNozzo. During the second season of "NCIS", the team became involved in a multi-episode arc to stop an Al-Qaeda terrorist cell led by a mysterious Israeli-Palestinian assassin named Ari Haswari. In the final scene of season two (episode 46), Kate Todd uses her Secret Service training and sacrifices her life to take a bullet intended for Agent Gibbs.

The first two episodes of "NCIS" season three (episodes 47-48) revolve around the hunt for Kate Todd's killer. The decision to kill off the Todd character was shocking at the time. However, both "NCIS" and actress Sasha Alexander have thrived since she left the show. "NCIS's" ratings improved dramatically in subsequent years and the show was the number one rated show for the 2012-2013 ratings period. Alexander became the star of the hit cable show "Rizzoli & Isles". On a personal note, Alexander is also the daughter-in-law of Italian movie legend Sophia Loren as she married Loren's son Edoardo Ponti in 2007.

Answer: Mossad

Mossad is the Israeli equivalent of the American CIA or British MI-6. Mossad (Hebrew for Institute) along with Shin Bet (akin to the American FBI) and Aram (military intelligence) have the exceedingly difficult task of safeguarding Israel's national security. Television and movies have long been fascinated with the aggressive and often violent activities of the Mossad. "NCIS" from its start used the synergy of "the enemy of my enemy" logic to draw interaction with Mossad into its storylines. Such is the case with the character of Ziva David. David is a Mossad agent and (and revealed in episodes 47-48) the daughter of the Mossad Deputy Director Eli David. We also learn that Agent David is the handler for undercover Mossad agent Ari Haswari and that she believes (at first) that Haswari is not Kate Todd's killer, but instead is a valuable embedded source of Al-Qaeda information.

Chilean-American actress Cote de Pablo (María José de Pablo Fernández) played Ziva David on "NCIS" for eight seasons beginning with season three (episode 47). The Ziva character replaces Kate Todd as the female lead and slow smoldering love interest for DiNozzo. Despite not being either Jewish or Israeli, De Pablo's Ziva fit well into the "NCIS" team and is one of the major reasons that the show's ratings increased. De Pablo departed the show early in season 12, but her character was not killed off leaving open the possibility of a return and resolution of her relationship with DiNozzo.

Answer: Gerald Jackson

Actor Pancho Demmings played lab assistant Gerald Jackson for the first two seasons of "NCIS". The Gerald Jackson character has not been used since the end of the "Kill Ari" arc. Actor Brian Dietzen plays Jimmy Palmer another lab assistant that was introduced in the first season of "NCIS". Jimmy Palmer became an increasingly larger part of the show during the third season and thereafter.

David McCallum, Jr. was born in Glasgow Scotland in 1933. McCallum's boyish good looks led to roles in television shows such as "the Outer Limits" and movies such as 1963's "The Great Escape" and 1965's "The Greatest Story Ever Told". However, it was the 1965-1968 "The Man From U.N.C.L.E" where McCallum became a household name. McCallum played young Russian agent Illya Kuryakin to Robert Vaughn's suave Napoleon Solo.

Answer: Lauren Holly

American actress Lauren Holly joined "NCIS" as the NCIS Director at the start of season three. Holly was already a familiar to American television having starred in the series "Picket Fences" in the 1990's. Holly co-starred with Jim Carrey in 1994's "Dumb and Dumber" and the two started a romance leading to a 1996 ill-fated marriage that lasted less than a year.

Director Jennifer "Jenny" Shepherd was introduced into "NCIS" with a complicated backstory. She was a former partner of Special Agent Gibbs during which the two were also romantically involved. Shepherd chose to further her career and ended her relationship with Gibbs. Shepherd (as is actress Holly) is a red-head. She thus fits the show's quirk that Gibbs is attracted to women with red-hair because his first wife Shannon (seen in flashback portrayed by Aviva Farber) was a red-head. Melinda McGraw and Kathleen York play two other red-headed ex-wives of the seemingly unlucky Gibbs.

Answer: Eli David

One of the shocking revelations in the "Kill Ari" arc is learning that terrorist Haswari was both an Israeli Mossad double agent and the eldest son of Mossad Deputy Director Eli David (Michael Nouri). Yes, for those of you keeping score at home that means that Mossad "handler" Ziva David is also Ari's half-sister.

At the start of episode 47, the NCIS team believes that Ari killed Agent Kate Todd and that he is an Al-Qaeda terrorist leader. Mossad believes he is still acting on their behalf and Ziva David (implicitly at least in part because of the undisclosed family connection) is unwilling to accept that Ari as a bad guy.

Answer: New Orleans

Actress Pauley Perrette is every bit as unique and sensational as her "NCIS" alter ego Abby Sciuto. Perrette was born in New Orleans Louisiana in 1969. Perrette received a Bachelor of Science degree in sociology, psychology and criminal justice and later earned a master's degree in criminology from New York's John Jay University. As a trained criminologist Perrette is a natural to portray the scientist of the NCIS team.

In addition to her acting career Perrette has also a long affinity with music and has performed and written tunes that have appeared in "NCIS" and in movies such as "Legally Blond". Perrette is a human and animal rights activist with a deep commitment to supporting marriage equality rights. Based on the "Q" rating system of American pop culture awareness, Perrette frequently scores at the top for both likability and familiarity.

Answer: Donald P Bellisario

Donald Bellisario has made a very nice career creating and developing American television programs with an action-adventure format. Bellisario served in the US Marines during the 1950s before becoming an advertising writer and executive in the 1960s. In the 1970s, Bellisario moved to Los Angeles to pursue a desire to write and produce television shows. Bellisario worked with senior producer Glen Larson and together they created the highly rated Tom Selleck vehicle "Magnum P.I.".

Bellisario developed the successful "JAG" program about Navy and Marine lawyers. "JAG" ran from 1995-2005. "NCIS" was a spin-off from "JAG", introduced during a two-part arc in season eight. Bellisario is also the step-father of "NCIS" co-star Sean Murray (Tim McGee) having married Murray's mother Vivienne in 1998. Chances are you have watched a movie or television show created by the men in the incorrect answers. Anthony Zuiker created "CSI", Dick Wolfe "Law & Order" and Jerry Bruckheimer is the producer of countless hit movies, including the "Beverly Hills Cop" and "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchises.

Answer: Kate

The Tactical Ops Bravo 51 sniper rifle exists and is an expensive but accurate rifle used both by hunters and various military personnel. The gun, as stated in "NCIS", nicknamed a "Kate". The serendipity of a viable sniper rifle with an apropos nickname to the character killed by the gun was simply too tempting for the writers of "NCIS" to pass up in the "Kill Ari" arc. Why the gun is called a "Kate" is of some debate. A popular speculation is that the name is an acronym that with a Bravo 51 you can "Kill All The Enemy".

Mark Harmon's Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs character is at the center of the "Kill Ari" arc. He is both frustrated and guilty at the loss of Kate Todd and the roadblocks placed in front of his effort to catch the killer. Ultimately, Gibbs proves correct and along with Mossad and his team do not let Todd's killer escape. Ari is not killed by the Kate gun but the hand gun used for the job proved as effective.

Answer: Hamas

Hamas is an Arabic word meaning enthusiasm and an acronym that translates to Islamic Resistance Movement. Hamas the political group is an active terrorist organization in the Middle East. Hamas is also a political organization that has achieved a position of significant power within the Palestinian Parliament. Since its inception in the 1980s, Hamas has actively claimed responsibility for numerous deaths in Israel using, amongst other methods, suicide (explosives detonated while attached to the bomber)bombs as described by Ziva David in "NCIS" episode 48.

Answer: Ziva David

"NCIS" episodes 47-48 detail the hunt to bring the killer of Kate Todd to justice. In the course of the two part arc the NCIS team learns that terrorist Ari Haswari is a double agent allegedly working for the Israeli Mossad and informing on Al-Qaeda. In truth, Haswari is feeding Mossad disinformation and minor secrets while running a terror cell for Al-Qaeda.

In the story's climatic scene, Agent Gibbs is confronted by terrorist Haswari who has set up a plan to kill Gibbs, making the death appear a suicide brought on by Gibbs' despondency over the loss of Agent Todd. Haswari admits to killing Agent Todd and that he targeted Agent Gibbs because he reminds him of his despised father. Before Ari can pull the trigger, he is instead shot and killed by Ziva David. It is only then that we learn why David and Mossad had been unwilling to recognize Haswari's duplicity, as it is revealed that he is the son of the Mossad Deputy Director and the half-brother of Ziva David.