Caitlin "Kate" Todd was a former Secret Service Agent who was originally assigned to the USS Presidential Protective Detail on board Air Force One.
However, following the events of Yankee White (episode), she resigned from the Secret Service for good after it was revealed that she had been in a relationship with a Marine Major who was later murdered.
After resigning from the Secret Service, she almost immediately joined NCIS before being assigned as a Junior Agent to the NCIS Major Case Response Team, becoming the third member of the team and Anthony DiNozzo Junior's second partner.
However, her year and a half-long career as an NCIS Special Agent came to an abrupt and tragic end when in the last few seconds in the Season 2 finale episode, Twilight (episode) and in a move that the team's enemy, Ari Haswari had arranged and also conducted, Kate while talking to her colleagues, fellow NCIS Special Agents Leroy Jethro Gibbs and DiNozzo, died seconds later after being shot in the head with a lone bullet from a Bravo 51 ironically nicknamed a "Kate".
Following the case, Kate's remains were returned to her family in Indianapolis and she was later buried in a cemetery there with her friends and NCIS teammates attending the service.
Kate's position on the team which was left vacant after her murder was later taken over by Ari's control officer and half-sister and later NCIS Special Agent Ziva David and then following Ziva's departure nine years later by NSA agent Eleanor Bishop who subsequently became an NCIS Probationary Agent and later an official NCIS Special Agent before Bishop resigned from the team in May 2021 with the newest member being NCIS Special Agent Jessica Knight.
Biography
Pre-Series
The daughter of an unnamed couple, Kate was born and raised in Indianapolis. She seems to enjoy small towns and nature.
She grew up with three older brothers and a sister, Rachel Cranston. Kate and Rachel might not have had a close relationship when younger, but got close when they were older.
After finishing high school and college, Kate then spent two years in law school but left, presumably due to the fact that she found the work daunting.
In 1994, Kate was the winner of a wet t-shirt contest during a trip to Panama City.
A few years later, Kate then joined the Secret Service and after presumably spending a few years on individual Protection Details, was eventually reassigned to Air Force One where she became a member of the President of the Secret Service's Protection Detail, working under William Baer.
NCIS Season 1
She appears in every episode of the season and becomes a new team member in the pilot episode.
NCIS Season 2
She died in the last few moments in the season finale.
NCIS Season 3
She appears in the first two episode of season three as a ghost to the other team members who talk to her and come to terms with her death. She is also shown as a dead body in autopsy.
Final Days and Murder
Occupation
Prior to joining NCIS, Kate was a Secret Service Agent assigned to the Presidential Protection Detail on Air Force One where she worked under William Baer with her codename being "Rosefern" and as such, she was one of the many agents charged with protecting the President of the United States.
However, in September 2003, after the events of Yankee White (episode), Kate resigned from the Secret Service for good due to the fact that she'd slept with a deceased co-worker.
Mere seconds after her resignation, NCIS Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs hired her and assigned her to his team where Kate became DiNozzo's new partner and also the newest member of the team while also bypassing the rank of NCIS Probationary Agent as she reached the rank of Junior NCIS Special Agent instead.
Upon Timothy McGee joining the team and becoming the new Junior Special Agent, Kate became a Special Agent, a position she kept up until her death in the Season 2 finale episode, "Twilight".
Personality
Kate usually had a very "no nonsense" type of personality coupled with a deep belief of her Catholic upbringing and occasional hypocritical moments. Kate was usually seen wanting to get to business right away and only joking around if an opportunity presented itself, usually mocking Tony. Because she wasn't very familiar with the way the military handled things involving possible murder, she was often ruled by her emotions during some cases; becoming angry or frustrated when something she sees as "obvious" or "not right" isn't seen the same by others.
She often called out Tony on his womanizing nature, almost immediately deeming his ways and suggestions to be damning, but at times saw that his ways helped out in certain ways. She is also occaintionally flirt with Tony, but mostly just to make fun of him. She is very concerned with working out, staying in shape and eating healthy.
Kate was a devoted Catholic, but her religious beliefs sometimes hindered an investigation, such as in The Immortals when she right away wanted to believe a sailor didn't commit suicide because he too was Catholic and suicide is one of the greatest sins in the religion. Despite her religious beliefs, Kate sometimes strayed from some of the stricter rules, such as refraining from pre-marital sex.
She usually was swayed by the hardships and situations many wives or families were going through, especially if they were missing out on some of their benefits due to the questionable nature of a death. During times like this, she often questioned why the military branches involved couldn't just grant the benefits so the spouse or family wouldn't have to struggle until things were cleared up.
Physical Appearance
Kate had shoulder-length brown or blackish hair and brown eyes.
In her debut appearance, she wore a suit composed of a black jacket, black trousers and heels with first a pearl necklace and later a choker of some sort which presumably served as a uniform that she had as part of her job as a Secret Service agent assigned to the Presidential Protection detail on Air Force One.
Possibly, after resigning from the Secret Service, Kate returned that uniform.
When she first joined NCIS, Kate had her hair dyed brown with some of her hair even being cut to form a fringe of some sort and with some blonde streaks even visible as well.
In her first appearance as an NCIS Special Agent, she wore a brown-colored jacket and skirt with a red shirt underneath the jacket as well as heels.
In the field or in the office, Kate often wore t-shirts, skirts, trousers and jeans. She donned a choker of some sort in the first year of her employment at NCIS before she stopped wearing it midway through the first season.
In Season 2, however, Kate's hair became dark brown or black and she later chose to stop donning the fringe, preferring to keep it straight with the hair itself hanging down as far as her shoulders.
In the second half of Season 2, Kate began wearing silver necklaces.
In the field, Kate often wore the standard NCIS coat and wore the cap too, often keeping her hair pined up and underneath the cap as well, something her two successors would also do once they joined the NCIS team.
Kate also carried a holster with her SIG-Sauer and badge and wore both on the right side of her body, the holster wrapped around her right hip.
She also carried a Smith & Wesson Model 60 as her back-up weapon.
In addition, Kate also wore a silver watch.
Abilities
Originally an agent with the Secret Service, Kate was given the assignment of guarding the President of the United States from any and all potential threats.
She often helped her colleagues and was also skilled in composing psychological profiles of possible suspects while even displaying the skill of being able to determine which dollar was real or fake, suggesting she had been received training in money laundering.
Later, as an NCIS Special Agent, Kate was later trained to process crime scenes, interrogate and even potential or possible suspects and as such, became an asset to the NCIS team.
Psychological Profiling
Kate's primary talent was to compose profiles of suspects that her colleagues at the Secret Service and NCIS would after.
She could determine the possible M.O. of the suspect and even give a potential physical description of the suspect as well as a psychological mindset into the suspect as well.
Firearms
As a Secret Service agent, Kate was trained to use firearms.
After becoming an NCIS Special Agent, Kate kept training to use firearms and as a federal officer, was trained to lethally or non-lethally incapacitate or kill a suspect that was either endangering her life or the lives of herself and her colleagues.
Interrogation
Although not a level like Gibbs, Kate was a capable interrogator.
Legacy
Kate's tragic murder had a huge impact on her NCIS colleagues and friends as it left the NCIS Major Case Response Team greatly devastated due to the fact that her death had been completely unexpected with everyone having originally believed that Ari had intended to kill Gibbs, not Kate.
Like his colleagues, Tony was devastated by Kate's death and was left stunned at it, having been the closest to her when she had been shot dead which also meant that Tony had been splashed with blood from the impact with the blood covering the right side of his face. This later caused Tony to "grow up" in a sense and although Tony remained the same, he later developed a strong, almost fierce need to protect his NCIS colleagues from harm, presumably for the sake of ensuring that they would not suffer the same fate Kate had.
Kate's death had a far greater impact on Gibbs than any of his other NCIS colleagues as he grew to despise Ari for murdering Kate and became hellbent on avenging Kate's murder to the point of fixation, resolving to get revenge despite all the other federal agencies believing that Ari was not the sniper responsible for Kate's death. Despite the government red tape and warnings to back off, Gibbs continued to carry on in his quest for revenge, even going as far to ignore pleas from his NCIS colleagues including Ducky to stop as Gibbs swore to kill Ari, even if it meant dying in the process.
Overall, Kate died a loyal, devoted and dedicated NCIS Special Agent, willing to fight for her country and stop any threats whatsoever.
She also left a strong and lasting impression on her NCIS colleagues despite Kate's career as an NCIS Special Agent lasting for only a year and a half.
Her NCIS colleagues tend to remember her with fondness and her memory has also survived on in their hearts and minds.
Relationships
Leroy Jethro Gibbs
Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo
Timothy "Tim" McGee
Donald "Ducky" Mallard
Abigail "Abby" Sciuto
Trivia
- Tony DiNozzo named one of his fish after her.
- Cait's death was mimicked in the episode Check. This led to Diane Sterling's death by Sergei Mishnev.
Appearances
For a more detailed list, see Caitlin Todd/List of Appearances.
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Season 2 | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | 23 | ||
Season 3 | X | X | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | X | 3 | |
Season 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 | |
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Season 8 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | X | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | |
Season 9 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | X | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | |
Season 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 | |
Season 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 | |
Season 12 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | X | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | X | - | 2 | |
Season 13 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 | |
Season 14 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 | |
Season 15 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | X | - | - | 2 | |
Season 16 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 | |
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