Leap of Faith is the fifth episode of NCIS Season 5 and the ninety-ninth episode of the entire NCIS series.
Synopsis
A Navy Lieutenant who worked at the Pentagon as an intelligence officer threatens to commit suicide by jumping off a high building, forcing the NCIS team to be called to the crime scene. Gibbs intervenes and attempts to persuade the Naval officer not to do it but the case is upgraded to murder when the Lieutenant is shot and ultimately falls to his death. Now, the team must capture his killer who may be responsible for jeopardizing many counter-intel operations while Tony believes that Abby might be leaving NCIS, having considered a job in the private sector.
Prologue
Jake and Ashley enter the hotel room and once as the door's closed, Ashley has Jake against the door with Jake remarking that he's got that marketing meeting at 1:30pm and that Ashley's gotta make this quick before he heads off.
"Not too quick", Ashley remarks.
As they head to the center of the room, Ashley wonders if Anderson's secretary saw them leaving together.
Jake states that they were going to lunch.
As she undresses, Ashley remarks that Anderson's secretary has been giving Ashley funny looks the last couple of weeks and that the secretary knows Ashley's husband.
Ashley then drops, revealing that she's wearing lingerie.
Jake wonders what the Hell is that.
Stunned, Ashley remarks that she thought Jake would like it.
Jake just ignores her and heads for the window.
The two then look out where it's shown that there's a man standing on the edge of a rooftop located next door to the hotel.
It then cuts to Jake and Ashley, both of whom look stunned.
Act One
Gibbs watching helplessly as Navy Lieutenant Michael Arnett falls to his death.
Act Two
Now back on the main level, Gibbs examines the building's ledge just as Ziva arrives, holding the bullet and stating that the slug is flattened which means that there isn't much for Abby to work with.
"She had success with less", Gibbs remarks.
Act Three
Act Four
Act Five
Major Events
- NCIS Intel Analyst Nikki Jardine is introduced for the first time and it's shown that she suffers from mysophobia, also known as germaphobia.
- McGee is revealed to have acrophobia (irrational fear of heights).
- McGee reveals that he went to a psychiatrist once when he was younger.
- Gibbs's Rule 15 is: Always work as a team.
- Abby reveals that she gets three or four job offers a year but has never considered any of them.
Trivia
- Starting from this episode onwards, the Foof shown at the beginning of the episode is not a foof connected to the end of the opening act. Instead, the foof is for the end of the first act of the episode. As such, the act has continued to this day. In addition, this is also the first ever episode of the entire NCIS series to have five acts as all the previous episodes before "Leap of Faith" had four acts.
- Jardine not shaking hands and eventually bumping fists with Tony is an allusion to comedian Howie Mandel who has OCD and doesn't shake hands but bumps fists.
Cast
Series Regulars
| Name | Portrayed by | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Leroy Jethro Gibbs | Mark Harmon | NCIS Special Agent in charge of the NCIS Major Case Response Team. |
| Anthony DiNozzo Junior | Michael Weatherly | Senior Special Agent and second-in-command of the NCIS Major Case Response Team. |
| Ziva David | Cote de Pablo | Mossad Liaison to NCIS and also a member of the NCIS Major Case Response Team. |
| Timothy McGee | Sean Murray (actor) | NCIS Junior Special Agent and a member of the NCIS Major Case Response Team. |
| Abigail Sciuto | Pauley Perrette | Forensic Specialist, NCIS. |
| Jennifer Shepard | Lauren Holly | Director of NCIS. |
| Donald Mallard | David McCallum | Chief Medical Examiner, NCIS. |
Recurring Cast
| Name | Portrayed by | Role |
|---|---|---|
| James Palmer | Brian Dietzen | Ducky's assistant. |
Guest Cast
| Name | Portrayed by | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Nikki Jardine | Susan Kelechi Watson | NCIS Intel Analyst. |
| Roger Walsh | Titus Welliver | Michael Arnett's C.O. |
| Neil Fleming | Robin Thomas | Michael Arnett's psychiatrist. |
| Najida Moumud | Alaina Huffman | The victim's wife and murderer who is also a spy for the Syrians. |
| Michael Arnett | Adam Huss | The main murder victim. |
| Hugh Benson | John Vickery | Inspector for Interpol. |
| Jake (Leap of Faith) | Mark Matkevich | A man who appears in the episode. |
| Ashley (Leap of Faith) | Deanna Russo | A woman who appears in the episode. |
| Frank Thompson | Edward Conna | A Sergeant with Metro Police. |
| Roberta Wells | Kimberly Atkinson | A NCIS Special Agent. |