Kill Ari

"Kill Ari (Parts I and II)"
NCIS episode
Tony and Ziva's first meeting, set shortly after she arrives at NCIS headquarters
Episode no.	Season 3 Episode 1 and 2
Directed by	Dennis Smith (Part I) James Whitmore, Jr. (Part II)
Written by	Donald P. Bellisario
Original air date	September 20, 2005 (2005-09-20) (Part I) September 27, 2005 (2005-09-27) (Part II)
Guest appearance(s)
Sasha Alexander as Special Agent Kate Todd Lauren Holly as NCIS Director Jenny Shepard Cote de Pablo as Mossad Agent Ziva David Pancho Demmings as Gerald Jackson Rudolf Martin as Ari Haswari Alan Dale as NCIS Director Tom Morrow (Part I only) Sasha Maxime as Virginia State Police Officer (Part I only) AJ Tannen as Mossad Agent (Part I only) Joe Spano as Senior FBI Agent Tobias C. Fornell (Part II only) Gloria Votsis as Dana (Part II only)
Episode chronology
← Previous "Twilight" Next → "Mind Games"
NCIS (season 3) List of NCIS episodes

"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".

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.

Then NCIS Director Tom Morrow (Alan Dale) announces that he is leaving the agency after receiving a job offer from Homeland Security and introduces Jenny Shepard (Lauren Holly) as his replacement. It immediately becomes apparent that Gibbs was romantically involved with Shepard while working undercover with her years earlier, though she insists that she is now nothing more than his boss and will act accordingly. Gibbs clashes with Shepard, who believes that Ari Haswari was not the one responsible for firing the bullet that killed Agent Todd due to the fact that there's no physical evidence or proof of any kind linking him to the crime.