I am a fan of NCIS. Like a bunch of other folks, I am enthralled by the relations between our on-screen friends and the situations they must solve together. Since I invest my time and emotions in these characters, I am happy to welcome new regulars, but I hate it when they kill off my on-screen friends.
I am WAY behind in watching episodes. I just recently watched the end of Season Five. Yes, that’s right, Season Five. That’s the extra-long episode where Director Shepherd meets her end. It was a very intense couple hours. Jenny, the director, faced a showdown due to “loose ends” from an operation years before, that she and another agent, Gibbs, had been involved in together. As she waited for the finale, she talked to a retired agent about her life and those she loved. Gibbs was one of those people she loved. It was very moving.
When it was over, the hit was made, the director and several others were dead. Did I mention that I hate it when shows kill off characters that I have come to care about?
Director Shepherd gave her life to protect Gibbs, her former partner. If the vendetta had not ended with her, Gibbs would be next. It was hard for Gibbs to grasp what she had done for him.
I thought about this show afterwards. Maybe because it was NOT written into the script, I was left wondering if Director Shepherd made her peace with God before the end? She certainly reviewed her life, the good and bad. But did she wonder what might await her after death? Did she wonder if God was really there and what would He do with her?
I don’t know anybody in real life who hasn’t or wouldn’t consider this when facing the end of their life. It was a glaring omission in an otherwise superb show.
Giving one’s life for someone else is the highest honor. Who can handle that well? This episode touched me deeply: love, self-sacrifice, respect, honor, grief. As I watched it and processed through it, Jenny’s sacrifice of her life for Gibbs made me think about the long ago sacrifice Jesus made for my life. Jenny’s cost was her own life. The cost for Jesus was all eternity with His Father and His own identity as God. Why? Because he loved you and me and saved us from eternal hell in order to live with Him in eternal heaven.
I am deeply moved: love, self-sacrifice, respect, honor, grief. Then great joy!
“And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma” Ephesians 5:2.
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