Angel of Death (NCIS)

[2] The storyline revolves around the dubious circumstances of Jasper Shepard's death, the nature of Tony's relationship with arms dealer La Grenouille's daughter, Dr. Jeanne Benoit, and the team's dismay over a mandatory polygraph test.

Director Jenny Shepard returns from Europe and the NCIS team learns, to their chagrin, that they are required to take a Homeland Security polygraph test.

[3] Meanwhile, a distraught woman, Bernie (Shelly Cole), and her boyfriend, Nick (Alan Smyth), show up at the hospital where Jeanne (Scottie Thompson) works to see her brother Devon, who was brought in earlier.

[3] Later that night, Tony and Jeanne realize that there is a security breach: Bernie and Nick have gone down to the morgue, intending to surgically remove the drugs.

For example, during the bar scene, Pauley Perrette kept her hand over the label of her character's drink, believing that "Abby wouldn't have a light beer.

"[4] Scottie Thompson's character, Jeanne Benoit,[5] was introduced early in the fourth season as a love interest for Tony.

[7] In April 2007, it was reported that the lead NCIS actor, Mark Harmon, was threatening to leave the show due to series creator and executive producer Donald Bellisario's "chaotic management style".

Script pages get faxed to the set at the last minute, and Mark is tired of dealing with the huge impact that makes on his life.

"[8] Two weeks later, it was announced that Bellisario was permanently exiting the show and that co-executive producer Charles Floyd Johnson and head writer Shane Brennan would take over.

[9] Bellisario retained his status as executive producer, though he would no longer manage the show, and "Angel of Death" was the last episode he wrote.

"[10] Bellisario denied allegations that his management had led to "overly long production days" and said, "I asked Mark to re-shoot a scene.

"[10] Chicago Tribune asked Cote de Pablo (portraying Ziva), who was visiting Israel when the crew changes were announced, about the situation.

[10] Harmon noted, "You've got to give (Brennan and Johnson) tremendous credit for how they handled the transitional period and built more successfully than we've ever been in the past from that.

[4] Brett Love from AOL TV gave the episode 4 out of 7 stars, considering it to be mediocre, and wrote, "It just didn't have the feel of the big season finale.