Life Before His Eyes

He then suddenly finds himself inside a spectral version of the diner where he sees various characters from the past and present, both living and dead.

He shows him an alternate future where Kate did not die, but marries DiNozzo and has a baby, due to Gibbs spotting Ari in time and forcing him to abandon his sniper nest when he sees the police helicopter coming.

Disgraced NCIS Agent Riley McCallister then appears and questions Gibbs' decision to murder Pedro Hernandez in revenge for killing Shannon and Kelly.

Gibbs has Mike show him the future where he could not kill Hernandez and avenge his family, and it is revealed that he would have left NCIS and become a broken, reclusive alcoholic who pushes away any attempts to reach out to him (including the one by Ducky and husband-and-wife Abby and McGee).

This experience is related to a case one day before the shooting, where a Petty Officer and civilian contractor are found shot aboard a drydocked warship.

The next day, McGee tells the rest of the team that he turned down Director Vance's offer for a promotion to Okinawa since he feels there is still a lot of good he can do where he is right now.

[5] Michael Weatherly commented that the scene would, in part, show the negative effects of Ziva having never known Gibbs: "You get a real glimpse into the hellcat she might have become without that guiding hand.

The return of Kate Todd, Mike Franks, Ari Haswari and Jenny Shepard, and how some of these characters still could have been a part of the show made it a special episode.

CGI footage is used to incorporate appearances from the ghost of Lauren Holly's Director Jenny Shepard and an Alternate Universe version of Special Agent Caitlin Todd, played by Sasha Alexander.

"[12] Alan Sepinwall from Hitfix called the episode "an unabashed love letter to the fans"[13] and David Hinckley from Daily News used it as an example of the way the show reveals the characters' backgrounds in "bits and pieces" by "peeling a little more off [Gibbs'] onion".