Jennifer "Jenny" Shepard was a former NCIS Special Agent and Director of NCIS from September 2005 up until her death in the field in May 2008.
She was also the daughter of Colonel Jasper Shepard and an unnamed woman as well as the sister of Heather Shepard.
Biography
Pre-series
The daughter of Jasper Shepard and an unnamed civilian woman, Jenny and her unseen sister Heather were presumably born and raised in Los Angeles. The family relocated to Washington, D.C., after Colonel Shepard was assigned to the Pentagon.
During his time at the Pentagon, Colonel Shepard was accused of taking a bribe but died while under investigation with his death being recorded as a suicide.
Jenny however refused to accept the suicide ruling and later became fixated on the idea that French-born international arms dealer, René Benoit AKA "La Grenouille" or "The Frog" was responsible for her father's murder and as such, she sought to capture the Frog by any means necessary, even going so far as to devote ten years to her life in the hope of arresting him.
At some point, Jenny, fueled by the need to make her dream of arresting the Frog a reality joined NIS/NCIS where in 1999 and as an NCIS Special Agent, she worked with NCIS Special Agents Leroy Jethro Gibbs and William Decker on a covert mission in Paris involving the assassination of Russian arms dealer, Anatoly Zhukov and his fiancée, Svetlana Chernitskaya.
While Decker served as the handler, Gibbs was assigned to eliminate Zhukov and Jenny was sent to kill Svetlana and although the mission was considered a success due to Gibbs killing Zuchov, Jenny had failed to neutralize Svetlana because at the time, Jenny, a rookie agent, did not possess the emotional capacity required to assassinate someone which prompted her to let Svetlana go, an incident that would cost Jenny her life nine years later.
Whilst in Paris she and Gibbs became lovers, remaining so during further assignments in Serbia, Italy and London.
However, their relationship soon soured and she eventually left Gibbs, apparently to further her career but also because of his inability to commit to a future together.
While on missions in Europe, Jenny also met and befriended Mossad officer Ziva David with Ziva saving Jenny's life during a mission in Cairo, Egypt two years prior to NCIS Season 3.
At some point, Jenny returned to the States and presumably remained in some kind of administrative position at NCIS.
NCIS Season 3
In Kill Ari Part 1 (episode), following NCIS Director Thomas Morrow's announcement to Gibbs that he was resigning from NCIS to accept a position at the Department of Homeland Security and in the aftermath of NCIS Special Agent Caitlin Todd's murder at the hands of Ari Haswari, Morrow revealed to Gibbs that Jenny had been chosen as his replacement. Throughout the seasons many flashbacks and talks show the sexual relationship and partnership between Gibbs and her and it is revealed that they loved each other and that they might have ended up together if things were different. She is almost in every episode of the season.
NCIS Season 4
She spends the entirety of the season obsessed with hunting René Benoit AKA the Frog, whom she believed killed her father Jasper Shepard. His official cause of death is suicide but it is later revealed that it might not have been. She even putting Tony DiNozzo deep undercover dating his daughter Jeanne Benoit. She also have a flirty and professional relationship with Gibbs throughout the season and is shown to have gotten a lot closer to all the team members. She and Tony also forms a trusting friendship while they work together secretly on the "Le Grenoille" case. She is almost in every episode of the season.
NCIS Season 5
Season begins immediately after the conclusion of season 4. René comes to her for protection no longer trusting Kort. He also confirms that Jasper had taken the bribe from him and he was not the one to killed him. At the end of the season premiere his body is shown floating in the water near his yacht. In the next episode she is shown to have a strained relationship with Gibbs, but like always there is still a lot of unresolved tension between them. She also interacts quite a lot with the team and is shown to have their back, defending them in front of other authority members and trusting their results. She has also grown closer to Ducky, who she confides in quite a lot and it is suggested she might be ill after Ducky gets Abby to run her blood tests as a John Doe. In internal affairs after she becomes the lead suspect in the FBI's investigation into The Frog's death Kort takes credit for the kill, however; it is revealed in the closing moments of the episode that it was in fact her who killed René Benoit. It is also suggested that Gibbs have found out she was the real killer.
She is killed in episode 18, part 1 of the season finale in a shootout. She has been at an old partners funeral after he died of a heart attack, when she overhears someone asking for a man named "Oshimaida" which was a codename they made up to use if they were in trouble. She knows that the past has caught up with her and that she and Gibbs will be next on the list and that William Decker did not die of a heart attack but was killed. She gets help from Michael Franks who she trusts because Gibbs trust him. He is with her when they are attacked by the men looking for her. She is found dead by Agent DiNozzo and David along with two men from the crew that killed her.
At the time of her death she had a severe illness. Ducky had run tests on her and they were acting secretive for many episodes. Mike Franks also found her pills and confronts her with the fact that she has not told Gibbs she is sick. The conversation she had with Mike around the illness, implied it was a terminal diagnosis.
Part 2 of the season finale is spent hunting down her killers and showing the backstory of what lead to Svetlana seeking revenge 9 years later. Mike Franks shoots Svetlana seconds before she could kill Gibbs and avenges her death.
Ducky told Gibbs before the autopsy that it was in fact terminal and that she was dying when she was killed. It is not revealed what her illness was, only that she would deteriorate fast and had a short life expectancy. Her death would be painful as she would lose control of her body according to Ducky. She is almost in every episode of the season.
Personality
She is a fierce woman with a inner drive that makes her very successful. She has great communication skills and have shown a great talent for leadership and getting things done. She is strict, but most of the time fair. She is tender with the people she likes and have their back.
Kills
René Benoit - shot in the head with her pistol (got away with it claimed he had taken the gun from her house the night prior and officially Trent Kort is the one that killed him, but Leroy Jethro Gibbs knew that he had put the gun back on the table.)
Physical Appearance
She is petite and have blue eyes. She has red hair. Her hair is long in season 3 and she cuts it short for the most part in season 4 and season 5.
Appearances
For a more detailed list, see Jennifer Shepard/List of Appearances.
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| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | # | |
| Season 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 | ||
| Season 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 | ||
| Season 3 | X | X | - | X | - | X | X | X | X | X | X | - | - | - | X | X | - | X | X | - | X | X | X | X | 17 | |
| Season 4 | X | X | X | X | X | - | X | X | X | X | X | - | X | X | X | - | X | - | X | - | X | - | X | X | 18 | |
| Season 5 | X | - | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | - | X | X | - | - | - | X | - | 13 | ||||||
| Season 8 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | X | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | |
| Season 9 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | X | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | |
| Season 12 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | X | X | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | X | - | 3} | |
| Total | 53 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||