MAPACA

Mid-Atlantic Popular &
American Culture Association

The 13 season and counting behemoth of a procedural NCIS is built upon the ever growing pile of its slain female characters’ bones. While many television shows, regardless of genre, pride themselves on building atmospheres that push the sentiment “no one is safe,” there exists an inordinate amount of female and minority characters’ deaths on television today. What’s more, these deaths are predominantly used to push other characters’ story lines or exterior plots, rather than serving as meaningful endings for the dying characters themselves.

This paper will work to break down the significance of three substantial female character deaths from NCIS in terms of how they both impact and reflect upon media representation issues today. Special Agent Caitlin Todd, Director Jenny Shephard, and Agent Ziva David; three distinctly strong women that each met a sudden, violent death. The show revolves around murder and high profile crimes, so violent deaths on the job don’t necessarily stand out. However, in the grand context of the show’s tenure, none of the primary male cast members have been killed.

Yet, Kate was shot in the head, Jenny was gunned down, and Ziva was ambushed. In their own right, each secured a place in a very masculine space, the NCIS being a law enforcement-based task force specializing in the Naval branch of the military. A setting that would traditionally be lucky to see a female agent out in the field had each of these women in turn rock the badge, kick ass, and take names. It seems they had to pay the ultimate price for doing so though. As NCIS would lead you to believe, a woman does not belong in such a place. In fact, they need to be killed for having the audacity to act like they do.