NCIS Season 18, Episode 5: Why did Gibbs shoot McGee?

The search for the drug dealer behind Emily Fornell’s overdose comes to a head on NCIS

After weeks of waiting to find out just what is going on with Fornell and his hunt for the mysterious Merriweather, NCIS Season 18, Episode 5, “Head of the Snake” finally answered some burning questions. Not only do we discover who Merriweather is, but we also find out just why events we saw in the season premiere folded the way they did.

Just why would Gibbs shoot McGee? Read on to find out just what happened in this CBS episode of NCIS.

In the continuation of the previous episode, Gibbs continued the hunt for Fornell, who went off the grid while investigating who was behind the drug ring that almost killed his daughter. After three months, Gibbs is able to find Fornell and obtain information about a new kind of drug coming into play.

A new kind of drug

Gibbs is able to keep the case from going to the DEA after he finds out a Petty Officer named Rico has gone missing and was addicted to drugs similar to the opiods from Merriweather.

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With a photo provided by Fornell, Kasie is able to use facial recognition to find Merriweather. Unfortunately, he has seven different aliases that don’t help to easily discover his true identity. And once Rico’s body is found and the new batch of pills are tested, the team finds out he is no longer selling to customers. He is targeting one of four possible military bases in a planned terrorist attack.

An agent goes missing

When you begin to think you know what is happening, more twists keep coming. After discovering the Beltway Burger shift manager, Chase, is not who he says he is, Nick and Ellie go undercover to find out who he is. But when Tobias is discovered in his home and Nick is made, they go to leave when they find Bishop missing from their undercover van.

Merriweather makes contact with the team, thinking he is talking to Toby and that his man, Vladimir aka Chase, has been arrested. He has Bishop and will only return her once he has Vlad back.

Answering the question of why did Gibbs shoot McGee?

Despite the meet taking place at an airport, it turns out Merriweather has set a trap for the team and there is a bomb on the airplane. McGee tries to stop the plane, but his comms are out and Gibbs makes the tough decision to shoot him when he tries to keep moving. This definitely answers the burning question of why Gibbs would shoot him, but it still did not make it any easier to watch it unfold.

Luckily, Bishop was not on the plane when it exploded, having been able to defend herself and stay hidden in the airplane hanger. While McGee fights for his life in the hospital due to the gunshot wound to the leg, the team works to find Merriweather. Somehow, despite having just almost caused the deaths of two agents, he still stayed in town for his daughter, Sasha’s, birthday party.

What comes next on NCIS?

Fornell is there to arrest him, along with Sasha for her part in storing money in offshore accounts. In the end, Fornell goes home to his daughter, ready to put the last three months behind him.

As for McGee, he makes it through surgery, but it is obvious things are tense as Gibbs won’t reveal how he really feels. Instead, he goes to the hospital, where Delilah assures him she understands why he did what he did. Sitting with McGee as he sleeps, it appears Gibbs lets his guard down for the moment. McGee has been his colleague and friend for almost two decades. Having to make a decision like that had to be painful and we can only imagine how McGee will react to the events that took place.

The next episode looks to be exciting for Bishop and Torres and hopefully there will be some laughs to make up for the absolutely devastating moments that occurred in “Head of the Snake.” Along with the aftermath of the shooting, we are in for quite a ride this season.

How would you react if you were McGee knowing what Gibbs had to do? Let us know your thoughts on the episode in the comments.

Watch NCIS every Tuesday on CBS. Catch up the following day on CBS All Access.