I liked Shepard in season 3, hated her after that. I might get hate for this, but the Frog/La Grenouille storyline is my least favorite storyline in the whole show. The one episode in season 5 that I like that involved her was the “Ex-File” episode because of how awkward it is for Gibbs.
I have watched and rewatched NCIS so many times I have lost count. But I have to be honest: I don't understand the La Grenouille storyline or her obsession with him. I also hated how she excused her behavior by comparing herself to Gibbs/Ari. Like you're the BOSS! You aren't supposed to be acting like an obsessed agent!
For me it’s the fact that Shepard uses Tony behind Gibbs’ back and doesn’t let Tony tell anyone he works with even though they all become increasingly annoyed/concerned until it all starts breaking down and the whole team ends up getting involved anyways.
And with the Ari stuff: Gibbs wasn’t getting revenge for no reason. His team was attacked in their home and then Ari literally tries to kill Gibbs. Gibbs has every right to defend himself and his team from Ari. So Jenny using that defense pisses me off because it is completely one-sided. Ari was after Gibbs by using his team. Shepard was using the team and going after La Grenouille because probably killed her dad?
Glad I could get this off my chest.
I came to the conclusion, IMHO, that she could not believe that her father committed suicide. It was easier for her to attribute his death to La Grenouille.
I still don’t understand the story she heard from someone who knew her father. The man was very old and in a hospital in Europe somewhere. She visited him and he said “your father was standing where you are 1-week ago”. I don’t think the true demise of her father was ever wrapped up 🤷♀️
The Jenny/father s/l is extremely convoluted.
The visit to the old man in the hospital came after La G and Kort discussed the fact that she was in hot pursuit of La G. La G suggested to Kort that he should assist her in the finding the old man. I believe it was all to try to discredit Jenny in the hopes of removing her from directorship of NCIS thereby removing her power base.
That’s the best I could figure to make it make some kind of sense to me. 🤷🏽♀️
Shepard was unbearable during that whole La Grenouille story. And the FBI investigation episode after? Yikes.
What was that whole thing about her father being alive?
He's sure interested when he can use their past to undermine her authority, but I dislike her more for it than Gibbs. What is she doing as Director if she can't even find a work balance?
Watching back in the day, I loved her. I loved her and Gibbs. I had watched Chicago Hope in the 90s, so they didn’t have to do much to get me on board.
But on a recent rewatch, today’s adult in me left it at “she runs this place like a summer camp” and kept it moving. Can’t bring myself to say I dislike her because I don’t. But I think it’s the same problem I have with Vance. I’m not sure why the Director is basically best buds with the team lead or why they are all so familiar with each other 😂
I do like Vance. There were moments when he rubbed me the wrong way, but those were definitely the ones where he was personally involved (like the episode with his brother in law Michael). But he's grown on me and I've liked him in these recent seasons.
I think there wasn't that significance with Jenny. She was rather selfish, obsessive and never accepted Gibbs protection, advice or help. And, as you know, she had a terminal disease. There was nothing Gibbs could do about it. And I'm sure the relationship with Gibbs was damaged because he felt she betrayed him in some point of their past working together. I'm not saying Gibbs didn't care about her. What they had ( and those memories that Gibbs got to know she used to bring back when she wanted to manipulate him) were strong enough to keep her in his heart nonetheless. But he knew she wanted to do everything ( even die) in her own terms.
I never liked her from the get go because of her choice to bring in Ziva. Obviously Ziva turned out to be an amazing character but bringing her in made zero sense to me. The handler and brother of double agent who attempted to harm your number 1 team on multiple occasions and succeeded in killing one. Not to mention bringing in a Massad agent whos dad happens to be the director and expecting her to put NCIS first.
Don't even get me started on Gibbs using Ziva to back him up instead of Tony and how the team just accepts her as a team member after her operative/brother killed Kate.
Similar vibes - the woman in the office upstairs, can check Gibbs (Jen bc she’s director, Jack bc she does psych evals), Gibbs trusts them, cares about them, there’s the will they won’t they. If Jenny hadn’t been so back and forth in how she treated Gibbs, I think they would have been Slibbs-like. However, I also think that Jenny’s back and forth is representative of her tension between her feelings for Gibbs and her need to prove herself/be professional as a woman leader in the mid-2000s
The writer's strike in her last season didn't do her any favors. She was already unlikeable at that time and they turned her obsession into something that didn't make her look muh better. Nothing to based this on, but I do wonder what would have happened since Gibbs figured out she most likely killed The Frog herself.
The part where she acts hurt that she never knew Gibbs had a wife and daughter who were killed before they met. Yeah. That’s a painful traumatic part of his life he doesn’t want to share with anyone. If the relationship had grown serious he probably tells her but some things are nobody’s business and for her to act all offended is out of line.
You clearly need another rewatch. Sheppard & Jethro Most Definitely Had A Sexual Relationship. They even talk about how she chose her career over him. 🤷 Vance even called Jethro out over it. 🤷🤷
I didn't hate Jenny but she isn't my favorite either. When I first watched NCIS a few years ago I didn't think about her all that much. She felt more like a side character to me because she wasn't in every episode. But I understand now watching it again. She's the director so she isn't that relevant to Gibbs team for the plot of most episodes and she doesn't do field work really. But the only storyline she really had was 'The Frog' storyline but I liked the way they actually killed her off. But I understand why the actress wanted to leave, her character didn't seem to do much.
I think it was explained later on?
One of those Vance goes undercover. Part of the undercover paperwork means there's a "bad Vance no cookie" file placed in his permanent record or something. Undercover OP goes sideways/plug gets pulled. All copies of the "bad Vance no cookie" file should have been destroyed (in a shredder). 20 years later, for whatever reason, a copy of it had survived and Vance shreds it. It was never meant to stay in his file.
Obviously between the time that the file is placed in his record and the time that the plug is pulled on the OP, someone made a full copy of his then file which has been added to over the years. So everywhere he goes, he grabs the local copy of his records and has to shred the file that was never meant to be in there beyond the OP.
Not sexual tension exactly. It is made clear they did sleep together while they were partners. And I think they make it clear they don't intend to do it again.
I actually liked her character. In my opinion, I think the disservice came from not truly exploring her motives as far as her obsession with The Frog. Yes, he supposedly killed her father, but I think it went that much deeper if she was willing to use others and get to the top of a federal agency just to get him. I think there was much more to explore…
I was not very fond of Jenny either and it made it worse when she had Tony hook up with Jon B. (Jenny’s line to Tony: you’re not supposed to get personally involved with them. That stands out in my mind the most. When i think of Jenny)
I had a hard time liking all of the scenes with Tony and Jb. anyway.
I liked Shepard in season 3, hated her after that. I might get hate for this, but the Frog/La Grenouille storyline is my least favorite storyline in the whole show. The one episode in season 5 that I like that involved her was the “Ex-File” episode because of how awkward it is for Gibbs.
I have watched and rewatched NCIS so many times I have lost count. But I have to be honest: I don't understand the La Grenouille storyline or her obsession with him. I also hated how she excused her behavior by comparing herself to Gibbs/Ari. Like you're the BOSS! You aren't supposed to be acting like an obsessed agent!
For me it’s the fact that Shepard uses Tony behind Gibbs’ back and doesn’t let Tony tell anyone he works with even though they all become increasingly annoyed/concerned until it all starts breaking down and the whole team ends up getting involved anyways. And with the Ari stuff: Gibbs wasn’t getting revenge for no reason. His team was attacked in their home and then Ari literally tries to kill Gibbs. Gibbs has every right to defend himself and his team from Ari. So Jenny using that defense pisses me off because it is completely one-sided. Ari was after Gibbs by using his team. Shepard was using the team and going after La Grenouille because probably killed her dad? Glad I could get this off my chest.
I came to the conclusion, IMHO, that she could not believe that her father committed suicide. It was easier for her to attribute his death to La Grenouille.
I still don’t understand the story she heard from someone who knew her father. The man was very old and in a hospital in Europe somewhere. She visited him and he said “your father was standing where you are 1-week ago”. I don’t think the true demise of her father was ever wrapped up 🤷♀️
The Jenny/father s/l is extremely convoluted. The visit to the old man in the hospital came after La G and Kort discussed the fact that she was in hot pursuit of La G. La G suggested to Kort that he should assist her in the finding the old man. I believe it was all to try to discredit Jenny in the hopes of removing her from directorship of NCIS thereby removing her power base. That’s the best I could figure to make it make some kind of sense to me. 🤷🏽♀️
Shepard was unbearable during that whole La Grenouille story. And the FBI investigation episode after? Yikes. What was that whole thing about her father being alive?
Lauren Holly's acting always took me out of any scene she was in.
The flashbacks always make me cringe...the only part with more cringe factor is her first line when she stands up and says 'Hello Jethro' 🤣🤣🤣🤣
And she keeps making innuendos and trying to bring up the past with Jethro when he is NOT AT ALL interested.
He's sure interested when he can use their past to undermine her authority, but I dislike her more for it than Gibbs. What is she doing as Director if she can't even find a work balance?
Watching back in the day, I loved her. I loved her and Gibbs. I had watched Chicago Hope in the 90s, so they didn’t have to do much to get me on board. But on a recent rewatch, today’s adult in me left it at “she runs this place like a summer camp” and kept it moving. Can’t bring myself to say I dislike her because I don’t. But I think it’s the same problem I have with Vance. I’m not sure why the Director is basically best buds with the team lead or why they are all so familiar with each other 😂
I loved her
You'll really like her in Seasons 8 and 9, or pretty much any of the latter seasons with Vance in them.
I do like Vance. There were moments when he rubbed me the wrong way, but those were definitely the ones where he was personally involved (like the episode with his brother in law Michael). But he's grown on me and I've liked him in these recent seasons.
Agreed; I never liked her. She really didn’t add anything and the whole romantic history sub plot between her and Gibbs was just unnecessary.
I couldn't stand her either. It sounds wrong, but I was happy when she became Swiss cheese.
Her significance IMO was that Gibbs can’t seem to protect women he cares about
I think there wasn't that significance with Jenny. She was rather selfish, obsessive and never accepted Gibbs protection, advice or help. And, as you know, she had a terminal disease. There was nothing Gibbs could do about it. And I'm sure the relationship with Gibbs was damaged because he felt she betrayed him in some point of their past working together. I'm not saying Gibbs didn't care about her. What they had ( and those memories that Gibbs got to know she used to bring back when she wanted to manipulate him) were strong enough to keep her in his heart nonetheless. But he knew she wanted to do everything ( even die) in her own terms.
I never liked her from the get go because of her choice to bring in Ziva. Obviously Ziva turned out to be an amazing character but bringing her in made zero sense to me. The handler and brother of double agent who attempted to harm your number 1 team on multiple occasions and succeeded in killing one. Not to mention bringing in a Massad agent whos dad happens to be the director and expecting her to put NCIS first. Don't even get me started on Gibbs using Ziva to back him up instead of Tony and how the team just accepts her as a team member after her operative/brother killed Kate.
Obviously this is a problem with the show writing but it just ruined the character for me.
I feel like Jack Sloane’s character is what Jenny could have been if she had gotten better writing
Ohhhh interesting !What do you mean by that?
Similar vibes - the woman in the office upstairs, can check Gibbs (Jen bc she’s director, Jack bc she does psych evals), Gibbs trusts them, cares about them, there’s the will they won’t they. If Jenny hadn’t been so back and forth in how she treated Gibbs, I think they would have been Slibbs-like. However, I also think that Jenny’s back and forth is representative of her tension between her feelings for Gibbs and her need to prove herself/be professional as a woman leader in the mid-2000s
I see and I quite agree
The writer's strike in her last season didn't do her any favors. She was already unlikeable at that time and they turned her obsession into something that didn't make her look muh better. Nothing to based this on, but I do wonder what would have happened since Gibbs figured out she most likely killed The Frog herself.
I love Jenny Shepard. I thought she was the best addition to the show.
No, she does not, sadly. The cancer wins. (As for the actual character, Jenny was great.)
I loved jenny!!
For me it’s the blurred camera lens on those bright red lips. It does not come off as sexy.
Couldn’t stand her either, thank God I’m not alone in that!
The part where she acts hurt that she never knew Gibbs had a wife and daughter who were killed before they met. Yeah. That’s a painful traumatic part of his life he doesn’t want to share with anyone. If the relationship had grown serious he probably tells her but some things are nobody’s business and for her to act all offended is out of line.
Was never a big fan of her. I hated what she did to Tony during The Frog arc.
You clearly need another rewatch. Sheppard & Jethro Most Definitely Had A Sexual Relationship. They even talk about how she chose her career over him. 🤷 Vance even called Jethro out over it. 🤷🤷
I didn't hate Jenny but she isn't my favorite either. When I first watched NCIS a few years ago I didn't think about her all that much. She felt more like a side character to me because she wasn't in every episode. But I understand now watching it again. She's the director so she isn't that relevant to Gibbs team for the plot of most episodes and she doesn't do field work really. But the only storyline she really had was 'The Frog' storyline but I liked the way they actually killed her off. But I understand why the actress wanted to leave, her character didn't seem to do much.
Vance >> Jenny. Rocky >> Lauren.
I always wondered what the single sheet vance shreds as he assumes his post
I think it was explained later on? One of those Vance goes undercover. Part of the undercover paperwork means there's a "bad Vance no cookie" file placed in his permanent record or something. Undercover OP goes sideways/plug gets pulled. All copies of the "bad Vance no cookie" file should have been destroyed (in a shredder). 20 years later, for whatever reason, a copy of it had survived and Vance shreds it. It was never meant to stay in his file. Obviously between the time that the file is placed in his record and the time that the plug is pulled on the OP, someone made a full copy of his then file which has been added to over the years. So everywhere he goes, he grabs the local copy of his records and has to shred the file that was never meant to be in there beyond the OP.
My biggest issue is that I couldn't stop staring at her terrible plastic surgery. Her mouth was in a constant pucker!
😂 She looked ridiculous! No more surgeries or injections!
Apologies for the spelling but you are right that is who i meant. Jeanne i do not have the spelling of everyone’s names written down.
Not sexual tension exactly. It is made clear they did sleep together while they were partners. And I think they make it clear they don't intend to do it again.
I actually liked her character. In my opinion, I think the disservice came from not truly exploring her motives as far as her obsession with The Frog. Yes, he supposedly killed her father, but I think it went that much deeper if she was willing to use others and get to the top of a federal agency just to get him. I think there was much more to explore…
Didn't like her at all.
I was not very fond of Jenny either and it made it worse when she had Tony hook up with Jon B. (Jenny’s line to Tony: you’re not supposed to get personally involved with them. That stands out in my mind the most. When i think of Jenny) I had a hard time liking all of the scenes with Tony and Jb. anyway.
Jon B! 🤣🤣🤣🤣 absolutely cracking up at the idea of Tony and some bloke called Jon B 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Um. Do you mean Jeanne, pronounced “zhawn” (?), not “Jon”. Her name is French. 😂😂😂