NCIS backdoor pilot

"Ice Queen" and "Meltdown" are two episodes of the American legal drama television series JAG, that constitute the backdoor pilot for the American crime drama television series NCIS. The episodes aired as the twentieth and twenty-first episodes of the eighth season of JAG, and the 178th and the 179th episodes overall. Both episodes were written by Donald P. Bellisario and Don McGill. "Ice Queen" was directed by Bellisario and originally aired on CBS on April 22, 2003, while "Meltdown" was directed by Scott Brazil and originally aired one week later, on April 29, 2003.

Mark Harmon, Michael Weatherly, Robyn Lively, Pauley Perrette, Alan Dale, Zoe McLellan, Faran Tahir, and David McCallum guest-starred in both episodes as Leroy Jethro Gibbs, Anthony DiNozzo, Vivian Blackadder, Abby Sciuto, Thomas Morrow, Jennifer Coates, Amad Bin Atwa, and Donald Mallard, respectively. Harmon, Weatherly, Perrette, Dale, and McCallum all went on to play the same characters in NCIS. Alicia Coppola, who guest-starred in "Meltdown" as Faith Coleman, also reprised her role in NCIS.

"Ice Queen" follows the NCIS team, led by Special Agent Gibbs, as they investigate the murder of Lieutenant Loren Singer and ultimately arrest Commander Harmon Rabb as their prime suspect. "Meltdown" shows Rabb's trial and the continued investigation by the NCIS team to find the real culprit. The subplot for both episodes involves the NCIS also working to prevent terrorist attacks. "Ice Queen" was watched live by 13.8 million viewers, while "Meltdown" was watched by 13.6 million viewers.

While chasing after a stray arrow into the forest, a young Boy Scout finds the arrow has landed in a corpse. NCIS agents Leroy Jethro Gibbs, Vivian Blackadder, and Anthony DiNozzo arrive on the scene and meet up with NCIS Medical Examiner Dr. Donald Mallard who informs them that the corpse is that of a pregnant Navy Lieutenant. DiNozzo determines she is a JAG, while Gibbs determines that she washed up from the nearby river.

At the JAG headquarters, Admiral A. J. Chegwidden informs his team that the NCIS has found the body of a Navy Lieutenant, who is believed to be five months pregnant. The team is unable to get in contact with Lieutenant Loren Singer, who is almost nine months pregnant, so they are told that the NCIS plans to use DNA to confirm if the body is Singer's. Commander Harmon Rabb leaves the room causing Chegwidden to wonder aloud if there is something going on between Rabb and Singer.

NCIS Director Thomas Morrow and his team go to the MTAC, where they watch as other NCIS agents successfully capture Amad Bin Atwa. Meanwhile, Dr. Mallard determines that the body is Singer's and was dumped in the river at the top of the falls after being hit with a metal object.

At JAG headquarters, Chegwidden tells his team what the NCIS has found. Chegwidden privately asks Rabb how he is involved with the murder and thinks that Rabb might know who the father of Singer's baby is. Gibbs and Blackadder question everyone except for Rabb, who calls his half-brother Sergei Zhukov to tell him about Singer's death.

DiNozzo finds Singer's car and determines which bridge Singer was thrown off of and gives the evidence he collected to Forensic Scientist Abby Sciuto, who finds Rabb's fingerprint in the car. Dr. Mallard determines that Singer has been dead for three months, Sciuto learns that she called Zhukov before she died, and Special Agent Don Dobbs finds a Navy Commander's hat near the crime scene. After looking up Zhukov's file, they learn about Zhukov and Rabb being brothers. Gibbs interrogates and arrests Rabb, as he believes that Zhukov is the father of Singer's baby and that Rabb killed Singer to cover for his half-brother.