interrogation of the ship's captain reveals that the man Gibbs met with was in fact Pinpin Pula. Pula is now on a supply ship, posing as Galib, and is the radio operator. He is able to intercept any incoming BOLOs, so the warnings don't get through. Ziva visits Gibbs on his last night in the hospital in desperation to help him remember, grabbing his hand and using it to show him his trademark "head slap". This, together with her emotionally reminding him that she had killed her own brother to save his life, shocks Gibbs into regaining his memory. They both promptly return to their headquarters, much to the surprise of the team. In a live video conference, Washington bureaucrats ignore Gibbs' recommendations about using a covert insertion to board the vessel Pinpin Pula is on instead of attempting to openly search it because of a fear of negative publicity. As a Navy frigate attempts to board the freighter to find Pinpin Pula, the terrorist detonates his bomb and destroys the freighter, killing the Navy SEALs who were about to board and the crew of the freighter alongside himself, while the NCIS team watches on a large surveillance screen. Infuriated, Gibbs has a moment of clarity and tells Jenny that he finally understands why Mike Franks resigned. Gibbs resigns from NCIS and hands his badge to Tony, telling him that he is now in charge of the team and is ready for the responsibility. The episode (and season) closes with Gibbs arriving at Franks' house in Mexico. Production In March 2006, series creator Donald Bellisario previewed, "At the end of this season, somebody from the main cast is leaving NCIS. It's going to be a good year-ender and a good beginning for next year's story." He further explained, "The season-ender which I'm writing and directing, is going to be very different episode. We're going to learn more about Gibbs and learn more about what I hinted at when I brought Cote on. [We'll learn more] about his first wife, he had a wife and daughter, both were murdered. I'm going to reveal more of that story which nobody in NCIS knows, none of the people who work with him except for Ziva. She's really the only one, we reveal that only she knew about it." Cote de Pablo, who portrays Ziva, described the impact of the episode on her character