NCIS

NCIS: 5 Things We Want to See in Season 21 (and 1 Thing We DON’T)

Donnie WahlbergAugust 14, 2023

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When you’re the most-watched drama on broadcast television (and for four years in a row), you probably don’t need advice on what to do and not do. And yet here we are, NCIS.

The most recent season of the well-watched drama aimed to deliver a 22-episode string of character-centric episodes, opening with a mini NCIS: Hawai’i crossover that resolved the mystery of Parker’s seemingly deceptive ex-wife Vivian and then at midseason delivering a 3-way NCIS universe team-up.

Season 20 gave us more of the “Dad” side of McGee (albeit with no actual kids; more on that below!)… introduced Jessica’s sister Robin… revisited the case that put Parker’s old FBI partner in a wheelchair… explored Jimmy’s relationship with growing daughter Victoria… repeatedly taunted us with Russian spies… and gave Torres a blast or two from his enigmatic past.

Speaking of Nick, NCIS left us with the chilling image of him seated across from the man who had abused his mother for years, brandishing a gun and seemingly dead-set on payback.

Looking ahead to whenever Season 21 hits our screens (NCIS, like all of CBS’ scripted fare, is hoped to be back at “mideason” after the strikes are resolved), here is what we do (and don’t) want to see happen. Review our picks then share your own wishes in comments!

WANT: A visit with McGee’s whole family

Since the character’s debut in Season 11, Margo Harshman’s Delilah has made 18 total appearances — yet she is barely averaging one-per-season in recent years. And much more conspicuously, we haven’t seen Tim and Delilah’s twins, Johnny and Morgan, since the November 2017 episode in which they were born. References to the rugrats are nice, but we are way, way overdue to see Tim and Delilah parent some actual human beings.

WANT: A tougher, alpha Torres

Maybe it’s just us, but…. Has NCIS never quite made up it’s mind on who Nick Torres is? The past couple of seasons certainly have us wondering.

During his overlap with Ellie Bishop, Torres seemed tougher. Much more of an alpha male. But one who is always hiding (hiding) a sliiightly goofy side. And in the immediate wake of Ellie’s sudden exit, he was shown to be brooding over that loss.

But as of late, Torres seems to more often be the butt of a joke — à la “Hey everyone, Nick doesn’t know this thing, ha-ha!” — than the one cracking the joke. And that makes it harder to connect with the material when suddenly the character is needed to be some, like, badass undercover convict.

Heading into Season 21, we’d like the show to make up its mind about Nick and bring back some of the swagger the undercover vet arrived with.

WANT: Big moves for Jimmy/Jess

One of the very best things NCIS has done in recent years was the incredibly deft handling of this workplace friendship caught fire — from its oh-so-sweet onset to Jess’ treatment of Jimmy’s gunshot wound, from the whole “disclosure form” thing to the blurted “I love you” to Jess wondering about her place in the widower’s life. It’s just been perfect so far, and played wonderfully by Brian Dietzen and Katrina Law. So let’s ride that wave and see the couple tackle at least one major milestone in Season 21, be it cohabitation or a “family adventure” B-story with Victoria.

WANT: Bring back Brigid Brannagh!

It was an unexpected delight to see Army Wives vet Brannagh pop up during Season 20 as Constance Miller, a U.S. Senator with whom Gary Cole’s Alden Parker shared more than a little chemistry. Alas, their eventually revealed insta-romance got derailed when Alden kinda sorta bluntly suggested that Constance was a traitor in cahoots with Russian spies. There’s no “I’m Sorry” greeting card for that, but it’d be great to see the senator again.

Or, if Constance’s instinct was right — that Alden is still carrying a torch for ex-wife Vivian — let’s see Teri Polo again.

WANT: An update on Gibbs… or Bishop… or ‘Tiva’… or….

We know that Mark Harmon chose to step away from the role of Gibbs after 18-plus seasons, and Emily Wickersham… actually, why did her run as Bishop end?

Anyway, the point we’re getting to is that while it is understandable that long-running characters such as Gibbs, Bishop, Tony and Ziva will at some point ride off into the (Alaskan or otherwise) sunset, at some point it gets rather odd to not hear a single peep about them!

Yes, the NCIS showrunner has suggested that offering no updates on Gibbs allows the character to “be everywhere and anywhere all at once” (or words to that effect), but can we hear any little something on Bishop, who abruptly kissed Nick good-bye in the Season 18 finale to go be an undercover operative? Or hear tell of what happened when Ziva, who was resurrected and resurfaced for a bit in Seasons 16/17, caught back up with baby daddy DiNozzo (who has been off-screen since Season 13)?

Abby gets the occasional nod; it seems simple enough to do the same for other gone-but-not-forgotten team members.

DON’T WANT: More crises for poor Kasie

In just the past few seasons, forensics whiz Kasie (Diona Reasonover) has cheated death during a shooting at the diner… been held at gunpoint in the squad room by an escaped serial killer… been exposed (along with Jimmy) to a deadly biotoxin… and, most recently, saw her Thanksgiving spent with Jess get crashed by the gun-waving con man who’d been wooing Jess’ sister.

We’ve seen the toll that all of this has taken on Kasie — she quietly began training in Krav Maga! — so it’d be great for her to maybe go all of Season 21 without another brush with death.