‘NCIS’ Boss on Torres’ ‘Pretty Dark’ Arc & Ducky in Season 20
Q&A
NCIS Season 19 may have just ended — on a cliffhanger involving Special Agent Alden Parker (Gary Cole), on the run after the Raven framed him for murder, and his ex-wife Vivian (Teri Polo) is somehow involved — but we’re already looking ahead to the fall.
After all, we know that for one agent, Nick Torres (Wilmer Valderrama), we’ve only seen the first part of an arc so far; there’s more to come for the man who went undercover for a case involving cage fighting at a time when he was struggling. Plus, as executive producer Steven D. Binder shared with TV Insider while breaking down the May finale, there are some stories they didn’t have time to get to this past season. Read on for more.
You put more Torres through the wringer this season and we started to see that addressed with him in therapy, talking about drinking, Gibbs (Mark Harmon), not much about Bishop (Emily Wickersham) really though. What did you want to do with him this season when it comes to that?
Steven D. Binder: I think a lot of that stems from a conception Wilmer had early on about the character, which is that this guy is really locked away and he opened up for Bishop and she left, and he opened up for Gibbs and Gibbs left. I think we’ve seen him lock back up again and we’ve seen him struggle with drinking as a result of that. So it’s not that these things aren’t there, it’s that they’re really, really locked up tight, and at some point, it’s going to come out. We got a hint of that in the cage-fighting episode where you just saw some of his internal demons come out. I think that’s really part one. This is a guy who’s under a tremendous amount of pressure. Now he’s a professional and he’s getting the job done, but he’s got these internal pressures building up inside him, and at some point, you pop, and I think that’s in his future.
What can you say about that and how dark Part 2 might get?
It’s always a really fine line for this show. If you take someone like Leroy Jethro Gibbs on paper, that guy’s as dark as it gets. He killed Pedro Hernandez. He was in his basement drinking whiskey out of a nail-filled bottle. He arguably may have committed murder to protect Bishop a couple seasons ago, and there’s certainly a case to be made for that. I think we’re gonna go pretty dark with [Torres], but we try and do it in a way that doesn’t destroy what we love about the character, so always in service to something greater. It’s not just pure darkness.
Sonja Flemming/CBS
You played a bit with Kasie (Diona Reasonover) possibly leaving, then she decided to stay at NCIS. What’s next for her?
I sure hope she stays because she’s fantastic. We’re dabbling potentially with her having a significant other. We’re gonna see where that goes. We used to do Abby-centric stories relatively frequently or at least with a rhythm. It’s been a while since we’ve done a Kasie story. I think we’re gonna have something fun for her coming up that may or may not involve her relationship. We’ll see where the story takes us or where that character takes us. But I think Season 20 is gonna be a season where everyone’s really gonna get a chance to shine, have their own episodes and have them be pretty powerful. And Kasie is certainly overdue, I can tell you that.
Kasie did ask Knight (Katrina Law) about how many dates constitute a relationship.
She did. She did.
I loved seeing Ducky (David McCallum) back in the last two episodes. Do you know how much we’ll see him next season yet?
I think it’ll be probably about the same, possibly more. One of the things that was difficult last season was it wasn’t a regular season. It opened up with all of our energies devoted to, how do we get Gibbs off the show? How do we give him the exit, for now at least? And that takes a lot of energy and it takes a lot of time and it takes a lot of oxygen. Then we were cast with integrating two new characters into the show — [played by] Katrina Law and Gary Cole. And that also takes a lot of energy and a lot of oxygen.
What happens is other things don’t happen because of that. We didn’t have really specific [character episodes]. Well, Kasie was involved [in one that was] in so many ways a Jimmy Palmer episode, [written by] Brian Dietzen. But we didn’t get to do things with Knight as much as we would’ve liked, Kasie, as much we would’ve liked.
And David McCallum, I say to him all the time, “you are this magical pixie dust, wherever we put you, you’re just this magical being who elevates every scene he’s in with that David McCallum gravitas.” So we would love to have more. We’ll have a little more head space. At a bare minimum, you’ll see him the same amount and hopefully we’ll be able to, when we do see him, use him in a way that’s more effective, much like Mark Harmon. The fans can probably tell when we put him in things and he’s just another star on the show versus when we actually devote our energies to making a story more about him, and those are always fantastic. He’s never let us down in 20 years.
NCIS, Season 20, TBA, CBS
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Comments are closed on this story.
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G
Now please tell us what may be ahead for McGee and the McGee family - hope it’s just as good as they are planning for the other characters.
I did hear what was said about how things can suck the air out of the episodes. Talk of bringing characters back tends to make that happen, which is why I prefer that to be done sparingly. Let’s focus on this team please
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P
Gibbs is gone get over it. On the show he was good but treated people mean. Abby said it all and am not going to repeat it. I love the gang that's there now and my hat is off to ducky what a actor none like him
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O
Pauley Perrette (Abby) has a long history of being a RL "unreliable narrator"
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B
I like the team the way it is, including Parker, hopefully he's not guilty of anything. I think Gibbs should show up once in awhile. After all he IS still alive.
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C
We will NEVER get over Gibbs. He started the show & was the heart of the show! I hated to see him leave. I would be over joyed to see him back, but I understand he wants more time with family. It is very difficult to watch show without Gibbs.
I am trying hard to continue watching show & I have not given it up yet. Lets see where they go.
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You can never replace Gibbs, but Gary Cole is a fantastic lead. Loving it.
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R
Post on a job’s board!! Tired of seeing you post on each and every TV Line article
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J
I see Gibbs coming back to ask the NCIS team to help rescue Jacque from Afganistan. Maybe the will be help from Ziva David and Ellie Bishop.
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G
I would love to see another Crossover Between NCIS and NCIS Hawaii, and if it's possible let's add in NCIS Los Angeles. I'm looking forward to seeing NCIS Sydney coming next year. Can we see what's going to happen with Jimmy and Jessica? What other characters are returning to the show and how would you bring them back.
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B
NO. Don’t bring back. When it’s over, it’s over. Don’t live in the past
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J
I think people are starting to accept that Gibbs has left. I thought that the cliffhanger would've been asking for the team's help rescuing Jacque in Afganistan.
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R
I have not gotten over Gibb’s departure and doubt that I ever will. I’ve been a dedicated watcher for 19 years and have tried to like Parker but it’s just not happened.
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G
Bring Tony and Ziva back, have Ziva train Kasie to become the DC's version of Sebatian Lund from New Orlean's NCIS office, have Tony replace Parker, have Gibbs make a cameo appearance to walk Ziva down the aisle and after the ceremony have the FBI boss of Parker's final FBI days kill Parker at the Church trying to frame Gibbs but wedding photos showing the killer leading to Vance, Fornell, and SECNAV going to the FBI Director and the AG and threaten to give the FBI the biggest blackeye since Hoover's alleged Gray Files and leverage them into leaving NCIS and Gibbs alone even Fornell giving the FBI and AG some information that they would agree to leave them alone. Ducky could appear at the wedding, along with Bishop in the back row where Torres can't see him, maybe even have Abby join Bishop.
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O
WHAT??????
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I'm just saying, the boss of Parker's at the FBI who was pressuring Parker to haul Gibbs in killing Parker to frame Gibbs for the murder of a federal agent? Tony replacing Parker (now possible since CBS axed Bull) would be possible. McGee made it known he didn't want Gibbs job, but Tony? Sure, bring him back now that Tali is in school allowing Tony to take the job. Ziva to be occupied could turn Kasie into a NCIS Forensics Agent, after all, Kasie was looking into protecting herself better earlier this past season after the Diner and Squad room incidents. Having Vance basically blackmail the FBI Director into leaving NCIS and retired Gibbs alone while Parker's former boss goes to jail for murdering Parker would make sense.
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