‘NCIS’: Will Torres Lose His Badge? Plus, Scoop on Ducky Tribute & More

Kate Hahn January 25, 10:00 am

You can’t go wrong with a classic. For the shortened 21st season of NCIS that premieres February 12, “All we wanted to do was get back to doing what we do best, which is tell really great stories,” says David J. North, a longtime NCIS writer who has joined Steven D. Binder as co-showrunner. With only 10 episodes, due to the actors’ and writers’ strikes, each hour is a stand-alone story with smaller character arcs.

The opener picks up with the vengeful Nick Torres (Wilmer Valderrama), last seen in the cliffhanger finale promising to pull the trigger on a man from his childhood who’d devastated his family.

“Torres does something to the mystery man, Maurice Riva [Al Sapienza, who played Mikey Palmice on The Sopranos], that threatens to end his career as an NCIS agent,” North reveals. “The team rallies around Torres, but it may be too late to save his badge—and his freedom. The evidence is so overwhelming against Nick that the team is left to wonder [how well they know him].”

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Despite that foundation-rocking incident, the agents pull together in the second episode (February 19) to tackle a case that their late colleague, Dr. Ducky Mallard, was working on in secret to clear someone’s name. This is the first season without the beloved medical examiner turned NCIS historian, played for 20 years by David McCallum, who died in September 2023.

'NCIS' Season 21 Premiere Sneak Peek: Torres Is Arrested — for Murder (VIDEO)

“The case was important to Dr. Mallard. In [investigating it], they’re going to relive their memories of a coworker and a man who meant so very much to them,” North says. These recollections make the grieving crew ask, “What would Ducky do?” and the answers lead to a solution. The episode was co-written by Brian Dietzen, who plays Dr. Jimmy Palmer, Ducky’s longtime assistant and now chief medical examiner himself. “Brian shed tears writing it; the cast and crew shed tears shooting it,” North says.

Emotions also run high for Jimmy in a later episode when his girlfriend Jessica Knight’s (Katrina Law) critical but loving dad, an NCIS agent in the Far East Field Office, comes to visit.

“Like most dads and daughters, Knight and her father share a loving but complicated relationship. His sudden appearance will dredge up some unresolved arguments. He’s the reason she wanted to be an agent, but she feels like she can’t get out of her dad’s shadow,” North says. “It will force Knight to confront delicate questions about her life choices, including how Jimmy fits into her future.” Jimmy will also be disappointed in the greeting he receives from Papa Knight, whom he is meeting for the first time. It’s going to be a hurdle for the bullpen couple. Notes North, “As much as we love [Knight and Palmer] together, relationships are hard.”

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Luckily, NCIS always throws some quirky humor into the mix. In the third episode of the season (February 26), team leader Alden Parker (Gary Cole) institutes a “Walk a Mile in Someone’s Shoes Day” at work. “Where Mark [Harmon as Gibbs] was the father figure, Gary is more the crazy uncle,” says North.

To better understand the inner workings of NCIS, the agents switch places with colleagues we don’t usually see on the show, like folks in maintenance and accounting. The results are initially funny, but the agents learn some new lifesaving skills. Reveals North, “Kasie [Diona Reasonover] is sitting in with dispatch when she gets a call that’s going to send the team on a manhunt.” In another episode, Parker, who has posed as a lawyer and a psychiatrist in past cases, will face his toughest acting job yet. “He’s going to be forced to go in undercover as a surgeon, kind of like Leo DiCaprio in Catch Me if You Can,” North spills.

This season also brings the 1,000th episode of the franchise on April 15. (The landmark number refers to all the NCISes combined.) “It’s going to be huge to try and embrace the entire NCIS universe,” North suggests. “One of our most beloved characters will be in grave danger.” We’ll be right there with the team we’ve missed so much as they fight to save someone who feels like our own family.

NCIS, Season 21 Premieres, Monday, February 12, 9/8c, CBS