Pride Gets a New Nemesis on ‘NCIS: New Orleans’ Season 2

There’s no rest for the weary NCIS agents. NCIS: New Orleans boss Dwayne Pride (Scott Bakula) watched his nemesis, Baitfish (John Livingston), die in last season’s finale. But when the show returns, there’s already another adversary poised to take Bait’s place. Executive producer Jeffrey Lieber is mum on the villain’s identity, but here’s what we do know: In the opener, Pride and his team are on the hunt for a stolen missile they’ve learned terrorists plan to use to blow up a Navy ship. Pride goes deep undercover to retrieve the weapon—and the trouble that follows spawns a season-long arc. “Pride is very much in the crosshairs,” Lieber teases. “Quite literally. He’ll face the biggest challenge this year.”

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Not that life will be easy for his underlings, either. New team member Sonja (Shalita Grant) will be hazed as a rookie. Brody’s (Zoe McLellan) mother will visit, dredging up old emotions about Brody’s sister’s death. And LaSalle (Lucas Black) will still be healing from Baitfish’s murder of his girlfriend last year. We’ll also finally learn how LaSalle and Pride met, working on the last murder case before Hurricane Katrina hit. “Everybody goes through a ‘wash and dry cycle,’” Lieber says, “and comes out a little cleaner on the other end.”

NCIS: New Orleans, returns Tuesdays, Sept. 22, 9/8c, CBS