8 Questions We Have for ‘NCIS,’ ‘LA,’ & ‘New Orleans’ in 2021
To close out 2020, the three NCIS shows featured episodes filled with surprises (both good and bad), and loose threads.
NCIS has played a bit with time in the first episodes of Season 18, and both timelines have left us wondering exactly what’s going on and where Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) and former FBI agent Tobias Fornell’s (Joe Spano) investigation (in December 2019) into the counterfeit opioids that nearly killed the latter’s daughter is going to lead.
Over on Los Angeles, Special Agent Kensi Blye (Daniela Ruah) and former LAPD liaison/furloughed Detective Deeks (Eric Christian Olsen) get a Christmas miracle from operations manager Hetty Lange (Linda Hunt), but what’s next for all three of them?
And down in New Orleans, Special Agent Pride (Scott Bakula) is dealing with dirty cops and facing a new professional endeavor as he tries to clean up his city.
Scroll down as we take a look at some of the burning questions we have for all three shows in the new year.
NCIS: Los Angeles, 2021 Return, Sunday, January 3, 8:30/7:30c, CBS
NCIS: New Orleans, 2021 Return, Sunday, January 3, 9:30/8:30c, CBS
NCIS, 2021 Return, Tuesday, January 19, 8/7c, CBS
NCIS: Why does Gibbs shoot McGee in March 2020?
In the opening scene of Season 18, we jump forward a bit to March 2020, and Special Agent Timothy McGee (Sean Murray) is trying to stop a plane from taking off, only for a sniper to shoot at him and then hit him twice, once in the arm and once in the leg. That sniper is none other than Gibbs!
NCIS: What happened to Fornell?
The latest lead takes Fornell undercover at a burger joint, and he has just uncovered the alias of the kingpin of the drug ring (Merriweather) when he disappears on Gibbs. When the agent goes to meet his friend at the drive-thru, he learns Fornell hasn’t been to work in two days. What happened to him?
NCIS: LA: Where is Hetty?
So far in Season 12, Hetty has only appeared twice, both via video chat. And all we know is she looks like she’s “nowhere I want to be” (it looks like the middle of a war zone). She has intelligence analyst Nell (Renée Felice Smith), who tried to quit last season, filling in for her, but how long will it be before Hetty returns in person or the team gets involved in what she’s up to?
NCIS: LA: What will Deeks becoming an agent mean?
Just as Deeks is feeling pretty down about his professional future — his liaison position was terminated, and LAPD furloughed him — Hetty calls in a favor and gets him accepted to FLETC. He’s going to be an agent. (It’s about time, really.)
But will we see him and Kensi as partners in the field again? Was he right to worry about being transferred anywhere? Will Deeks still be selling the bar so the couple can buy their new house, or does he no longer need to?
NCIS: LA: Will Callen propose to Anna?
Special Agent G. Callen (Chris O’Donnell) and Anna Kolcheck (Bar Paly) are finally making it work (it helps that she can, mostly, stay in Los Angeles and isn’t a fugitive anymore). And when Callen reunites with his foster brother, Raymond (Demetrius Grosse) asks about his personal life and advises him not to wait upon learning he’s in a potentially serious relationship.
Could there be a ring in the future? (How hilarious would be it to see Callen even approach Anna’s father, Arkady, played by Vyto Ruginis, about proposing? Or Arkady finding out his plans on his own?)
NCIS: New Orleans: How much of a threat are the dirty cops?
In the fall finale, Pride helps take down some dirty cops in the NOPD (including Larry Mitchell’s Detective Donovan Blakely, above). But so far, they’ve just lost their jobs. Pride wants to make sure they pay and justice is served. “This isn’t over,” Blakely warns. Should Pride be looking over his shoulder? He and Rita (Chelsea Field) already got swatted.
NCIS: New Orleans: Will the Mayor's task force succeed?
Mayor Taylor (Amanda Warren), off Loretta’s (CCH Pounder) declaration that New Orleans deserves better, has an idea on how to rebuild after COVID in a way that serves all the citizens: a task force to look into systemic issues like policing, housing, schools, healthcare, and childcare, and recommends big and small changes. She wants Pride to join. Will this prove to be beneficial for the city?
Will there be any kind of crossover?
NCIS and Los Angeles have had mini-crossovers over the years, while the mothership and New Orleans have had major two-parters. Is there any sort of crossover in the future for any combination of the three shows?
