“NCIS” loves to end its seasons with a bang, and this time could be the most earth-shattering yet for Sean Murray’s Timothy McGee.
Episode 20, titled “Sons and Daughters,” followed as the team investigated a series of bombings with the help of Leon Vance’s grief-stricken daughter. It also saw McGee introduce his son Mateo (Patrick Keleher) to the NCIS squad as he toured the headquarters and appeared to show interest in joining the organization. But soon it became clearer that McGee’s adult son, who he just found out about this season, had ulterior motives for visiting the office.
After giving conflicting stories to his father and to Nick Torres (Wilmer Valderrama), the finale concludes with Mateo and Nick in a standoff. After Nick finds him in a dark alley, he insists Nick stop walking and explain what he’s up to, but Mateo says he would be in danger if he stopped. After the duo argues a bit, the camera pans away from the street — only for one shot to be heard in the distance, leaving what happened and who got shot a mystery for “NCIS” fans to ponder for the summer.
“I see at least three or four awesome ways this can go,” Murray told TheWrap of the nerve-wracking cliffhanger. “What does it do to Mateo? What does it do to Torres and McGee’s relationship? A lot of stuff’s at stake here.”
“The fact that I’ve been here for 23 years and I’m super excited about this finale. I think it means we’re doing something right,” he added.
Tuesday’s episode marked the end of “NCIS” Season 23, one that Murray celebrated as a creative high for the long-running CBS crime procedural. It’s the season where the show surpassed its 500th episode — an increasingly rare feat for modern TV shows.
Below, Murray reflected on the “NCIS” legacy, his hopes for McGee and Mateo and his message to the show’s loyal fans after this cliffhanger.
TheWrap: What was your reaction when you learned how Season 23 would wrap up?
Murray: I was very happy when I saw what was planned, and what we ended up doing.
This year has been, in my opinion, a particularly good year for the show in terms of stories and just stakes for the characters. I’ve really been quite into this whole season. And I think our finale is terrific. The whole stuff with Mateo, McGee learning about a son from a relationship before he was married. He’s trying to make up for lost time a little bit. So he’s trying to be there and form a relationship with him.
The personal stake is all about that last scene, and what happens next. The different possibilities for when we open [next season]. I’m really happy with the episode.
The finale brought Mateo in as he toured NCIS, as McGee attempts to bond with the son he just found out he had. How do you envision the state of their relationship at the start of the episode?
McGee’s always fancied himself a good father. So even finding out about this adult son that he didn’t know about, he really wants to have a relationship with him, as much as possible. Mateo is a bit of a tech head. And you know the fact that he’s showing any sort of interest in what McGee does and the agency, McGee is beyond thrilled to have him check things out
I think McGee is just so happy to seem to be in a good place with this kid at this kind of beginning of their relationship.
He’s very eager, obviously … What remains to be seen is the infiltration and what exactly he’s getting into and on behalf of what or who exactly to get to that final scene.
It becomes clear that Mateo has some secrets of his own after he gives conflicting stories to both Nick and McGee, which leads to the wild standoff between Nick and Mateo that ends in the wild cliffhanger of us not knowing who was shot. How did you react to that ending?
I remember going up to one of our writers, who wrote this particular episode. I had heard some inklings as far as what was going to happen. I said, “I see at least three or four awesome ways this can go.” The fact that I’ve been here for 23 years and I’m super excited about this finale is like, I think it means we’re doing something right.
What does it do to Mateo? What does it do to Torres and McGee’s relationship? A lot of stuff’s at stake here. I like it.
“NCIS” aired its 500th episode this year. Has that sunk in for you, given that you’ve been on most of those?
Wow. I mean, the fact that we’ve done 500 episodes is amazing and ridiculous. It’s a big question.
About 20 minutes ago, I walked outside my hotel in Edinburgh to a little doughnut shop down there, and a woman came up and started speaking. She was a fan of the show, and she was so sweet. She was talking about how she grew up watching it with her parents. And I just thought of when you’re in somebody’s home with their family or a generation, it’s pretty wild.
500 episodes and we’re still going strong. We’ve got a really good group of people, not only behind the cameras, but in front of the cameras. We have a blast, but besides the fact that we just love each other and have a great time doing it, we wouldn’t be doing it if we didn’t care. We’re always trying to push to make it better.
Leon Vance was killed off the show this season, but Rocky Carroll will continue to direct behind the scenes and appear in flashbacks like in the finale I’m sure. This is just the latest cast exit the show has seen through the seasons, how is it to be the constant on the show as you see these cast changes?
We’ve gone through these different iterations. People have come and gone. Luckily, I’ve been pretty close with everyone who’s come and gone, so no one’s quite gone for me in that way. In fact, Rocky and I are planning our next Vegas trip.
I remember even having this discussion with David McCallum years ago. It was actually towards the end of Season 2, when Sasha Alexander, who played Caitlin Todd, died at the end of the end of the season. I just remember some of us internally knew what was happening, I remember McCallum likening things to a brick wall. You have to be very careful taking bricks out of that wall and replacing it with other bricks. But it’s worked out.
And thinking about that, it feels like it happened two weeks ago. I don’t know how all this time has flown by.
This wrapped up your 23rd season on the show, 22nd as a series regular. Are you still all-in with “NCIS” or could you be getting ready for another role?
I’m blessed with this “NCIS” job. I always will feel that way. I’m an actor, so I’m always thinking about work and that aspect of it, but I’m incredibly proud to be a part of “NCIS” and always have been, and it continues more and more. We had “Origins” launch two years ago, and you’ve got “New York” coming up. It’s pretty wild that a quarter of a century later, there’s spinoffs happening.
We’ll see how this big cliffhanger goes, but NCIS always finds a way to move past a catastrophic twist to focus on its characters. What are you hoping to dive into more with McGee next season?
I want more with Mateo. I want to get more into McGee and how all this affects him, his family and all of that. Depending on where we open the new season, we could go in a lot of ways. As long as we’ve got this bunch, these writers and our cast, it’s going to be good.
I can’t wait to see what happens. Just keep watching, because we’re not going to let you down. We have plenty of surprises in store.
“NCIS” Seasons 1-23 are now streaming on Paramount+. The show is renewed for Season 24.
The post ‘NCIS’ Star Sean Murray Responds to Season 23’s Ballsy Cliffhanger: ‘A Lot of Stuff Is at Stake Here’ appeared first on TheWrap.
