Note: This story contains spoilers from “NCIS” Season 24, Episode 1.
“NCIS” promised the return of an iconic character in Season 24, but the premiere revealed just how pivotal he’ll be to the show’s dynamics moving forward — along with his return to the show’s iconic intro theme.
Michael Weatherly’s Tony DiNozzo made quite an entrance in Episode 1, titled “Wayward Son,” which followed the immediate aftermath of the shooting involving Torres (Wilmer Valderrama) and McGee’s son Mateo (Patrick Keleher). It turns out the person who was shot in that standoff was Tony himself. He had heard a tip about Mateo’s involvement in a potential crime and went to investigate, having just made it back to D.C. in hopes of opening a satellite office for his Europe-based agency.
“The audience was probably wondering: ‘Did Mateo shoot Torres? Did Torres shoot Mateo?’ It’s not that exciting if it ends up being one of those two options,” showrunner Steven D. Binder told TheWrap. “Suddenly we had Michael and the question of how to bring him back, and we decided to put those two things together. You don’t see that one coming, and it gets him in the show right away.”
Viewers quickly learned there was more to Tony’s return to the U.S. after the events of Paramount+’s “Tony & Ziva” spinoff, as daughter Tali started studying at a new Boston-area boarding school. Ziva (Cote de Pablo) took a job nearby to keep an eye on her daughter, and Tony seemed to be doing the same.
His proximity to the Mateo incident also meant he could take the lead in the “NCIS” team’s opening case for Season 24, which came as the team grappled with a tumultuous regime change, with Gabriel LaRoche (Seamus Dever) taking over as NCIS director after the death of Leon Vance (Rocky Carroll) last season.
Given his clear antagonism toward the team, his new leadership role did not start off well, especially after a kidnapping case involving the Secretary of the Navy’s daughter led to repeated mistakes as he tried to intervene in the team’s investigation. That seemed to lead to the potential disbanding of Parker’s (Gary Cole) team by the episode’s end — until a fateful meeting between the secretary (Jillian Armenante) and Tony.
It’s revealed that Tony was the government’s first choice to replace Vance as NCIS director, but that he had passed on the opportunity. After getting the secretary’s daughter back safely, she told Tony that she wasn’t giving him an option — officially cementing him as the new head of the organization. And she had already gotten the stamp of approval from Ziva, too.
“She goes, ‘Look, your country needs you,’ and when you’re a guy like Tony DiNozzo and the Secretary of the Navy says that to you, and your family has signed off, you sign in,” Binder said.
Tony’s new leadership position kicks off Weatherly’s season-long arc, offering a different dynamic between the team and its director than what we saw with Leon Vance in the role.
“Tony’s like the kid in high school who pulled the fire alarm, and then you come back 20 years later and he’s the principal,” Binder said. “That’s a very interesting director, very different from Vance. We wanted to bring in someone who is going to shake things up, and yet won’t be the hardass antagonist boss character, someone who’s on your team and very competent, but also you know is going to maybe solve cases with movie references.”
Binder also plans to bring new faces into the NCIS fold, who may become recurring players if the chemistry flows. And though LaRoche might take a break after losing the leadership role, Binder said not to count him out fully just yet — along with the potential for Ziva to pay a visit while Tony is on the job.
And though Weatherly is currently only set for a season-long arc, Binder isn’t counting out the actor sticking around longer.
“Michael will feel like a series regular. He’s going to be in a lot of episodes,” Binder said. “We’re having a ton of fun having him there. It’s working out great. We’ll see where it goes and I’ll blink and it’ll be five years later and he’s been there the whole time. I wouldn’t be surprised if that happened, but I also don’t want to judge what people want to do with their lives.”
“NCIS” airs new episodes Tuesdays on CBS and streams the next day on Paramount+.
The post ‘NCIS’ Boss Breaks Down Tony’s Season 24 Return and How Long He’ll Stay appeared first on TheWrap.
