The long-running show will premiere with a special crossover event with NCIS: Hawai’i and the story will continue into the spin-off’s forthcoming second season, which will air right after on CBS.
Season 19 ended on a rather dramatic note, with Special Agent Alden Parker (Gary Cole) being framed for murder after helping his ex-wife Vivian (guest star Teri Polo) when she was kidnapped.
‘NCIS’ Showrunner Shares What to Expect From Season 20 and Crossover
Showrunner Steven D. Binder has reflected on what’s to come in the new season, saying in an interview with TVLine that it is, surprisingly, going to be more about love this season than anything else.
Binder told the outlet: “I’ve been calling it ’the season of love.’ So we may see a bunch of things happening, with a bunch of our characters.”
The Season 19 finale saw Special Agent Jessica Knight (Katrina Law) and Dr. Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen) share a kiss. According to Binder, Season 20 will see the duo’s relationship blossom differently from the way other romances have done on the show before.
The Season 20 premiere will open shortly after the point where Season 19 ended, and it will see the team ask for help from NCIS: Hawai’i’s Agent Jane Tennant (Vanessa Lachey) and cyber intelligence expert Ernie Malik (Jason Antoon).
Binder claimed that fans should “keep your eye on” Ernie and Jimmy’s bond in the crossover event because of their mutual “fascination” with Agent Knight.
The showrunner added that NCIS Season 20 will be focusing more on building character arcs, as he said: “We’re really leaning into our characters this time around and focusing full episodes around them.”
One character that NCIS fans are hoping for is the return of iconic Leroy Jethro Gibbs (played by Mark Harmon), who chose to stay in Alaska in semi-retirement early on in Season 19.
Binder told the publication that he and the writers prefer not to give away exactly where or what Gibbs is doing to keep that air of mystery about him, and to make it feel like he’s “nowhere but also everywhere.”
“When I think of Gibbs, I don’t think of him living in an apartment in Alaska. Instead, I imagine he’s sort of melted into pixie dust and is floating around in the sky until he is called back to duty,” Binder said.
Fans will have to wait and see if the character will return to the franchise in the future, though Harmon continues to be an executive producer on the show.
NCIS Season 20 and NCIS: Hawai’i Season 2 premiere on Monday at 9 p.m. ET and 10 p.m. ET respectively on CBS.
