‘NCIS’ Season 23 Is Making a Major Change Inspired by Its Successful Spin-Off

NCIS became highly popular by tapping into the real-life Naval Criminal Investigative Service and making the cop procedural formula interesting through its naval and military context. Compelling cases have always been at the forefront, but naturally, many fans became invested in the investigators themselves, including their team dynamics and their personal lives. As such, the series is often littered with stories around each of the characters throughout its runtime, like in NCIS Season 22, where we got an episode about Jimmy Palmer’s (Brian Dietzen) relationship with his daughter, or Nick Torres’ (Wilmer Valderrama) dating life.

However, NCIS showrunner Steve Binder reveals to TV Line that Season 23 will be making a major change to the show’s formula. They will be shifting the characters and their arcs into the foreground of the season, making it the most “character-forward” season yet of the series. While this approach is definitely new to the flagship show, which has traditionally prioritized cases, it is not the first time we are seeing it in the franchise. NCIS: Origins, a prequel spin-off that follows young Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon, Austin Stowell), uses character-centric episodes as a mode of storytelling. If the spin-off’s success is any indication, then NCIS Season 23 may benefit from following suit, though it needs to remember to retain independence as a show.

‘NCIS’ Season 23 Will Be a “Character-Forward Show”

Fans of NCIS watch the show for many reasons, from the mysteries and twisting storylines of solving individual cases to the levity of the team’s interactions while they’re in the office. For many, it is the characters that keep them coming back to the long-running series, and Binder explains that the team behind NCIS is specifically going to be targeting that demographic in the next season. “We really want to get to everybody in a big way,” Binder says. “I know people always say, ‘I watch the show for the characters’ — that was always our thing — and I really want to make this a character-forward show in a way we haven’t seen before. So, if you’re invested in these people, this is going to be the season for you.”

While Binder hasn’t confirmed that this step is directly inspired by the success of Origins, there are parallels in Binder’s teased approach to NCIS Season 23 and Origins. The prequel goes back to 1991, as Gibbs joined the bureau when it was still called NIS, and gives us frequent character-centric episodes that deliver in-depth glimpses into the lives of the main and supporting cast. NCIS Season 23 may not tackle the concept of “character-forward” with the same episodic structure and laser focus that Origins does with its characters, but they do share the idea of giving weight to character storylines in a way we haven’t seen before in the flagship show. As such, given Origins‘ success with this approach, it may bode well for NCIS Season 23.

‘NCIS’ Season 23 Should Benefit From Character-Centric Episodes

What’s significant about Origins‘ character-centric episodes is that we are given practically holistic character studies that are unprecedented in the franchise — at least within a season. From major characters like Mike Franks (Kyle Schmid) to rarely-seen supporting ones like Mary Jo (Tyla Abercrumbie), we were able to invest in each one due to the nuance and depth their respective episodes gave them. In comparison, the original show’s tradition of sporadically spotlighting characters takes more time to construct that same depth and nuance Origins was able to achieve in one season. While there is nothing wrong with NCIS’s original approach, given where many of the characters are at the end of the Season 22 finale, focusing on the characters has tremendous potential for storytelling.

For one, the season finale sees a devastating loss in Alden Parker’s (Gary Cole) life, where a criminal from his past murders his father. Parker’s potential vendetta storyline is undoubtedly going to be addressed in Season 23, and so is his mysterious hallucinatory Lily storyline. Thus, a character-forward approach could result in a more emotionally demanding and psychologically macabre season than usual. Additionally, Timothy McGee (Sean Murray) is on the cusp of a potential long-awaited promotion, so a character-focused season would make space for earned storytelling that he absolutely deserves after all this time. Season 22 also tiptoed around Jessica Knight (Katrina Law) and Palmer’s break-up, so there is also more potential for it to be dissected in a character-prioritized season. Essentially, Season 23 is the perfect time to take this character-forward approach as it is on the heels of a deeply personal loss and covers major milestones in other characters’ lives.

‘NCIS’ Needs To Maintain Its Distinct Style

With how long NCIS has been running, it is actually refreshing that they are shaking up the formula for this season, and as explained before, it couldn’t have come at a more perfect time in these characters’ lives. However, there is still a reason NCIS has run this long, and while doing an experimental season is all well and good, the show needs to remember why fans flocked to it in the first place. First and foremost, NCIS is a cop procedural (we may invest in the characters, but it was the investigation aspect that hooked us in), so creating engaging crimes and investigations should always be a priority.

On top of that, since there is already a character-centric show in the franchise, there is a risk that NCIS Season 23 may end up blurring into Origins. The flagship show needs to remember to retain its distinct style. Borrowing some emotional grit from the prequel series should only enhance what we love about NCIS, where serious crimes are balanced with witty, often sarcastic humor. As long as the flagship show maintains autonomy from its prequel, this character-forward change opens up a larger capacity for us to invest in characters we have seen on the screen for years.