NCIS season 23 will star Gary Cole as Alden Parker, Sean Murray as McGee, and Brien Dietzen as Palmer. NCIS season 23 will return to CBS on Tuesday, October 14, 2025, at 8/7c.
CIS season 23 will return to CBS on Tuesday, October 14, 2025, at 8/7c, with the series returning to its original Tuesday night time slot after three years on Monday nights. The new season comes after a shocking end to season 22 in May 2025, with Marino on the run, Parker devastated by the murder of his father, and a potential promotion for McGee that may change the face of the team. We recently polled you on the upcoming season, and 91% of you said you couldn’t wait, and neither can we! A joint Instagram post from CBS Studios and NCISverse — the NCIS universe includes NCIS, NCIS: Origins, and NCIS: Sydney — announced the premiere dates for the franchise back in July and declared: “Tuesdays, we’re coming home.”
The show has also promised to return to a bigger focus on the characters, with showrunner Steven D. Binder telling TV Line: “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.”
Season 22 ended with viewers watching as Gary Cole’s character Alden Parker had his life spared by his nemesis, mob boss Carla Marino (Rebecca De Mornay), only to later find she seemingly killed his father in revenge for him exposing her criminal links to her son. The new episodes will see Parker mourn the death in his own way, alongside his on-screen sister, Navy Vice Admiral Harriet Parker, a new character played by Nancy Travis in a guest-starring role.
Below, we go through six questions that were left unanswered, including what if any future there may be for Palmer and Knight, McGee’s career prospects, and just how Roman’s death will change the team and his son, Alden Parker.
Will Marino be caught on NCIS?
© CBSThe season 22 finale titled “Nexus” saw Carla Marino unveiled as the head of the Nexus carter; Carla has been a slow-burning menace for the NCIS team for some time now, and the reveal that she was the elusive mastermind known as The Butcher, came as a shock to some but not others. But instead of killing Parker, she pistol whips him and tells him death would be too easy, because she still holds a grudge towards Parker for the death of her son Jason all those years ago.
Leaving Parker on his knees and handcuffed, she is now in the wind, and season 23 will need to answer for that decision. Will NCIS catch her? Or will she return some time in the future?
What will happen to Parker?
© CBSParker’s beloved father has, seemingly, been murdered by Marino, and now viewers will see him grapple with the fallout of that. “He is not going to find his inner zen and not find a good place here,” Steven previously told TV Insider.
“He’s going to be destabilized and he’s going to be out for revenge and out for blood in a way that it will seem very atypical for someone like him, not a way you’d expect a character like him to behave and yet entirely motivated and justified, which is what makes it interesting when people get put in situations where they act differently than they normally would.”
We’ll also find out more about his relationship with his sister, Navy Vice Admiral Harriet Parker, who will arrive following the death of their father.
How will the death of Parker’s father impact the team?
© CBSAs Steven shared, the problem is that Parker is not just their leader but their friend. “You’ll have a team trying to protect him, trying to talk him off a ledge, possibly getting between him and his target in a really uncomfortable turn of events,” said Steven.
That’s also going to put the team in an uncomfortable position, creating conflict among each individual.
Will the show follow up on the autopsy error Palmer found?
© CBSViewers saw Palmer (Brian Dietzen) discover an error on the autopsy report for Parker’s mother after he agreed to help his colleague track down her burial site following the relocation of her cemetery. It was clear from the look on his face that the math was not mathing for Palmer, and that’s a storyline that is sure to complicate things even further.
Will McGee get promoted?
© CBSAgent LaRoche agreed to take the position as NCIS deputy director to blow Torres’ (Wilmer Valderamma) cover, but now that everything’s out in the open, LaRoche will return to the FBI. McGee (Sean Murray) is the obvious choice to take on that role, but would it make sense for the viewers? “HR realism doesn’t make for a good cop show, I don’t think,” quipped Steven.
Will Palmer and Knight rekindle their romance?
© CBSFor fans of these Palmer and Knight (Katrina Law), it may be time to hold your horses on whether they could rekindle their romance. “Could they end back together again? Absolutely. But for now, we broke them up to bring them to a new place,” says Steven, hinting that the pair needs to learn how to be colleagues and friends again before there is any forward momentum.
