‘NCIS: New Orleans’ Season 7 Preview: Coronavirus pandemic will likely play important part in the main story
‘NCIS: New Orleans’, originally created by Gary Glasberg, is soon to return for season 7. The sixth season had many significant central plot lines. For one, it saw the death of special agent Christopher LaSalle (Lucas Black). It also saw special agent Dwayne Pride (Scott Bakula) reach some dark places, in the aftermath of the death of LaSalle. He confronted a lot of his repressed trauma from his childhood.
The season 6 finale of ‘NCIS: New Orleans’ saw Hannah Khoury (Necar Zadegan), while unofficially investigating Deputy Director Van Cleef (Richard Thomas), stumble across some disturbing truths -- the man had a sexist track record. Agent Quentin Carter (Charles Michael Davis) even confirmed this. Despite Van Cleef lying in the face of the insurmountable evidence, Hannah had a victory. The season ended with Van Cleef leaving Hannah with an ominous warning.
So, in season 7 of the show, we might see that angle play out. We will also definitely see more of Carter fitting in with the team that’s still healing from the death of LaSalle. Carter too has been somewhat guarded up until now. It was only in the final episode that we saw him letting some of his guards down.
‘NCIS: New Orleans’ has been great at integrating real-world social and political events into the show’s plot. And in that light, we are sure to see one very important global event -- the coronavirus pandemic. And the promo of season 7 shows that. In the promo, the usual lively and colorful city of New Orleans seems almost forlorn with no one on the streets. A voiceover informs that all of the city has been shut down.
The aforementioned integration of real-world problems is seen when we see all members of the team weaning face masks. We also see Dr. Loretta Wade (CCH Pounder) looking helplessly as they struggle to have enough protective gear. She asks for whatever anyone can spare in terms of PPE, obviously as a reference to the acute PPE shortage that the U.S. faced at the beginning of the pandemic.
But the actual plot of the episode also may have something to do with a disease -- even if it is not COVID-19. We hear someone say, “He’s infected,” as some supercuts of action scenes can be seen in the promo. While it is unclear what the individual plot of the episode will be, one can be sure that the pandemic will be part of the central theme of the show.
Season 6 was compelling as a watch because the show took a big effort to delve into the personal lives of the team and their interpersonal relationships. Season 7, hopefully, will follow that road. And hope that we get to see a little more of the banter-filled platonic relationship between special agents Tammy Gregorio (Vanessa Ferlito) and Sebastian Lund (Rob Kerkovich). Last season saw quite a bit of emotional conflict arise between the two, especially near the end of the season.
Season 7 of 'NCIS: New Orleans' begins airing on CBS on Sunday, November 8, 2020, at 9:30/ 8:30c.