Who is the agency’s new director? ‘NCIS’ Season 24 welcomes back a familiar face in the premiere
'NCIS' returned tonight with the highly anticipated Season 24 premiere. Last season's finale left the audience on a huge cliffhanger. Nicholas "Nick" Torres (Wilmer Valderrama) and Timothy McGee's (Sean Murray) son Mateo (Patrick Keleher) were in a standoff when a gun suddenly went off. The viewers had no idea whether someone got injured or not by the gunshot. Episode 1, 'Wayward Son', revealed that the victim was none other than fan-favorite Tony (Michael Weatherly). Tony reached the site through some dark web investigation. Turns out Mateo landed himself in trouble after taking help from some antisocial elements to forge documents. After the shooting, Mateo ran from the site.
Tony was back in town to expand his private security company, Salus Mondiale, but somehow got tangled in the case. Fortunately, the bullet just injured Tony's arm, and he made it out alive. Gabriel LaRoche (Seamus Dever), the agency's current director after Vance's death, bars Tony, Torres, or McGee from looking into the case further. But the trio does not pay any heed. Kasie (Diona Reasonover) discovers that Mateo stole classified info on the Secretary of the Navy's security detail. The proceedings soon turn dangerous when SecNav's daughter is kidnapped. The perpetrators demand a file in exchange for her daughter. Mateo tells his father that the forgers forced him to steal the information as payback for their help. LaRoche spots them and tries to take Mateo into custody, but fails when Parker and Tony intervene.
The team, specifically Tony, saves the day and brings Helen's daughter home. His resourcefulness also puts the bad guys behind bars. The situation, though, is not all hunky-dory, as Gabriel loses his job in the process. "I put the wrong person in the director's chair. I shouldn't have let my first choice say no," she said to Tony. The fans wouldn't have to wait long to find out who will replace Gabriel. Tara offers Tony the job, and he has no choice but to accept; the press release is already out. This is not the first time the SecNav has offered Tony the post. However, before this, Tony refused, citing "complicated" timing. This time, though, he could not use this excuse. Tali is in a boarding school in Boston, and Ziva also works near Tali in a language institute. There is not an issue on that front. Also, Tara has already taken Ziva's blessing for the appointment. Just like that, Tony is back where it all started for him. 'NCIS' will air every Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.