NCIS Season 23 is finally set to hit the 2025 TV schedule, and there is already a lot to look forward to, especially following Season 22’s heartbreaking cliffhanger. That episode ended with Parker likely hungering for revenge after finding his dad murdered, and he’s not the only one wanting answers. Shifting Gears recurrer Nancy Travis will be coming to town as Parker’s sister, and NCIS‘ showrunner has me pumped for what’s to come.
It was revealed in August that Travis would be shaking things up for Gary Cole’s leader, appearing as Navy Vice Admiral Harriet Parker in the two-part Season 23 premiere. It was reported then that she will shed light on her brother’s past. Now executive producer Steven D. Binder tells TVLine that fans will be getting a bit more of a backstory on Parker’s life as a child, and he is different than the man fans have known since Season 19:
Family dynamics are forged [very early on]. The Alden Parker that we know and see now is not how Alden Parker was as a child. We’ve gotten into his history a little bit: he was a troubled kid, he was in juvie home, he stole things. And that’s the dynamic that his sister grew up with. He was the bad kid, and she was the good kid, and they’re going to relive that between the two of them.
We have been getting a little bit more about Parker’s backstory in recent episodes, especially when it came to his mother and the mysterious little girl that fans will continue to learn about in Season 23. But getting even more insight on what exactly he was like as a child from his sister’s perspective should be interesting, especially since this will be the first time we see the two together:
She’s this super squared-away admiral, and then you’ve got Alden Parker, who’s got this ‘bad kid’ seed, and those two are going to come to a head. And what’s funny about that is over Thanksgiving dinner is one thing; in the middle of a global crisis, the brother-sister bickering is very NCIS.
I’m always excited when family members of the team arrive, no matter the circumstance, and even though it’s heartbreaking and shocking that their father was murdered, it should be entertaining to see what happens. Parker isn’t usually an open book, so having more information about what went down in his childhood from his sister is going to be interesting, especially since it sounds like it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows.
This won’t be the only thing that fans will be able to look forward to in the upcoming 23rd season of NCIS. The series will also be crossing over with prequel NCIS: Origins in November, centering on a decades-long case that both teams will be handling. As of now, specific details about the event have not been revealed, such as who is going to be appearing in each episode, but just having the two shows coming together is as exciting as ever, considering they take place in different centuries.
Fans won’t have much longer to wait until NCIS Season 23, as it premieres on Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on CBS, kicking off the first-ever NCIS Tuesdays. The Mothership will be followed by Season 2 of Origins and Season 3 of NCIS: Sydney. This will be the first time that an entire night on the Eye Network is occupied by the franchise, and there is no telling what else will go down.