In the final episode of season 22 of NCIS, the audience witnessed major shocks related to the fact that a character who seemed to be an ally turned out to have a dangerous secret plot. Gabriel LaRoche (Seamus Dever), a former inspector of the Department of Justice (DOJ), turned out to be a “spy” in his role as Deputy Director of NCIS. He proactively exposed the identity of agent Nick Torres in order to spy for the Nexus organization – a powerful criminal organization.
After LaRoche was “burned” and had no way back, the NCIS team had to shoulder the responsibility of stopping Nexus. In this difficult mission, Director Vance and Agent Parker (Gary Cole) were forced to reluctantly cooperate with Carla Marino (Rebecca De Mornay) – a famous female crime boss, who was summoned to contact the head of Nexus, known as “The Butcher”.
However, on the way to the airport, the NCIS team discovers a shocking secret: “The Butcher” is actually an AI-generated character that does not actually exist. In addition, one of the FBI agents accompanying Carla and Parker is actually an impostor planted by Carla’s organization, who shoots and kills their driver. Immediately after, Carla tells a sad story about her son who died on that road, after the boy ran away from home because Parker revealed that his mother was a criminal.
A tense situation occurs when Carla forces Alden to kneel and puts a gun to his head but does not kill him and leaves him alone. That night, Alden returns home to find his father, Roman, shot dead in front of the TV screen, next to two glasses of wine, one of which has Carla’s lipstick on the rim. Previously, Jimmy also informed the team about an anomaly related to Parker’s mother’s death certificate.
These details seem to tie together deep-rooted feuds: the personal feud between Carla and the Parker family, the case surrounding Roman’s death, and the season-long mystery surrounding Lily – a story that has yet to be solved. Showrunner Steven D. Binder revealed that these plots will likely be connected in season 23, creating a more complex and compelling story web.
When asked about the “shocking” death in the finale, Binder confirmed that it was a big loss for a member of the NCIS team – Parker’s father, Roman. This event was built to be a big punch, bringing a lot of emotions and pushing new plots in the next season.
In addition, Binder also shared that they are planning to speed up the long-running stories in the next season, to bring a more engaging experience to the audience, instead of letting the mysteries drag on. Season 23 may not have the usual time jump, but will continue to maintain the tension with the continuous storyline.
Regarding the character of LaRoche, from the beginning the screenwriter intended to build him as a complex, unpredictable character, who can be both an ally and an enemy. Now that LaRoche has left, the question is whether Agent McGee (Sean Murray) will take the position of Deputy Director or not, when his motivation for promotion once came from LaRoche’s remaining in the position.
In addition, fans are also somewhat comforted to know that Rebecca De Mornay as Carla Marino may reappear in season 23, continuing to play the role of a counterweight causing turmoil for NCIS.
Finally, some interesting information about small “Easter eggs” revealed by the screenwriter, as well as news about the lives of supporting characters like Kensi and Deeks at NCIS: Los Angeles, makes viewers even more excited to wait for the next developments.
