After what has felt like the longest break ever, NCIS season 23 finally resumed on March 3 with a new episode that welcomed the return of Emily Wickersham as Ellie Bishop.
Wickersham’s return was teased in the fall finale, setting the stage for a proper return for the character, which came in the midseason premiere, “Her.” We learn over the course of the episode that Bishop has been deep undercover and has now become a target for NCIS Elite after classified information was hacked by Bishop’s team. With her back against the wall, Bishop enlists Torres’ help to prove her innocence, and it doesn’t take long before the rest of the NCIS team is on the case working to clear her name… or at least most of the team.
Along the way, Bishop gets assistance from Torres, Knight, McGee, Kasie, and Jimmy, but at no point along the way to we get to see Parker step in to assist with the matter. Not only is Parker not on hand to help his team clear Bishop’s name, but he’s not even featured in the episode with Gary Cole MIA in the episode.
What is even more puzzling is that Parker’s absence is never addressed. Yes, we know the team had a lot on their hands what with processing Bishop’s return and working to clear her name, but it’s odd that the show opted not to include any update on Parker. There was no quick line explaining that he was taking some time off following his father’s death, or even a comment from a member of the team questioning whether they should loop Parker in. He’s simply not present at all, and there is no explanation as to why he’s not in the episode.
The likely reason is the ongoing shifting landscape of television, as it is a common practice for series regulars on long-running shows to miss a few episodes as part of cost-cutting measures. It’s likely Cole was not featured for this reason, but it doesn’t make his absence from the episode any less jarring.
It wouldn’t have been hard at all to include a brief explanation of why he wasn’t present to work the case and help his team clear Bishop’s name, and it’s a shame the show failed to address his absence. Though, to be fair, with everything going on, there is a good chance that some fans didn’t even realize he wasn’t in the episode until the promo for episode 11, “Army of One,” aired directly after the episode.
As the promo teased, Parker will thankfully be back in action for the show’s March 10 episode, and it seems he’s going to be front and center after being sidelined. The promo begins with Parker getting a call from Knight, who is being used as a scapegoat in a crime, seeking his help. It seems that while Parker missed the chance to clear Bishop’s name, he’ll make up for that in episode 11 as he helps Knight get out of this unfortunate situation she’s found herself in.
We’ll see who is trying to use Knight as a scapegoat and how Parker will help get her out of the mess when the episode airs on Tuesday, March 10 at 8/7c on CBS!