The ever-popular procedural series NCIS is a bona fide TV institution, and it has now finished its 22nd season. Debuting back in 2003 as a spinoff of JAG, NCIS follows the agents of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service who investigate criminal cases surrounding the U.S. military. Originally led by Mark Harmon as Agent Leroy Gibbs, the show has managed to pivot since Harmon’s departure and maintain its status as one of the most-watched procedurals.
During the show’s sixth season, the first of several NCIS spinoffs debuted, and NCIS: Los Angeles went on to have its own impressive 14-season run. In the years since, other spinoffs have debuted to varying degrees of success, and the franchise continues to expand with recent additions like NCIS: Sydney and Hawaii. The NCIS universe is taking its first step in a new direction with NCIS: Origins, which explores the early days of Agent Gibbs. With so much hype still surrounding the franchise, NCIS Season 22 has already paved the way for Season 23.
NCIS Season 22 Critical Reception
A custom image shows Sean Murray’s head photoshopped over a promotional image featuring the rest of the castCustom image by Simone Ashmoore
Because NCIS is a crime procedural, there are predictable elements of the show, especially at 22 seasons in. Despite that, there has been praise for the twists of Season 22 while lamenting that NCIS made some unfortunate choices for the characters in the season as well.
Comic Book Resources points out some of those unfortunate choices, saying the season finale “breaks viewers’ hearts for all the wrong reasons.” The series has attempted to infuse the humor of the show’s earliest seasons into its most recent, but the humor often falls flat alongside the more serious storylines, leading to an uneven tone. It also has what should be strong emotional character moments happening off screen instead of on camera.
McGee, for example, has a big arc as he goes up against his nemesis in NCIS Season 22. When he finds out the truth of his nemesis’ background, much of that is off screen, not allowing Sean Murray the chance to dig deeper into the storyline from an emotional standpoint. As Screen Rant’s own review points out that McGee is “a character struggling to justify his spot in the show.”
The later episodes of NCIS Season 22 rapidly reveal the twists of the season, but they are largely leading the audience to open up the events of Season 23 instead of giving closure to Season 22.
Where To Watch NCIS Season 22
NCIS Season 22 Is Available To Stream
Torres looking dejected with a bruised face in NCIS season 21
While the first several seasons of the flagship NCIS series is available to watch on platforms like Hulu and Netflix, the latest season of the series is not available there. NCIS Season 22 is only available to watch on Paramount+. The entire NCIS franchise is available on the same streamer.
The cast of NCIS has changed a lot over the decades, but Season 22’s ensemble is intact from Season 21. While the potential departure of Katrina Law’s Agent Jessica Knight hung over the early episodes of the show, she remained a main cast member throughout the season. Gary Cole also returns as Supervisory Special Agent Alden Parker alongside his second in command, Timothy McGee, played by Sean Murray.
A complete list of NCIS Season 22 cast and characters can be found in the chart below:
Alden Parker looking at someone with a small smile on his face in NCIS season 21 episode 6
Sean Murray
SSA Timothy McGee
Sean Murray as Special Agent Timothy McGee on NCIS.
Wilmer Valderrama
Agent Nick Torres
Wilmer Valderama as Torres frowning in NCIS
Katrina Law
Agent Jessica Knight
Katrina Law as Jessica Knight on NCIS with serious expression standing in front of a screen
Brian Dietzen
Dr. Jimmy Palmer
Brian Dietzen as Dr. Jimmy Palmer giving a stern reaction in NCIS
Diona Reasonover
Kasie Hines
Dr. Kasie Hines looks overwhelmed in her lab in NCIS
Rocky Carroll
Director Leon Vance
Leon Vance looking intense in NCIS
NCIS Season 22 Story
Anything Can Happen After 1000 Episodes
A composite image of Torres looking on with a prison jumpsuit on and Torres looking off with a bruised face and angry expression in NCISCustom Image by Yailin Chacon
Season 21 of NCIS started with the explosive story of Agent Torres going rogue, but that storyline was wrapped up before the season concluded. The only storyline left hanging from Season 21 was whether Knight would remain with NCIS or not.
Beyond Knight’s personal storyline in the early episodes of the season, Season 22 has an overarching narrative alongside the cases of the week. A mole has infiltrated NCIS, and it’s up to Parker and his team to find the infiltrator before things get dangerous. In typical NCIS fashion, things escalate, and the team will have to get their hands dirty to find out who has sold out NCIS.
The season-long storyline provides some more reveals about Torres’ time working undercover, the truth about the NCIS mole, and puts McGee in an awkward position as he pursues his “nemesis” while the rest of the team has moved on from the same case.
A composite image of Parker looking on seriously in front of McGee who is frowning in NCIS
Related
NCIS Season 23: Confirmation, Cast, Story & Everything We Know
The legendary procedural NCIS has already surpassed 20 seasons on the air thus far, and now the flagship series is renewed for season 23.
NCIS Season 22 Ending Explained And Spoilers
Season 22 Brings The Mole Storyline To An End
Sean Murray as Tim McGee looking on with pursed lips in NCIS
NCIS Season 22 sees the team investigating a mole in the agency. While McGee becomes convinced that Deputy Director LaRoche (Seamus Dever) is the mole, he becomes McGee’s nemesis and “white whale,” the suspect McGee keeps investigating long after the rest of the team has put the idea to bed. As it turns out, McGee is wrong. LaRoche is actually working an undercover assignment, and his past with Torres – exposing his identity while undercover – was part of his own assignment. McGee and LaRoche come to terms with their respective investigations being over and move on.
It turns out that LaRoche’s investigation is connected to that of Carla Marino (Rebecca De Mornay), a criminal from Parker’s past. She blames Parker for the death of her son, who ran away from home after learning from Parker that his mother was a criminal. She double-crosses NCIS after being brought in to find a notorious criminal who turns out to be a fake.
Marino uses her connection to NCIS to find out where Parker lives, and it is implied in the final moments of the season, gets revenge on Parker by murdering his father while Parker is busy working the case she has set in motion.
How The NCIS Season 22 Finale Sets Up Season 23
The Events Of The Finale Will Lead Alden Parker On A Dark Path
Though NCIS is a crime procedural with new cases in each episode, the show has also done a great job over the years of employing a longer narrative arc each season. The finale of NCIS Season 22 tees up that arc for Season 23. It is clear that the longer arc is going to be squarely focused on Gary Cole’s Alden Parker.
Storylines involving both Parker’s mother and father have been teased to lead to a dramatic Season 23 for him. With Parker believing, thanks to lipstick on a wine glass, that his father was murdered by Carla Marino, he and his team will be on the hunt for her in Season 23. That hunt will likely take Parker to “some very dark places” (via TV Insider), but it might also be complicated by something Palmer has been working on in NCIS Season 22 as well.
The final Season 22 episode sees Palmer continuing to try and find out where Parker’s mother is currently buried. The original grave was disturbed by the construction of a highway, and several of the interred bodies in the area were moved without good records of where they may be. Palmer’s final moments in the episode, which occur right before Parker finds his father’s body, reveal that something isn’t right with Palmer’s mother’s original death certificate. With both big mysteries surrounding Parker set up by NCIS Season 22, Season 23 is set to be a personal one for him and his team.
