[shinebrighterxx]

NCIS Limited Spoilers & Speculation

*op pic coming at some point*

The following limited spoilers are allowed in this designated discussion thread on the forum:
- Information officially released by the network such as sneak peaks, filming pictures and episodes stills, or cast interviews that hint at future storylines can be posted in the designated spoiler discussion thread at all forums.
- Animations, artwork, icons and other such material (Note: they must not be used across Fan Forum or any other thread until after it has been broadcast)

Information is considered to be a spoiler if it details something that has not yet been broadcast anywhere in the world. Spoilers should only be discussed in this thread if they meet the above limited conditions and any further spoilers should be discussed at the Spoilers board. Spoilers and speculation should not be discussed outside of this thread.

If you're unsure about what might be considered to be a spoiler please continue to use the spoiler tags, shown here: [sp][/sp]
While you don't have to use the spoiler tags in this thread you can if you want to. Please use them if you are unsure on if something is a spoiler or if you're unsure on if it should be posted here or not.

Please note: This thread is for discussing limited spoilers & speculation about NCIS only. Any limited spoilers/speculation about the other shows should be discussed in their individual threads: NCIS: Los Angeles / NCIS: New Orleans / NCIS: Hawai'i.

[florerr]

Thanks for the thread Chelle

[maplezbear]

Thanks for the thread!

[shinebrighterxx]

NCIS Bosses Preview Season 18's Backward Time Jump, Episode 400's Young Returns and [Spoiler]'s Exit

Spoiler:

TVLINE | Steve, what juncture in the Gibbs/Ducky relationship will we visit? STEVE BINDER | Well, the story revolves around their first meeting and they’re at a crossroads in their lives, each of them. I won’t go into the exact nature of the crossroads, but it’s a very pivotal moment in both of their lives and they’re able to help each other get on the path that leads them to where we find them in the present day. TVLINE | Did you recycle the previous young versions of them? BINDER | Oh, we recycled both of them! Yes, Adam Campbell (Great News) plays Young Ducky, and he’s just fantastic, and Sean Harmon plays Young Gibbs. CARDEA | Sean looks more and more like his dad every day. BINDER | And really sounds like him, too. That’s the thing that threw me. Sometimes he’d call and I was like, “OK, who am I talking to?” TVLINE | Is the NCIS team living in any semblance of a COVID world? BINDER | We had an episode last year called “Musical Chairs” where Gibbs disappears from the squad room to go on a mission, and then he shows up at the end of the episode with a black eye. We are going to pick up the season with that mission that Gibbs was on, back in time, so we’re actually in a pre-COVID world for a little while. CARDEA | The first five episodes are set in that November/December 2019 period. TVLINE | So in these first episodes, for example, we haven’t met Christopher Lloyd’s character yet. BINDER | No, but we’ll use that [Pearl Harbor] episode as sort of a very strong memory point in the audience for when we pivot to the present. The really bad version of that is “Gibbs comes back from Hawaii in sunglasses and a Hawaiian shirt!,” but of course Gibbs would never wear something like that. But we’ll use that to sort of jump us back to the present, and we will be in a COVID world at that point. That won’t be until January, February. Probably February. TVLINE | What do you want to say about the storyline that will take Maria Bello off the show? BINDER | You know, one of the things we always ask when we’re trying to figure out how to exit a character is, “What does that character deserve?” Sloane is a very strong character, she’s a passionate character, and we’re going to really have her go out on a note worthy of that. I’ll say that. TVLINE | Do you feel like Jack is someone that you need to replace right away, in the capacity that she serves the team? Or is that something you’re going to deal with a bit further down the line, when you have a screaming need for such a character? BINDER | I think the latter. There’s a core team, and I think it was a function of Maria that we were able to find so much to give her to do. If it’s not Maria [in the role], then I don’t know if we need to necessarily fill it right away. TVLINE | Are there any personal storylines for any characters early in the season? CARDEA | There are. We haven’t visited with McGee and his wife in a while, so they have a personal story early on — around the fourth episode, while we’re in that flashback time period. TVLINE | And lastly, anything on the romantic front for any of the characters? CARDEA | Yes, in a couple of areas. BINDER | Sloane is of course leaving, so there’s been an ongoing wonderment of what’s going on between her and Gibbs — and I think we’re going to find that out. If it’s not now, then never, so I think it’s going to be now. CARDEA | We also always toy with the Bishop/Torres relationship, and there’s an episode that they’re featured prominently in.

NCIS interview: EPs on McGee’s marriage; will Ziva return in season 18?

Spoiler:

CarterMatt – I know that there were some episodes that you were ready to film last spring, but weren’t able to when filming shut down. Was this premiere, ‘Sturgeon Season,’ set to be one of those final episodes that didn’t get to film? Steven D. Binder – Not at all. When we left in the spring, we realized that we would have to write a new premiere and ease back into whatever the world was. As we started thinking about the great unknowns and the idea of characters living in a coronavirus world, we toyed with the idea of an alternate reality where the virus doesn’t exist. We abandoned that. What we ended up settling on, and you’ll know immediately when you watch the premiere, is that it will open in a coronavirus world — though coronavirus isn’t important to what is being talked about. Then, we jump back in time to the episode ‘Musical Chairs,’ where Gibbs lied in the squad room about going sturgeon fishing and was gone the whole episode. We splice off in this episode and we see what Gibbs was doing related to Emily Fornell. We spend a good portion of the beginning of the season in a pre-pandemic timeframe, which enabled us to get a better handle on what the future was going to look like. That way, when we land in the present-day time, we have a sense of what it is going to be. Frank Cardea – The first five episodes take place in the period of [‘Musical Chairs’]. Episode 6 wraps that up, and episode 7 will bring us up to a post-COVID world. I am really glad to be seeing Fornell again in the premiere, given that the season 16 finale ‘Daughters’ was so important for him and for Gibbs. How does this ‘Sturgeon Season’ story affect Gibbs? It’s weird to think about, given that whatever happened in that past, he’s been keeping a secret from everyone in the present. Binder – And that’s going to have to come to an end at some point… Cardea – It affects him greatly. It develops over the first five episodes and even beyond that — through six, seven, eight, and nine. It will still be affecting his life. We’re going to see a slightly different Gibbs as a result of what he went through. The news is out there that Maria Bello is leaving at some point this season, but how long can we expect to see her stick around? Will all of her episodes be at once, or sort of spread out throughout the year? Binder – She’s a part of the team, and we’re going to delve in to some specific things for her. Cardea – She’s doing eight episodes, and it will be wrapped up in the beginning part of the year. I know there will be a lot of people wondering, but is there any specific plan to bring Ziva back after the arc last season? Binder – That was always a story-driven appearance; it was never a “we got Ziva, let’s throw story at her.” I’d just say that now, we’ve got a lot of other fish to fry before we go back and even think about another story at this time. We’ve got a fairly complex narrative structure, we’ve got Sloane and making sure that she gets a send-off that is fitting and surprising and exciting, and we’ve got the coronavirus. To throw Ziva on top of all of it would be like throwing a hat on top of a hat. Cardea – We also have a compressed season this year. CBS is cutting back on their episode orders because we got such a late start. We’re doing a third fewer episodes than we normally would in a non-COVID year. That dovetails perfectly into what I wanted to ask next. With fewer episodes, will there be a change at all in format? Is it possible that the story may feel a little more continuous, even if it’s not necessarily serialized? Binder – We had some plans in play that are going to be compressed because of the fewer episodes. I don’t know when it’s all said and done if there will be a different ratio between serialized and non-serialized episodes. Cardea – It will stay pretty similar to what we’ve done in the past. It just means that there are some things we wanted to do that will have to wait until future years. Binder – Even these first five episodes where there is this long-term thing happening, we’ve tried to also design it where it’s also its own non-serialized episode, where you can just tune in and watch that episode. You don’t really have to see anything before or after it. If we feel a “Previously On…” will help, we may throw that in. The one exception is the wrap-up episode. It will be helpful if you’ve seen all the things leading up to that episode, but it’s one episode out of the first seven. You could have just tuned in and watched the other shows without knowing anything else. It’s still the same lovable characters, solving crimes. I’ve seen on Sean Murray’s Instagram an image of he and Margo Harshman on set. I’m assuming with that we’ll be seeing Delilah back early on. Is there anything you can say about that? Cardea – One of the first five episodes Margo will be featured really prominently in. It was good to have the Delilah character back with McGee. There are different layers to explore. Binder – We haven’t really dug into it too much. Everyone’s relationships are generally pretty happy, but at some point every marriage has a rough patch. We dip our toe into that water a little bit. Finally, I believe Wilmer Valderrama has said we could hear a little bit about Torres’ past and maybe his family. What can we expect to see there? Binder – We do bring up some family — we do mention a sister, who I don’t think we’ve mentioned since he started on the show. I think he’s going to have a personal experience with someone who’s served some time — he’s always putting people away, and he never really thinks about the other side of the coin. I think there’s a good chance we’ll see something along those lines [of family]; nothing has been written yet. Cardea – With most of the regulars, we get a good idea as to where they live and how they live. We’re going to get a sense of his home life a little bit.

Note: I have not brought over every question from the above two interviews so please click the link to read in full

[florerr]

Thanks Chelle for the articles!

It sounds interesting what they have in mind for this season

[crash landing]

Total accident but came across this which putting under tags anyways cause no idea if its within the confides of the thread or not an exiting character it seems found out by accidentally going to the said person's IG and found out which only happened cause I took a screengrab from the episode tonight which I posted the picture in the episode thread and ended up finding everyone on IG to tag

Spoiler:

And that’s a wrap for Jack Sloane @ncis_cbs !!! I’ve learned many things on this journey for the last three and a half years. I learned about commitment and community. I’ve learned that the woman I am enjoys process over product. I’ve never worked with a kinder, more generous group of people. I only had the privilege of standing by Dom’s side during cancer because my producers worked so hard to make sure I was there for every treatment. I made a speech today for our crew. Though in our business, like many, there are quite a few *******s - there is not one on the set of NCIS - in front of or behind the camera. Only a profoundly decent group of people who care more about each other and the world in general than what is in it for them. I understand why this show after 18 years is the most watched in the world - you must all feel our love. Keep watching. I have a feeling there will be many more years to come. Thank you to all of my pals at NCIS and to all of our fans. I am truly grateful.

[maplezbear]

Spoiler:

During tonight's show I was actually wondering when it would be her last, so funny to see the above post! Thanks for that,

[shinebrighterxx]

Its not really a spoiler, its been known for a while that she was leaving & that she'd only do a few episodes this season. We just didn't know for sure when her last one would be. Wouldn't have thought it would be already though... especially with things set in the past

[crash landing]

Ah it was news and a shock to me sad that she's leaving

[shinebrighterxx]

Sorry it comes as such a shock to you & makes you sad

I am kinda surprised you didn't see it discussed or mentioned here before

[florerr]

I think her last episode will only air next year...

I'm sure that she will get a good send out

[maplezbear]

I thought it had been mentioned before but kept my comments under spoiler tags just in case

[crash landing]

Have to remember I only randomly pop in and when last had a "around" it was more NOLA cause it was what I was watching

[shinebrighterxx]

I'm 90% sure you were around while it has been discussed & in threads it was mentioned in. I actually think you were watching NCIS when it was first announced tbh (it was first announced back in July if not earlier)

I think her last episode will only air next year...

It will be. This tweet is just her final filming moment. Her last episode won't be until at least episode #8 as I was just checking things & saw she's meant to appear in 8 episodes (they may not be consecutive episodes though)

[crash landing]

Nope had no clue and if July -- NCIS LA was where I would have been if not completed gone by than