NCIS Season Premiere Preview: “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” [PHOTOS and VIDEO] 

[WARNING: Spoilers for season 11 premiere]

We’re nearing the end of the summer season, it’s time to start thinking about Fall TV. NCIS is going to be high on our radar. Anytime a show loses a major character, it’s big.

And whether you’re a fan of the Ziva David character or not, Cote de Pablo’s exit will have a significant impact on the show. It’s going to change the very landscape of the series in its 11th season. CBS recently released the synopsis for the upcoming premiere, which airs Tuesday, Sept. 24. The network also released a photo as well as a promo for what’s going to be one of the most anticipated openers for NCIS in a long time. Let’s break it down:

Official Synopsis for “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot”: An explosion at a D.C. event that results in a casualty connected to the agency changes Parsons’ perspective on Gibbs and the NCIS team.  Meanwhile, without badges, DiNozzo and McGee investigate the case as civilians, despite the case’s dangerous ties to each of them, on the 11th season premiere of NCIS, Tuesday, Sept. 24 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Guest stars include Colin Hanks as Department of Defense IG Investigator Richard Parsons and Joe Spano as Senior FBI Agent T.C. Fornell.

• Hmm….Parsons changes his perspective on Gibbs and co. Does that mean he’ll actually be on Team Gibbs? Things don’t look all that icy in the CBS photo above. Admittedly, I didn’t dig the way Parsons really had it out for Gibbs at the end of season ten. So if we can count Colin Hanks’ character as an ally this time around, I’m all for it.

• My favorite part of this very brief synopsis? DiNozzo and McGee investigating the case as civilians, “despite the case’s dangerous ties to each of them.” I don’t know about you guys but I’m all for some quality Tony/Tim scenes. I love when these two work together in a non-competitive, totally have each other’s back kind of way. I didn’t like how Tony was excluded from Ziva’s big revengeance plan last season. I want to see a DiNozzo/McGee situation like the one they had in the season seven premiere “Truth or Consequences.” They were so in synch in that particular episode. It was a thing of beauty.

• I relish any time we get a dose of Fornell. He is one of my favorite recurring NCIS characters of all time. And, after the events of “Damned if You Do,” it’s expected for him to be making an appearance.

• By the way, why isn’t the premiere called “Damned if You Don’t”? Inquiring minds want to know.

• A further look at the CBS press release about “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” (love this title) yields some interesting results. The guest cast list gives a few more hints as to what may go down in “WTF.”

• Aside from Colin Hanks and Joe Spano, Alan Dale is listed. That means we’re getting more of former NCIS Director, Tom Morrow, which is always welcome. We’re also getting more of current Secretary of the Navy, Clayton Jarvis (Matt Craven). So this episode feels like it’s going to be huge.

• Allan Louis’ [Privileged, Twisted, POI] Navy Captain Dominick Wayne is back — he appeared in “Damned if You Do.” The character of Adam Eshel is also back.

• Costas Mandylor is on board as a character named Tomás Mendez. He has a bit of an NCIS connection. Back in the ’90s, he played Lauren Holly’s love interest on the David E. Kelley series Picket Fences. Holly, as we know, played NCIS Director Jenny Shepard from season three to five.

• Also listed as returning are the actors who play the young Ziva (Gabi Coccio) and the younger Eli David (Ben Morrison). So that means we should expect flashbacks.

• I’m thinking that the promo below contains scenes from the first two episodes. We know that the story of how Ziva leaves NCIS for good will continue into the second installment of the season. From reading various spoilers this summer, NCIS boss Gary Glasberg has talked about how Tony’s search for Ziva really culminates in the follow up to “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.”

EDITED TO ADD: I can’t believe I forgot to talk about the fact a very scruffy Tony makes an appearance in the promo below. It’s probably my favorite part of the entire 30 seconds because now I want to know how an always clean-shaven very special agent Anthony DiNozzo gets to that point. And how long that means he’s on the search for Ziva. I’m kind of hoping he keeps the scruffiness for a couple of episodes (at least). Kind of like how Gibbs kept the moustache when he came back from his Mexican hiatus after “quitting” NCIS. Please, please, please let Tony keep the beard for a little bit, pretty please?

 NCIS “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” debuts Tuesday, Sept. 24 at 8/7c on CBS.

Season Premiere Promo

“WTF” Clip 1

“WTF” Clip 2

PHOTOS
Photo Credit for All Images: Cliff Lipson/CBS