The twentieth season of the American police procedural television series NCIS premiered on September 19, 2022 on CBS during the 2022–23 television season, and concluded on May 22, 2023.[1][2] This is the first season not to credit Mark Harmon who had portrayed Leroy Jethro Gibbs since the show's first season, and the last to feature David McCallum prior to his death on September 25, 2023. This season includes the 450th episode of the series. The season contains 22 episodes.
Gary Cole as Alden Parker, Supervisory Special Agent (SSA) of the Major Case Response Team (MCRT) assigned to Washington's Navy Yard, former FBI Special Agent turned NCIS's agent
With Parker on the run with his ex-wife, the NCIS team investigates people who might have a personal vendetta against Parker in hopes of clearing his name. The episode ends with Torres and Knight alongside NCIS agent Jane Tennant and Computer Specialist Ernie Malik heading to Hawaii to stop the Raven or Herman Maxwell who's been freed by his followers, members of a group called the Unkindness.
McGee is in for a surprise when a fellow father from his kids' school is revealed to have some involvement in a break-in at a secret government vault. The case brings McGee to the realization that some other parents from his kids' school see him as uptight and antisocial.
A murder investigation introduces NCIS to a longstanding curse that ultimately puts Torres and Dr. Grace Confalone in a tight spot. Meanwhile, Kasie tries to throw Ducky a good birthday celebration.
NCIS joins forces with the National Parks Investigative Service when a dead petty officer is found in the woods. The agent they work with, Gage Winchester, happens to be Knight's ex-boyfriend who hopes to get back with her. However, this only pushes Knight closer to Jimmy as she agrees to go on a spa weekend with him, signaling a more concrete definition of their relationship.
Vance is accosted by burglars in his home but subdues them, killing one of them. Parker takes it upon himself to be Vance's protection detail at an upcoming conference in Berlin, while McGee assumes the role of acting director and Torres & Knight investigate. While in Berlin, an Interpol official with whom Vance is romantically involved is also attacked, leading the team to investigate a theft of diamonds.
While Kasie undergoes self-defense fight training, the body of an NCIS agent is discovered. The agent was moonlighting as a hacker to use paid funds from large corporations for charitable donations, and agents recruit Kasie for an undercover investigation which reveals that NCIS has a mole.
The estranged husband of the Secretary of the Navy, Tara Flynn, alleges she is trying to kill him, leaving the team with the uncomfortable task of investigating their boss' boss.
At a Thanksgiving event, an explosion nearly kills an admiral, but the perpetrator, Charles Samuels, was aiming at Knight instead. Charles is the brother of a veteran who committed suicide despite Knight trying to talk him down during her time as a REACT agent. Having held a grudge all this time, Charles entered a romantic relationship with Knight's sister Robin and ultimately takes the two of them along with Kasie hostage. Meanwhile, Knight and Robin are forced to confront their mutual animosity.
NCIS investigates the murder of a student who had been learning under Delilah McGee (Margo Harshman), forcing the team to seek her help in solving the case. The highly classified files on the victim's laptop complicate the case as, in the wrong hands, those files are capable of compromising national security. Meanwhile, McGee is struggling to come up with ideas for his books, especially after Gibbs’ departure from NCIS.
Agents from Hawaii and Los Angeles convene in DC to attend the retirement party of Dale Harding (Robert Picardo), a beloved FLETC professor, but when he commits suicide that morning the teams work together to determine why he had classified files. McGee is briefly thought to be responsible for treason, though he is cleared of wrongdoing soon after. The case escalates to a manhunt for Simon Williams, whose picture has been on the NCIS Most Wanted wall for a lengthy period, then takes a grim turn when Palmer and Tennant go missing.
When a young woman is found strangled to death in a motel bedroom, the team discovers she and her adoptive parents are Russian spies responsible for many counts of fraud and identity theft, with Parker being one of the ones whose identity was stolen. The case reintroduces Parker to an old flame that he never fully got over. Elsewhere, Knight wishes to watch a movie with Jimmy and Victoria, but unknowingly asks to watch an old family favorite of Breena's, which is met with mixed feelings.
NCIS agent Dale Sawyer (Zane Holtz) comes to Torres unnerved during an undercover operation that Torres had passed on due to wanting to maintain his sobriety. When a body is later discovered and the team thinks it's Sawyer's, Torres feels responsible, but the team finds that Sawyer is alive and he shot his partner (a dirty cop) in self-defense and his cover is blown. Torres joins him undercover to bust a ring of truck heisters, and the rivalry between the two mellows into a frenemy relationship. Elsewhere, McGee prepares to be a contestant on a game show, but the 5-time champion he is to face is revealed to have cheated, requiring production of the show to pause.
A famous actress (Tania Raymonde) shadows NCIS in preparation for a role and ultimately assists in apprehending a serial killer targeting people with heterochromia.
The investigation into the death of a delivery driver leads to the discovery of opioids with a "W" engraved on them, a symbol Parker recognizes from his past. He uncharacteristically unleashes anger towards his team, then goes off while interrogating the prime suspect, who he took down years prior as part of a case with the FBI that put his old partner in a wheelchair by means of Parker's gunshot accidentally hitting the agent in the back.
The team investigates the murder of a petty officer whose car ran off the road after he had been drugged, finding he was helping elderly widows financially and emotionally. Elsewhere, Parker's father Roman stays with him temporarily, with father and son annoy each other until Parker helps Roman move into the facility where the elderly residents had met the officer.
NCIS suspects bioterrorism when multiple people drop due to a toxic yet non-fatal gas outbreak, coming across a career thief during the investigation. In the end, the team noticed connections of the incident with other cases they recently tackled. Elsewhere, Knight's father sustains a broken arm in Japan, but complications threaten his life.
A veteran who was helping Afghan refugees to escape the Taliban is found murdered in his garage, leading the team to a violent white nationalist group. Elsewhere, Jimmy grapples with the reality that his daughter is growing up, and Torres bonds with another Afghan refugee.
A Navy lieutenant is accused of stabbing her husband but has no memory of the attack. NCIS investigates only to discover a far more sinister plot involving the husband. Elsewhere, Kasie wants to accomplish all the life goals on her list after finding out that one of her relatives has been diagnosed with early Alzheimer's, fearing she may have inherited the gene.
Knight goes viral after rescuing a mother and child whose car had crashed outside the Navy Yard. The team proceeds to investigate when it is found out that someone is out to harm the mother.
When a senator's daughter is found murdered, her mother insists NCIS bring in a second forensic expert: celebrity pathologist and Jimmy's former college roommate Miles Bauer. Bauer quickly pins the crime on an obsessed stalker, but the truth may not be that simple.
A murder at the Navy archives is linked to the Russian spies that NCIS had arrested in recent months. They soon discover that a devastating attack is imminent and must race against the clock to prevent it. Elsewhere, Jimmy blurts out to Knight that he loves her without immediately realizing it and worries about the state of their relationship as a result, but Knight later declares she loves him too.
Torres goes undercover in Yuri's prison and befriends a young inmate who swears he is framed for a crime he did not commit. He recognizes the young man's stepfather as someone from his family's past and calls his sister upon arriving back at NCIS following Yuri's murder at the hands of his henchmen. They realize that Yuri's father, the mastermind of the attack (which would knock out all power in the United States for a prolonged period) had his own son killed due to Yuri's loose lips. After the team halts the attack and brings power back, Torres goes alone to confront the man he recognized, intending to kill him, ending the episode in a cliffhanger.
This is David McCallum's final appearance as Ducky, due to McCallum's death on September 25, 2023.
Production
Development
On March 31, 2022, NCIS was renewed for a twentieth season,[2] which premiered on September 19, 2022.[1]
Ratings
Viewership and ratings per episode of NCIS season 20
