NCIS season 23

NCIS
Season 23
Starring	Sean Murray Wilmer Valderrama Katrina Law Brian Dietzen Diona Reasonover Rocky Carroll Gary Cole
No. of episodes	9
Release
Original network	CBS
Original release	October 14, 2025 (2025-10-14) – present
Season chronology
← Previous Season 22
List of episodes

The twenty-third season of NCIS was announced on February 20, 2025 ^[1] by CBS and premiered on October 14, 2025.

Premise

NCIS revolves around a fictional team of special agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which conducts criminal investigations involving the United States Navy and Marine Corps. Based at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., the NCIS team is led by Supervisory Special Agent Alden Parker, an ex-FBI Special Agent and a skilled investigator.

Cast and characters

Main article: List of NCIS characters

Main

• Sean Murray as Timothy McGee, NCIS Senior Special Agent, Second in Command of MCRT
• Wilmer Valderrama as Nick Torres, NCIS Special Agent
• Katrina Law as Jessica Knight, NCIS Special Agent
• Brian Dietzen as Dr. Jimmy Palmer, Chief Medical Examiner for NCIS
• Diona Reasonover as Kasie Hines, Forensic Specialist for NCIS
• Rocky Carroll as Leon Vance, NCIS Director
• Gary Cole as Alden Parker, NCIS Supervisory Special Agent (SSA) of the Major Case Response Team (MCRT) assigned to Washington's Navy Yard and former FBI Special Agent

Recurring cast

• Rebecca De Mornay as Carla Marino, the boss of the Kansas City Mob.
• Zane Holtz as Dale Sawyer, NCIS Special Agent
• Victoria Kelleher as Barbara Dunsley, NCIS Accountant
• Roma Maffia as Vera Strickland, retired NCIS Special Agent

Notable guests

• Nancy Travis as Harriet Parker, U.S. Navy Vice Admiral and Parker's sister
• Emily Wickersham as Eleanor "Ellie" Bishop, former NCIS Special Agent

Crossover

• Bobby Moynihan as Woodrow "Woody" Browne, retired NIS forensic analyst
• Ely Henry as Philip Elertson, retired NIS forensic chemist

Episodes

See also: List of NCIS episodes

No. overall	No. in season	Title  [2] [3]	Directed by	Written by	Original release date  [2]	Prod. code	U.S. viewers (millions)
488	1	"Prodigal Son, Part 1"	Diana Valentine	Christopher J. Waild	October 14, 2025 (2025-10-14)	2301	5.33 [4]
Parker goes to extremes to apprehend Carla Marino, to Vance's objections. Flashbacks show Parker's troubled youth and his estranged sister Harriet (Nancy Travis), now a Navy Vice Admiral, unsuccessfully trying to get him to change his ways. Parker's quest for revenge culminates in him stowing away on the ship Carla is on, and Harriet being forced to give an order to fire a bomb at the ship, realizing at the last second that Parker is on it.
489	2	"Prodigal Son, Part 2"	James Whitmore Jr.	Christopher J. Waild	October 21, 2025 (2025-10-21)	2302	5.79 [5]
The ship is detonated, but not by Harriet's missile. Marino had put a doppelganger on the ship to fake her death and kidnap her granddaughter to bring her into the crime ring. Parker, who had escaped the ship himself, discreetly works the case at Gibbs' old cabin alongside McGee, while the team works to rescue Marino's granddaughter.
490	3	"The Sound and the Fury"	Tawnia McKiernan	Scott Williams	October 28, 2025 (2025-10-28)	2303	5.37 [6]
Torres and Knight work with night shift agent Dale Sawyer (Zane Holtz) on a blackmail case, and Torres begins to experience supernatural occurrences.
491	4	"Gone Girls"	Rocky Carroll	Amy Rutberg	November 4, 2025 (2025-11-04)	2304	5.45 [7]
The team investigates a Marine suspected of kidnapping the wife of a high-ranking official, and Knight's negotiation tactics prove useful in cracking the case.
492	5	"Now and Then"	José Clemente Hernandez	Marco Schnabel	November 11, 2025 (2025-11-11)	2305	5.63 [8]
This episode concludes a crossover event that begins on NCIS: Origins season 2 episode 5.
493	6	"Page-Turner"	Marc Roskin	Sydney Mitchel & Steven D. Binder	November 18, 2025 (2025-11-18)	2306	5.56 [9]
While McGee releases a new book under his alias Thom E. Gemcity, NCIS investigates a murder which intertwines with McGee getting kidnapped by a woman making a desperate attempt to get justice for her deceased son.
494	7	"God Only Knows"	Lee Friedlander	Andrew Bartels	December 2, 2025 (2025-12-02)	2307	6.06 [10]
The team's latest case sees Parker clash with a priest, while Jimmy admits his findings from the investigation into his mother's burial, all adding to Parker's pent-up grief and anger.
495	8	"Stolen Moments"	Diana Valentine	Brian Dietzen & Jesse Stern	December 9, 2025 (2025-12-09)	2308	5.89 [11]
Vance instructs the team to be shadowed by an AI chatbot, with Jimmy taking it for a spin. The chatbot's input leads to tension between Jimmy and the rest of the team.
496	9	"Heaven and Nature"	James Whitmore Jr.	Scott Williams	December 16, 2025 (2025-12-16)	2309	5.57 [12]
The team assists Parker in his investigation into his mother's passing, and Parker discovers that his mother (who had been helping a mother and daughter get away from her abusive husband) was murdered by the man, a dirty cop who falsified the report that gave Parker the belief she had perished in a drunk driving accident. Meanwhile, Knight is given her first ELITE task by Vance: track down former NCIS agent Eleanor Bishop, who has since become a wanted fugitive. The episode ends with Bishop observing the team from her car in the distance.

Ratings

Viewership and ratings per episode of NCIS season 23

No.	Title	Air date	Rating/share (18–49)	Viewers (millions)	DVR (18–49)	DVR viewers (millions)	Total (18–49)	Total viewers (millions)
1	"Prodigal Son, Part 1"	October 14, 2025	0.3/4	5.33 [4]	0.1	1.91	0.4	7.23
2	"Prodigal Son, Part 2"	October 21, 2025	0.3/4	5.79 [5]	0.1	1.92	0.4	7.71
3	"The Sound and the Fury"	October 28, 2025	0.3/4	5.37 [6]	0.1	1.75	0.4	7.12
4	"Gone Girls"	November 4, 2025	0.3/4	5.45 [7]	0.1	1.70	0.4	7.15
5	"Now and Then"	November 11, 2025	0.3/4	5.63 [8]	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
6	"Page-Turner"	November 18, 2025	0.4/5	5.56 [9]	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD

Production

After the season renewal, CBS revealed that the series would be returning to its original timeslot (held from seasons 1 to 18) on Tuesdays at 8pm, followed by NCIS: Origins and NCIS: Sydney at 9 and 10 p.m. respectively.

On September 4, it was announced a special crossover with the Origins spinoff celebrating U.S. Veterans on November 11, with a case that would span across decades. For this event, both series inverted their programming schedule. ^[13] Also, Mark Harmon, Roma Maffia and Muse Watson reprised their roles as Leroy Jethro Gibbs, Vera Strickland and Mike Franks for the crossover. ^{[14] [15]}

References

1. Klein, Brennan (February 20, 2025). "NCIS Franchise Will Continue As All Three Shows Are Renewed For More Seasons". Screen Rant . Retrieved October 20, 2025.
2. "Shows A-Z - NCIS on CBS". The Futon Critic . Retrieved November 18, 2025.
3. "NCIS on CBS". CBS. Retrieved November 14, 2025.
4. Pucci, Douglas (October 16, 2025). "Tuesday Ratings: ABC Still Leads Broadcast Networks Overall Despite Season Premieres of Three NCIS Dramas on CBS". Programming Insider. Retrieved October 16, 2025.
5. Pucci, Douglas (October 23, 2025). "Tuesday Ratings: NBA on NBC Season Opener Tops All Prime Time Telecasts Among Adults 18-49 and 25-54, Including ABC's Demo Powerhouse Dancing with the Stars". Programming Insider. Retrieved October 23, 2025.
6. Pucci, Douglas (October 30, 2025). "Tuesday Ratings: MLB World Series on Fox Platforms Rises with Game 4". Programming Insider. Retrieved October 30, 2025.
7. Pucci, Douglas (November 5, 2025). "Tuesday Ratings: NCIS Lineup on CBS Gets Uptick from Recent Weeks". Programming Insider. Retrieved November 6, 2025.
8. Pucci, Douglas (November 14, 2025). "Tuesday Ratings: NCIS: Origins on CBS Hits Series-High in Total Viewers with NCIS Crossover". Programming Insider. Retrieved November 14, 2025.
9. Pucci, Douglas (November 20, 2025). "Tuesday Ratings: Dancing with the Stars on ABC Achieves Several Milestones for Penultimate Episode of Season". Programming Insider. Retrieved November 20, 2025.
10. Bunch, Rebecca (December 8, 2025). "Tuesday TV Ratings 12/2/25: Dancing with the Holidays Solid but Well Below Dancing with the Stars Average, NCIS: Origins Jumps, Murder in a Small Town Ends Down". The TV Ratings Guide. Retrieved December 12, 2025.
11. Bunch, Rebecca (December 8, 2025). "Tuesday TV Ratings 12/9/25: NBC Wins the Night with Frosty the Snowman and Shrek the Halls, NCIS: Origins and NCIS: Sydney Plummet to Series Lows, Kevin Costner Presents: The First Christmas Respectable". The TV Ratings Guide. Retrieved December 12, 2025.
12. Bunch, Rebecca (December 18, 2025). "Tuesday TV Ratings 12/16/25: The Voice Has Lowest-Rated Finale Ever, Rob Reiner Special Solid, 9 PM NCIS Repeat Tops Previous Week's NCIS: Origins". The TV Ratings Guide. Retrieved December 18, 2025.
13. Nemetz, Dave (September 4, 2025). "NCIS Sets Date For First Crossover With NCIS: Origins". TVLine . Retrieved October 20, 2025.
14. Jacobs, Meredith (October 31, 2025). "'NCIS' & 'Origins' Crossover Photos: Mark Harmon & Roma Maffia Return". TVLine . Retrieved October 20, 2025.
15. Franken, Claire (November 11, 2025). "NCIS: Origins Bosses Explain Why We Didn't See Mark Harmon's Gibbs Reunite With Lala — Plus, Get Scoop On [Spoiler]'s Surprise Cameo". TVLine . Retrieved November 15, 2025.