NCIS’ Alden Parker (Gary Cole) has taken a liking to someone new, and as TV Insider reports, we’ll get to see her when the show returns on Monday, January 27, 2025. However, before then, the outlet has unveiled an exclusive first look at the new character, played by The Resident’s Melina Kanakaredes. Kanakaredes will guest star in the midseason premiere as the owner of Parker’s favorite bakery, where he gets those pastries he brings to work every day.
In the “Baker’s Man” episode, after NCIS learns that the owner of the bakery, Kanakaredes’ character, is being blackmailed, they come up with a plan to save her. In addition to that, fans can expect tensions to intensify when Torres’ (Wilmer Valderrama) secret romance is discovered. Rocky Carroll, who stars as NCIS Director Leon Vance, directs the new episode. Check out the exclusive photo featuring Kanakaredes with Cole below.
Melina Kanakaredes Is “Just Too Great” in ‘NCIS’
Unsurprisingly, Kanakaredes has done a great job with her character, according to executive producer Steven D. Binder, who described her as the installment’s “dream character.” He further said of her character on whom Parker has a “little crush:”
“She’s a ton of fun. Parker, I think, has a little crush on his baker. We’ll finally get to see Parker buy some pastries. We’ll see where some of them come from. I’ve always been of the mind that half of them come from some expat who owns a gas station and happens to sell these mother country pastries. But this one he actually is going to buy from a legit pastry shop. She’s going to, how do I put this? She might not be a good guy.”
Besides the midseason premiere of NCIS, we may see some more of Kanakaredes as the season progresses next year. Binder mentioned this, adding that the initial plan was to feature her in just an episode:
“The original plan was just the one episode, but she was so great that we have a board of people who, let’s see if we can bring this person back. So it’s just the one episode planned, but she’s certainly someone we’d love to see again.”
Avid fans of Kanakaredes know her as Dr. Lane Hunter in the medical drama series The Resident, but before then, she starred as Eleni Andros Cooper on the daytime TV series Guiding Light and was Dr. Sydney Hansen in Providence, which ran from 1999 to 2002. She also portrayed Detective Stella Bonasera in CSI: NY but left in 2010 after six seasons.
NCIS returns with new episodes on CBS from Monday, January 27, 2025. Catch up on Paramount+.