NCIS is planning to copy an element from one of its best spinoffs for the upcoming NCIS season 23, but I am worried the change will actually damage the show. The NCIS franchise has continued to grow over the years with NCIS developing several location-based spinoffs. However, their best spinoff so far has been the show’s prequel, NCIS: Origins, which premiered last year and follows Gibbs’ team when he first joined NIS in the early 1990s. NCIS is even planning on copying one of the best parts of NCIS: Origins, but it might not be for the best.
NCIS season 22 brought back several popular NCIS tropes like recurring villains and deeply involved personal arcs for the show’s MCRT. The season finale even introduced one of the show’s best storylines in recent years, with Parker’s father being killed by the season’s villain, Carla Marino. NCIS seems to be on a trend for great stories for its upcoming season, but it will take a lot of inspiration from NCIS: Origins and I am not sure about the combination.
NCIS Season 23 Will Have More Character-Centric Stories (Like Origins)
NCIS Season 23 Will Be Noticeably Different From Its Predecessors
NCIS has often focused on the characters’ lives throughout the show’s many seasons. However, more often than not, cases and villains take priority over the MCRT’s personal lives. This tendency is seen all the way back to NCIS season 2 when Rudolf Martin’s Ari Haswari killed Sasha Alexander’s Kate Todd in the finale. After more than 20 years of doing this, NCIS season 23 will be different. Instead of highlighting criminal and military cases related to Naval and Marine Corps personnel, NCIS season 23 will focus on personal stories.
This update for the highly anticipated NCIS season 23 was revealed by NCIS’ showrunner, Steven D. Binder, in an interview with TVLine. Speaking with Matt Webb Mitovich, Binder said that he wants “to make this a character-forward show in a way we haven’t seen before.” The change comes at a time when NCIS season 22 has already introduced the seeds for bigger character-centered storylines in NCIS season 23, as several of the stories from the previous seasons have not reached a satisfying conclusion yet. Read Binder’s full quote below:
We really want to get to everybody in a big way. I know people always say, ‘I watch the show for the characters’ — that was always our thing — and I really want to make this a character-forward show in a way we haven’t seen before. So, if you’re invested in these people, this is going to be the season for you.
Binder’s decision to have a larger character focus in NCIS’ future seasons did not develop in a vacuum. Instead, the decision came from a growing trend in the NCIS franchise to focus on personal arcs. No other NCIS spinoff has shown this like NCIS: Origins. Rather than be a show that focuses on Gibbs’ life and the types of cases that developed his skillset as a Special Agent, NCIS: Origins highlights every character of Gibbs’ team with their own episode.
NCIS: Origins is unique in that way, as while every NCIS spinoff has shown character growth in some way, NCIS: Origins has gone deeper by highlighting the personal problems of every character in the team. To what extent personal arcs will be highlighted in NCIS season 23 remains to be seen, but if they are anything like the ones shown in NCIS: Origins, then NCIS season 23 will have to make cases secondary. Either way, NCIS season 23 will be different from its previous seasons, and it largely has to do with the success of NCIS: Origins’ stories.
Why Origins’ Character-Centric Approach May Not Work For NCIS
NCIS’ Characters Are Already Developed
Having more character-centric plots could be good for NCIS, but it could have several consequences too. For one thing, the characters in NCIS have already been there for years. While there has never been a huge focus on one character, most of the character details have been fleshed out as time went on. As a result, it does not seem like there is much more to talk about regarding the characters, especially if the writers want to follow NCIS: Origins’ path, which features a deeply personal character portrayal in each episode.
A character-centric plot works for NCIS: Origins because it is the entire basis of the show. The prequel begins as Gibbs’ story, but later episodes delve into the other characters’ personal lives and their own struggles and strengths. That worked because most of the characters were new. Or if they were pre-established NCIS characters like Gibbs and Franks, then room was made to allow for stories about their pasts, like Franks’ history with Tish. NCIS does not have that same leeway, simply because NCIS: Origins was on season 1, and NCIS is all the way up to season 23.
NCIS does not have that same leeway simply because NCIS: Origins was on season 1, and NCIS is all the way up to season 23.
As a result of NCIS’ longevity as both a franchise and a show, there are not as many possibilities to create character-centric storylines unless the same stories are rehashed. While there is potential to look further into some popular storylines like Knight and Palmer’s relationship, and Torres’ love life, these plots have already been worked through in NCIS season 22. NCIS season 23 will have more difficulties now that the writers have decided to switch things up.
What’s The Best Approach For NCIS Season 23 To Save Its Dropping Ratings
NCIS Season 23 Could Look Towards Its Past And Future
In recent years, NCIS has seen a slow decline in viewership as their seasons have gone on. In an unexpected twist, NCIS season 22 even had its lowest-rated episode in the history of the show. With new shows, constant competition, and stagnated storylines, NCIS has been placed in a tough spot. However, the show can still be saved even with its declining ratings by combining the different elements that have made NCIS spinoffs and its flagship so good.
With Binder’s decision to include more character-centric plots in NCIS season 23, NCIS could opt for a more balanced storytelling approach. This way, character-driven stories could still be made a priority, but NCIS’ weekly compelling cases would still remain an important element of the show. This would also be a great way to ensure characters are made the centerpiece of the show without ignoring what made NCIS popular in the first place, which is their procedural cases.
Changing too much, too fast of what has made NCIS so likable could hurt the show quicker than any slow decline in ratings ever could. NCIS is not NCIS: Origins and it should not try to imitate it. Instead, NCIS should look at what made its past seasons so popular while also taking into account the character-driven storylines of NCIS: Origins to find the sweet spot between them. Finding the right balance is key to making NCIS season 23 the show’s best season yet.