When I last spoke with NCIS showrunner Steven D. Binder after the finale of Season 23 of the hit CBS drama, he told me he was in no hurry to replace Director Vance (Rocky Carroll), who had been killed off in a big cast shakeup.
So, when the news broke that Michael Weatherly was returning to his role as Tony DiNozzo, it never crossed my mind that he would become the new director. But that’s what happened in the final few moments of the Season 24 premiere episode.
In an exclusive chat with Binder, he reassured me that when we spoke, what he told me was true. When Vance was killed off, Tony & Ziva had yet to be canceled, so Weatherly was attached to that show. But then things changed and Weatherly expressed an interest to Binder in coming back.
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“You always ask people if they want to come back, and they’re like, ‘Well, what’s the story?’” Binder says of those conversations. “But Michael expressed serious interest in coming back. And then we were all like, ‘Oh,’ and then that ball got rolling. But it’s a big ball and it takes a while to roll. But once it became clear that that was going to happen, then the question was what role does he play on the show? He’s not going to go back to being in the bullpen. There are not enough chairs. There’d be too many people. And that wouldn’t be true to where his character had gone. We didn’t want to give him another team with two different teams in the show.”
That said, Binder wanted to create a role that would keep DiNozzo invested in the cases, so at first the job of director wasn’t under consideration. That wasn’t how it had been structured for the director as created for Vance, who several times had special episodes created for him, but most times would only appear in one or two scenes. That wasn’t what they wanted for Weatherly.
“So, over a period of time I started an understanding that there’s a way to reconceive the directorship in a way that gets them more involved in the case,” Binder says. “And once that door opened then it became a fait accompli that Tony would be the director.”
That said, the DiNozzo character has always been the comic relief on the show, and to hold the top job, he will have to change. He will have to be a more grown up version of himself.
“Sure, he has to be more serious as the director, but he’s also a different person than Leon Vance,” Binder points out. ‘So, he’s going to do the directorship in a way that’s true to his nature. The movie references are still going to be there. His nature is to be a funny guy and be the comic relief. That’s his nature. But he’s had a lot of nurture since he left. He’s had a kid. He’s a parent. That’s a maturing thing. I think you’re going to see a combination of a wiser more mature Tony who is still 100 percent Tony as well.”
Related: NCIS Showrunner Teases Major ‘Resets’ and Surprises for Season 24 (Exclusive)
With the exception of McGee [Sean Murray], who was a probie to DiNozzo’s senior agent, and Palmer, none of the current cast of NCIS previously worked with Tony when he was a very special agent, and Alden Parker (Gary Cole), who doesn’t have the temperament to want to be the director, does seem senior to DiNozzo in experience, so how will he handle it?
“Everyone’s senior to him,” Binder explains. “McGee’s been the interim director before. Tony is suddenly the probie and McGee’s the guy with the experience in the job Tony’s in. The relationships between everybody are going to be explored more specifically in the second episode, and I think that’s where the real fun of this new edition of the cast is going to shine. Everyone’s got a different relationship. Think of two people on a first date. They’re sounding each other out, laughing a little too hard, getting a little awkward. They’re going to have that kind of dynamic, just really feeling each other out.
“Knight’s [Katrina Law] going to adopt the role of mother hen. Ziva [Cote de Pablo] is going to have a conversation with Knight and be like, ‘Keep an eye on this guy for me.’ Jimmy has a relationship with Tony that’s going to be redefined. I don’t want to give it away, but they’ll have an interesting twist to their relationship. I already sort of teased McGee. Tony was the senior agent and McGee was the probie. Well, now you’ve got Tony as the director and McGee’s the guy with experience. So, the tables have been turned for the two of them, which is also fun to explore that.”
And then there’s the matter of Tony’s swanky apartment on Dupont Circle. As viewers will remember, when Tony moved to Paris to raise his daughter Tali, Senior (Robert Wagner) took names and did a drawing as to who would get to sublet his apartment. In actuality, Torres (Wilmer Valderrama) won the drawing, but he gave it to McGee because McGee had a wife and twins – and McGee still lives there. Or does he?
“There will certainly be a moment where McGee’s going to wonder if the landlord wants to reclaim,” Binder says. “We’ll have a little fun with that. You’re going to find out in Episode 2 where Tony lands. It’s also still a temporary place. And it will provide some of that comic relief I was talking about – whose couch he ends up sleeping on, let’s put it that way.”
NCIS airs Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS. Streams next day on Paramount+.
Next, NCIS: New York Cast and Character Guide: Meet the Newest Members of the NCIS Universe
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