NCIS season 18 is in production at the moment. The previous installment was cut short earlier this year due to the current global health crisis. The remaining episodes in season 17 will be incorporated in the next chapter. However, the premiere will revisit a previous episode to further explore a certain mystery.
NCIS season 18 premieres with an episode about Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs' (Mark Harmon) mission in the past. The series will be heading back to the beginning of season 17, where it sees Gibbs doing a personal mission. This case will be addressed and be solved once the procedural drama returns.
In a previous interview with TVLine, co-showrunner Steve Binder discussed how the upcoming installment will begin. He said that in "Musical Chair," Gibbs disappeared from the squad room to go on a mission. Then, he returned with a black eye at the end of the episode.
Binder revealed that they'll pick up the new season with that particular mission. This means that the episode goes back in time, and the story would be in a pre-COVID world for a little while. "Musical Chair" was the eighth episode of season 7, aired in November 2019.
At the time, the team investigates the murder of a musician, who's playing in the Navy's best band. Everyone pursued this mission, while Gibbs was away and doing his own thing. NCIS season 18 could, finally, explain what Harmon's character had been doing and where he was during those times.
Meanwhile, the story will be a multi-episode arc, as well. We're going to see other characters in the premiere as they continue their own work back in Washington. The previous installment didn't have a massive cliffhanger since filming was shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The season 17 finale featured a Pearl Harbor survivor named Joe (Christopher Lloyd). He claimed that he was present during the attack, but no records confirmed he's, indeed, there. Gibbs was able to prove Joe's claim. When the latter died, Gibbs scattered his ashes at the Pearl Harbor site.
In another report, one of the key characters is making her exit in NCIS season 18. It was confirmed that Maria Bello will be leaving her character Jack Sloane in the upcoming installment. The actress's contract expired and wasn't renewed. It's yet to be seen who she'll be written out in the story.
NCIS season 18 is slated to premiere in November on CBS.
