By Michaela Gordoni
NCIS showrunner Steve Binder recently spilled that NCIS Season 23 will be the most character-focused season ever.
The show has always made cases the key focus, but in the spirit of prequel series NCIS: ORIGINS, certain characters and their stories will be more in the foreground, Collider reported this week.
“We really want to get to everybody in a big way,” Binder said. “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.”
In ORIGINS, young Leroy Jethro Gibbs’ storyline, as well as others like Mike Franks’ and Mary Jo’s, comes forward in a structured way. NCIS Season 23’s episodes may follow a similar pattern.
Given where Season 22 left off, with knowledge of Alden Parker’s father’s murder, there is a lot of room to create a more emotional and psychological season by digging more into these characters.
Screen Rant pointed out that the main thing that makes NCIS distinct from its many spin-off series is its focus on cases. It’s possible that fans could lose a little interest when it switches gears, but given the high potential for more emotional pull, it seems there’s not a lot to lose.
Related: What You Need to Know About NCIS Season 23
The character stories in ORIGINS have left fans intrigued. Thanks to the series, we learn that Franks truly helped shape Gibbs into the fine agent he became, Collider reported. The show has taken him from a side character to a main character, exploring his past that was hardly ever mentioned in the main series.
Screen Rant asked ORIGINS showrunners David J. North and Gina Lucita Monreal about their thoughts behind the show’s story arcs.
“We just kind of take it case-by-case. Gina and I are just in love with these characters, and this show is much more of a character study than it’s a procedural,” North said. “So, When it feels like it’s the right time to tell a story of that character, that’s what we’ve been doing. We don’t really set out to say, ‘Okay, this episode has to be about Mary Jo,’ [it’s] just if it feels right…We just couldn’t be more proud of it.”
“We have a Mary Jo episode, we have a Kowalski episode, an episode that focuses on Vera, and one with Wheeler,” Monreal said. “Now that we’ve sort of laid the groundwork with our Gibbs backstory in this back half of the season, we have the freedom to delve into those other characters on a deeper level. We’re super excited about that.”
With Season 23 shaping up to have a more personal focus like ORIGINS, it’s certainly going to be an interesting season.
Read Next: How Does Mark Harmon Really Feel About NCIS: ORIGINS?
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