Heading into NCIS season 23, we knew exactly how the new season would begin: With Parker and the team racing to find Carla Marino and get justice after she killed Parker’s father in the season 22 finale.
As the episode begins, we get a flashback to a young Parker having been arrested. After he lays into his dad about making them move city to city when he’s never around, clearly resenting his father’s military career, his sister lays into him about cutting their dad a break and warning him he won’t understand the pain he causes their dad until it’s too late.
Cut to present day where Jimmy has arrived to take Parker’s father away from the crime scene. McGee, Torres, and Jess begin to work the case, processing the scene while talking about their guilt in working with Carla. They want to make things right by bringing her to justice.
McGee steps away to update Parker and assure him they’re going to do everything they can to bring her in. Parker tells him they need to flip the table and think outside the box if they want to bring Carla in, which is when McGee gets an alert about multiple bomb threats that have shut down transits. The move leaves Carla trapped, and McGee is immediately worried about what Parker has done.
At the NCIS headquarters, the threats are pouring in still, which is working as it’s keeping Carla in the country. On cue, the team gets an alert that an SUV with connections to Carla has been flagged. Before they can pursue the lead, Vance enters the room and informs Parker that Homeland will process the vehicle and sends him home as he’s too close to the case.
Vance tells Parker keeping him on the case would be too dangerous, and Parker quickly pushes back that he told Vance working with Carla was too dangerous but he failed to listen. Vance holds his ground and sends Parker home, but not before giving him a number for a secure Pentagon line to call his sister. Parker crumbles the paper with the number on it up and tosses it aside as he heads home.
As the team continues to work the case, Jimmy informs Jess that there were no surprises in the autopsy.. When Carla’s SUV shows up at their evidence lab, Vance arrives to inform the NCIS team they’re being pulled off the case. The FBI is taking over as lead, as they can’t have Parker turning a manhunt into a massacre, and the team are tasked with sitting on Parker to make sure he doesn’t do anything reckless.
When Torres, McGee, and Knight arrive at Parker’s, he’s working the case and they quickly assure him they’re there to do the same. McGee brings him up to speed on the multiple shootouts taking place between crime families Carla tried to take out. Meanwhile, Kasie found residue in the car and the fake FBI badge for the imposter Agent Ford, who was working with Carla. When looking at the ID, Torres recognizes the badge as work of a forger he crossed paths with when he was undercover.
After a quick introduction of Parker’s sister in the present day following a visit to the morgue to collect her father’s belongings from Jimmy, we cut to a diner where Torres and Jess are set to meet with the forger. When he arrives, he turns on the charm and gets flirty with Jess as they question him about the fake ID he made. He eventually gives them a helpful tip and they leave him behind handcuffed to the table for the FBI to find.
McGee and Kasie turn the tip into a lead of their own, finding a shop where fake Ford seems to be hiding out. The team go to the shop to stake it out and, sure enough, Ford shows up. Before they can grab him for questioning, a pair of armed men arrive and abduct Ford after a shootout with McGee, Torres, Jess, and Parker.
Vance shows up angry and demands answers as to why the team is on the scene. Jess explains that they were following Parker as instructed, which is when the men showed up and took Ford. Vance isn’t happy and exits after Parker pokes the bear by playing dumb over what has happened.
During the exchange, Torres managed to sneak a tracker onto the truck which allows Kasie to track it down. When they arrive, they manages to distract Ford’s attackers and question Ford for information. He reveals that Carla indeed killed Parker’s dad and she did so with Parker’s own weapon. He then mentions a shipment which was her last big score set to be transported on a boat called Quinton.
Parker heads out to get some rest as the rest of the team continue to look into the lead from Ford. When McGee calls Parker to give him an update, the call goes to voicemail. Kasie enters and tells the team the Quinton has left port 25 minutes ago, heading into open water. Turns out Parker was one step ahead of them, as his phone is pinging in the same open waters where the ship is being tracked.
Is Parker going to die on NCIS?
After learning that Parker has boarded the ship, Kasie uncovers a video showing Carla boarding the ship. They bring the information to Vance and tell him about their belief that Parker is also on the ship. Time is not on their side as the boat is entering international waters and if they don’t get there soon she’ll be out of their hands.
As the NCIS team begins to track the ship, Harriet shows up to take control over the operation. She informs the team that they believe the ship is carrying weapons and drugs, and has been deemed a threat to the country. Her commanding admiral gives her the order to take the boat out as they can’t afford for the boat to cross international waters.
Vance tries to convince Harriet not to go through with the order, but she has no choice. She gives the order to fire on the ship as the episode comes to an end.
The moment hints that Parker’s life could be in danger; however, we’re confident Parker will make it out alive, as there have been no indications suggesting Gary Cole is leaving the show. What will be interesting is to see how Parker will get out of the pickle he’s found himself in and bring Carla to justice in the second part of the NCIS season 23 two-part premiere!