{"id":3725,"date":"2025-10-23T16:31:46","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T16:31:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/?p=3725"},"modified":"2025-10-23T16:31:46","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T16:31:46","slug":"which-ncis-stars-are-and-arent-returning-for-season-23-after-shocking-death-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/?p=3725","title":{"rendered":"Which \u2018NCIS\u2019 Stars Are \u2014 And Aren\u2019t \u2014 Returning for Season 23 After Shocking Death"},"content":{"rendered":"

As fall approaches, fans are gearing up for the return of\u00a0NCIS<\/em> \u2014 and the show\u2019s biggest names are ready to rumble.<\/p>\n

The season 22 finale left viewers with a lot of questions, one being who killed Aldean Parker\u2019s (Gary Cole<\/strong>) father, Roman (Francis X. McCarthy<\/strong>)? The other big question is which\u00a0NCIS team members\u00a0will be back to solve the case?<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis isn\u2019t just another murdered victim that this team runs across. This is one of our own,\u201d Cole\u00a0exclusively told\u00a0Us Weekly<\/em> in May after the episode aired. \u201cIt becomes that to some other team members.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cole confirmed his return for season 23, teasing that Parker\u2019s hunt for the killer will most likely be a major plot point. (Roman was found dead inside Parker\u2019s home after having drinks with someone, based on two wine glasses that were discovered next to the body.)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cI would assume that\u2019s where they\u2019re headed, [revenge],\u201d the actor said. \u201cThe way the last moment was written was that [Parker] goes from this shock and grief to immediately vengeful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scroll down to see which\u00a0NCIS<\/em>\u00a0stars are \u2014 and aren\u2019t \u2014 returning for season 23:<\/p>\n

Sean Murray<\/strong><\/h2>\n
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

OG star Murray, who plays the senior most Special Agent on the team, Timothy McGee, will be back for his 23rd season. He shared the exciting news\u00a0via Instagram in July by uploading a photo of McGee\u2019s computer that read, \u201cNCIS SEASON 23 10\/14,\u201d which served as a premiere date announcement as well.<\/p>\n

Wilmer Valderrama<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Valderrama, who has played Special Agent Nick Torres since season 14 in 2016, confirmed his return in May while teasing what\u2019s to come this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re going to see a team that\u2019s going to be willing to go rogue,\u201d Valderrama\u00a0exclusively told\u00a0Us<\/em> at the 2025 CBS Fest, referring to the death that left the team mourning last season.<\/p>\n

He explained, \u201cWhen someone hurts, Torres hurts. And Torres is a little more unhinged than most.\u201d<\/p>\n

In July, Valderrama shared\u00a0a behind-the-scenes video\u00a0from set, confirming their official return for the season. He included a glimpse at his monogramed chair, his getting ready routine and the inside of the bullpen at the fictional NCIS offices.<\/p>\n

Katrina Law<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Law joined the cast in 2021 during season 18 as Special Agent Jessica Knight. While Jess\u2019 possible rekindled\u00a0romance with Jimmy Palmer\u00a0(Brian Dietzen<\/strong>) has not been confirmed, the actress revealed in May that she is back for the next season.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur team\u2019s going to come together in a way for Parker that you\u2019ve never seen this particular group of characters come together,\u201d Law exclusively told\u00a0Us<\/em>\u00a0in May, once again commenting on the elephant in the room: the question of who killed Roman. \u201cAnd I\u2019m really interested to see what we are willing to do for one of our own and how far we\u2019re willing to go for the love of one of our own.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once back on set in July, Law shared a group selfie to show what other stars are coming back. \u201cNCIS SEASON 23!!!!! Let\u2019s gooooooooo!!!! \ud83e\ude77\ud83e\ude77\ud83e\ude77\ud83e\ude77\ud83e\ude77,\u201d she captioned the\u00a0Instagram photo from set on July 16.<\/p>\n

Gary Cole<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Cole\u2019s Special Agent Alden Parker took over the role of\u00a0NCIS team leader\u00a0from Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon<\/strong>) during season 19 in 2021. The actor exclusively told\u00a0Us<\/em>\u00a0in May that season 23 would have his character front and center after the death of his father, confirming his return in the process.<\/p>\n

Cole noted at the time that the murder is \u201can act of violation\u201d that will lead Parker to deal with \u201crage and vengefulness and guilt and shame.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brian Dietzen<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Dietzen joined the series during season 1 as Donald \u201cDucky\u201d Mallard\u2019s (David McCallum<\/strong>) assistant in the medical examiner\u2019s office, Jimmy Palmer. He has since become the Chief Medical Examiner. Dietzen marked his return for season 23 by sharing a photo of his character\u2019s iconic glasses on set.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m putting these on my face now,\u201d he teased in July\u00a0via Instagram. \u201cHello Jimmy Palmer. Hello NCIS. Hello season 23. And hello Tuesday nights at 8\/9c on CBS! We are so back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Diona Reasonover<\/strong><\/h2>\n
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Reasonover began playing forensic scientist Kasie Hines at the end of season 15 following Abigail Sciuto\u2019s (Pauley Perrette<\/strong>) exit. While the actress did not post any videos or photos from set in July, she is expected to reprise her role and help the NCIS team in the lab.<\/p>\n

Rocky Carroll<\/strong><\/h2>\n
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Carroll has been playing NCIS Director Leon Vance since season 5 in 2008. While he isn\u2019t usually in every episode, Carroll will be back to oversee Parker and his squad. Carroll confirmed his participation for season 23 by appearing in a promotional video shared via the show\u2019s\u00a0official Instagram page in July.<\/p>\n

Mark Harmon<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Fans last saw Harmon as Leroy Jethro Gibbs during season 19 in 2022. While his return is\u00a0always a possibility \u2014 especially in a flashback capacity \u2014 CBS has not revealed any plans for Harmon to appear this season.<\/p>\n

Nancy Travis<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Disney\/Raymond Liu<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Travis is joining the season 23 cast of NCIS as Parker\u2019s sister, Navy Vice Admiral Harriet Parker, following the death of their father, showrunner\u00a0Steven D. Binder<\/strong>\u00a0told\u00a0TVLine<\/em>\u00a0on August 21.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Alden Parker that we know and see now is not what Alden Parker was as a child,\u201d Binder teased. \u201cWe\u2019ve gotten into his history a bit \u2014 he was a troubled kid, he was in a juvie home, he stole things \u2014 and that\u2019s the dynamic that his sister grew up with. He was the \u2018bad\u2019 kid and she was the good kid.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Harriet\u2019s presence will help Parker\u2019s team and viewers get to know who he was before NCIS.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re going to relive that between the two of them,\u201d Binder continued. \u201cShe\u2019s this super squared-away Navy admiral, and then you\u2019ve got Alden Parker, who\u2019s got this \u2018bad kid\u2019 seed. Those two are going to come to a head, and what\u2019s funny about that is it\u2019s one thing to have it happen over Thanksgiving dinner, it\u2019s a whole other thing to happen in the middle of a global crisis! The bickering is, I might say, very\u00a0NCIS<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As fall approaches, fans are gearing up for the return of\u00a0NCIS \u2014 and the show\u2019s biggest names are ready to rumble. The season 22 finale left viewers… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3726,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3725"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3725\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3727,"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3725\/revisions\/3727"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}