‘NCIS’ New Director Tony DiNozzo Drops Shocking Bombshell About Tim McGee’s Future in Season 24

It was a major surprise when former very Special Agent Tony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) was named the new director of NCIS, replacing the late Director Leon Vance (Rocky Carroll) on the Season 24 premiere episode, and on tonight’s second NCIS episode of the season, we are discovering what type of director DiNozzo plans to be. After all, Tony was considered the class clown when he served as a member of Gibbs’ team, albeit an excellent agent.

“Sure, he has to be more serious as the director, but he’s also a different person than Leon Vance,” Steven D. Binder told Parade in an exclusive interview. “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.”

that new Tony showed up tonight but the fact that he can’t stay in his own lane like Vance did, but rather got involved in solving the case of the week was very annoying to the team, so Alden Parker (Gary Cole), Nick Torres (Wilmer Valderrama) and Jessica Knight (Katrina Law) assigned Tim McGee (Sean Muray) to address the issue.

“This job is like the drummer from Spinal Tap,” DiNozzo told McGee. “It kills people, but it will kill your soul first unless you find a way to let off steam. Vance boxed, Jenny [Shepard, (Lauren Holly)] lit up the town, and I like to bust bad guys, so I am going to do my job as director and when I need to take a little break and blow off a little steam, I’m going to go bust some bad guys with you. It’s the only way I know how to survive this job. Can you live with that?”

McGee said he could, but then Tony dropped a bombshell on him. Earlier in the show, Jessica Knight had indicated that she thought that the director’s job should have gone to McGee, and she most likely wasn’t the only one. In fact, McGee had previously served as acting director, so he had more experience than Tony. And Tony realized that was also probably on McGee’s mind.

So, in the very last scene DiNozzo told McGee, “Don’t get too comfortable. The only reason you’re not doing this job is the Secretary of the Navy has another one planned for you.”

When McGee inquired which job, DiNozzo said, “Hers.” The look on McGee’s face was worth 1,000 words. There was the shock of it, but it would also have meant so much to McGee’s late father who was a four-star Admiral in the Navy. It would finally have been something his father would have been proud of.

That said, McGee confided to Torres that he felt that while DiNozzo would succeed as the director, he felt there might be problems and it wouldn’t be smooth sailing.

“I watched three directors do that job and there is a lot of delicate politics involved,” McGee explained to Torres. “With Tony, it’s like going back to high school and the kid who pulled the fire alarm is now the principal. He’s going to do great but I’m worried he’s going to make enemies on the hill.”

And Torres said, “That’s what friends are for. Worry all you want. Just watch his back.”

Also in the episode, it was clear that DiNozzo was already putting his imprint on his new office with the removal of Vance’s boxing photos and gear and the addition of lots of murder movie posters and a popcorn maker, but we also learned that DiNozzo wasn’t planning to evict McGee from his apartment, which is actually Tony’s.

Related: NCIS Boss Breaks Down That Massive Season 24 Premiere Twist — And the Brand-New Director (Exclusive)

We learned that Tony had already spoken to Delilah (Margo Harshman) about it without Tim’s being aware of it, which made Tim happy because Delilah had recently redecorated, and we also found out where DiNozzo is staying temporarily: On Jimmy Palmer’s (Brian Dietzen) couch. But it sounded as if the two were about as comfortable doing that as Oscar and Felix from The Odd Couple.

In order to be welcome, Tony had to promise to not call Palmer “autopsy gremlin” any longer.

“That’s the only reason I let you crash on my couch,” Palmer told him. “Now, I need to get you to stop setting the thermostat to the ice age.”

“As soon as you stop throwing away my eggs two days after they reached the expiration date,” DiNozzo responded.

That living arrangement is only an interim measure, according to Binder, who told us,  “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+.

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