NCIS Season 13 Release Date, Spoilers: Gibbs Retires From Team; DiNozzio, McGee Battle for Lead Role

By Mitch de Leon
NCIS Season 13
The official release date of NCIS is on Sept. 22 at 8 p.m. ET at CBS. CBS

NCIS Season 13 will kick off the show with an answer to the cliffhanger left by the previous season's finale episode. The last episode of NCIS Season 12 saw Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) get shot by a young boy while the NCIS team went to Afghanistan to solve a case linked to terrorists. The episode, which was marked by bloody violence and chaos, left the fans and followers of the show thrilled and worried at the same time. What's more, the closing scene had viewers wondering whether or not Gibbs managed to survive the ghastly attack.

"Everyone is in flux because we're all worried about Gibbs and, ultimately, there are a lot of things that I can't even get into because it's a year of great turbulence and great drama," shared Michael Weatherly, the actor who plays Anthony "Tony" DiNozzio in NCIS Season 13, in an interview with Fox News. Weatherly went on to share, "I know there's some real arcing storylines. You have the return of a lot of the guest stars that are part of the 'NCIS' family, but there's also a new type of storytelling that [executive producer] Gary Glasberg is expanding on. I think it's going to culminate in a very interesting season 13." Both DiNozzio and FBI Special Agent Joanna Teague (Mimi Rogers) were with Gibbs in the final episode of NCIS Season 12.

As Gibbs fights for his life, the NCIS team scramble to keep things in order in headquarters. As the bad guys keep coming at them, the team have no other recourse but to go on despite the possible loss of their leader. Should the spoilers be believed, then NCIS Season 13 will see DiNozzio temporarily take over the position of Gibbs due to his greater years of service with the team and more extensive experience. However, spoilers also revealed that this shift in the roles among the team members will cause tension in the group.

"That's one of the big character arcs that we're going to get into this season," shared Gary Glasberg, one of the producers of NCIS, in relation to the shift in the roles within the team. He went on to add, "Gibbs and Tony are really going to feel some tension between the two of them. Gibbs is putting tremendous pressure on Tony." Glasberg further shared that the brewing tension will force DiNozzio to determine how he wants to direct his career. The tension with Gibbs will prompt the usually funny DiNozzio to deliberate on whether or not he wants to be like the NCIS team's fearless leader.

Apart from DiNozzio, however, NCIS Season 13 also aim to focus on yet another male lead in the show: Timothy McGee (Sean Murray). While McGee has always been perceived as an underdog in terms of the investigation action, there is no denying that he never fails to deliver when delegated a task. His quiet presence in the NCIS team could be what the group needs at the moment -  a sense of calm and cool amid the chaos stemming from the changes in Gibbs' persona. Hence, fans are wondering if it would be better to hand the leadership role to McGee instead of DiNozzio.

NCIS Season 13 will air its first episode on September 22, 2015.

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