NCIS season 18 has started strong, but the popular CBS series has already been hit with scheduling delays after just two episodes have aired.
A new promo has teased NCIS’s next instalment, Blood and Treasure, which will see Gibbs and the team embark on their very own treasure hunt. Unfortunately, the trailer also confirmed the next episode won’t be airing on CBS until December 8, potentially due to coronavirus delays.
After just two episodes, the 18th season of NCIS on CBS has already been pushed back by two weeks.
The third episode, Blood and Treasure, sadly won’t be hitting screens until Tuesday, December 8.
Thankfully, this week’s entry, Everything Starts Somewhere, received plenty of strong reactions from fans, and should be enough to tide even the most enthusiastic viewers over.
The 400th episode in the series’ long run celebrated its impressive milestone by taking a look at Leroy Gibbs’ (played by Mark Harmon) first encounter with Donald ‘Ducky’ Mallard (David McCallum).
On the other hand, a delay directly after an unrelated prequel episode means there are a number of unanswered questions to ponder over during the two week hiatus.
This includes Gibbs taking shots at his fellow agent Tim McGee (Sean Murray) for unknown reasons in the closing moments of the season premiere.
As filming occurs concurrent to the NCIS’s release, it’s speculated CBS’ extensive health and safety measures during the coronavirus pandemic have led to a lengthier production schedule.
Until December 8, just 22 seconds of the next episode have been revealed so far in a new trailer on YouTube.
The new clips have confirmed Gibbs and his team will be sent on a good old-fashioned treasure hunt after forensic scientist Kasie Hines (Diona Reasonover) pulls a map out of a dead body.
They soon deduce a violent killer could still be out there hunting for the treasure, with Special Agent Nick Torres (Wilmer Vanderrama) musing they could keep the stash if they get there first.
An official synopsis read: “The discovery of two dead bodies in a forest leads the NCIS team into the wild world of modern-day treasure hunting. Also, Gibbs and Fornell get deeper into their search for the opioid kingpin.”
Reactions to the teaser have been positive, though some have expressed frustration with the series for keeping fans in the dark about the shocking cliffhanger in last week’s premiere.
On YouTube, one fan commented: “And we STILL don’t know why Gibbs was taking pot shots at McGee in the season premiere. This season just seems off to me.”
Season 18 is taking an unconventional route by setting its earlier episodes in the months before the coronavirus outbreak reached its global tipping point in March 2020.
With its new time-hopping format, it could be some time before Gibbs justifies taking shots at his loyal colleague.
Entertainment blog Cartermatt had plenty to say about the trailer, speculating the series will finally follow-up on Gibbs’ and Tobias Fornell’s (Joe Spano) mission to take down his daughter’s drug dealer.
They said: “While by and large this episode seems to have a fun story-of-the-week component at the center of it, we also know that there’s going to be some serious stuff, as well.
“Gibbs will be revisiting his recent conversations with Fornell in a much more substantial way than we saw in the 400th. Go ahead and be prepared for that!”
Unfortunately, both NCIS off-shoots have also been hit with delays, although NCIS: Los Angeles will be returning first with an exciting two-parter on December 6.
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