The 1,000th episode of the “NCIS” franchise is a monumental moment, and since it happens to take place on the main “NCIS” show, fans can expect the episode to go all out. One particular thing viewers are no doubt looking forward to is the possibility of returning fan-favorite characters … and one such comeback is already out of the bag, courtesy of Timothy McGee actor Sean Murray’s Instagram.
The images McGee posted show one particularly intriguing face among the usual suspects: Joe Spano, who plays Tobias “T.C.” Fornell. A longtime recurring character on the show, Fornell is an FBI Special Agent turned private investigator. He has both professional and personal ties to the NCIS team, and he’s on particularly good terms with Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon). After Gibbs left “NCIS” in Season 19, Fornell has also been around somewhat less than usual — in fact, he hasn’t been seen since the “NCIS” Season 20 premiere. It appears that the 1,000th episode aims to fix this with a vengeance.
Fornell might not be the only returning character
“NCIS” has a track record of surprising fans with major comebacks. Already, Season 21’s Ducky Mallard (David McCallum) memorial episode brought back a major original character when Tony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) dropped by to console Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen) and attend Ducky’s funeral. As such, Tobias Fornell isn’t even the first marquee return for the season.
Chances are, he won’t be the only big-name comeback in the 1,000th episode, either. As co-showrunner David North told TV Line, every single “NCIS” show will be involved in the episode in one way or another. “One of our own beloved characters is going to end up in grave danger, and you’re going to see all of the different franchises brought into this in a little bit of a different way,” North said. “We’re going to play plenty of homage to the past.”
This — and the fact that it’s the 1,000th episode for the entire franchise, not just the original “NCIS” — seems to indicate that the episode will be a franchise-wide crossover of some sort. This sounds like it’d be pretty hard to achieve without at least some unexpected fan-favorite characters turning up, so Special Agent Fornell may very well have a lot of company on the returning character front.