NCIS: LA spin-off: Was Cold Case a backdoor pilot?
Could we be getting an NCIS: LA spin-off? The latest episode of NCIS: Los Angeles seemed to many fans like a classic “backdoor pilot” for a possible new show focusing on cold cases.
NCIS: Los Angeles is heading to its big two-part series finale on Sunday, May 14 and Sunday, May 21. Before that, the show is wrapping up some subplots, like the latest episode of Kilbride making peace with his estranged son (Christopher Gorham).
The main plot opened with a female Marine vanishing in 2003. In the present day, her body was found with signs of foul play. That had the team meeting Agent Daisy Van Zant (Rose Abdoo), who headed up the NCIS Cold Case Division, helping crack long unsolved military deaths.
Daisy was a sharp investigator while also noting how tough it was to piece together clues after such a long time. But she was driven to see justice done, no matter how long it took.
It was a complex case as it eventually came out the marine was killed by a father worried she was going to “ruin” his son. While Daisy was happy to wrap this case up, she was shown going into a vault packed with dozens of evidence boxes and sighing, “one down…hundreds to go.”
Could there be an NCIS: LA spin-off with the Cold Case team?
The episode felt like a classic “backdoor pilot,” much as how NCIS: LA was presented on the main NCIS series. The idea of a division looking into past murder cases is fodder for a lot of drama.
CBS has enjoyed success with this as the series Cold Case ran seven seasons from 2003 to 2010, focusing on a group of Philadelphia detectives (led by Kathryn Morris) investigating unsolved murders from the 1930s to the early 2000s. The show was popular for its use of flashbacks replicating the time periods and intriguing mysteries.
Using that formula for a military show would be enjoyable as Van Sant and likely a team can look at past cases and it would be interesting to see the U.S. military in different time periods. So far, there is no word on any other spin-off ideas, but CBS may believe another NCIS show is good on the roster. Thus, it’s possible this isn’t the last NCIS fans have seen of this Cold Case division, which can heat things up in the future.
There isn’t anything official in the works. This is just wishful thinking.
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