NCIS had such a big twist about Agent Tim McGee’s personal life that it is still leaving this longtime fan reeling a bit. As much as I love getting to know his backstory, there’s always a small part of viewing an episode that leaves you feeling like you’re not sure if you like how things are going. Let’s look back and see what happened on NCIS season 23, episode 12.
The team was looking into the death of Navy Chief Warrant Officer Martin Hodges, who was operating a drone when he was stabbed to death. While looking over his body, Jimmy found a photo of a woman in his pocket, who turned out to be his ex-girlfriend, Olivia Garcia. They had dated 18 years prior, which, for longtime fans, would put this around season 5 or 6 of the show.
McGee has a lot to deal with emotionally in this episode of NCIS
Olivia had gone missing six weeks earlier, and they weren’t sure if Hodges was responsible for her disappearance. They decided to go to her office, where she worked at Trask Underground Research Facility alongside a man named Lucas Trask.
While there, McGee saw an intern named Pete, and he was drawn to him since he reminded him of himself when he was first with NCIS. Eventually, Kasie determined that Hodges was given a hefty payment from someone who worked at TURF, and it turned out to be Pete, who had gone by an alias.
Pete was actually Mateo Garcia, Olivia’s son. He had hired Hodges to find his mom when no one else had worked on it in a while. McGee was left in stunned silence when he learned not only was this kid 18, he didn’t know who his father was.
McGee left the interrogation room to gather himself, realizing he might be Mateo’s father. He went home for the rest of the day, thankfully telling his wife off-screen, who said he should remain calm until they get a DNA test.
In the meantime, the team still needed to find Olivia. At first, they thought some work she was doing for TURF landed her in hot water, but Lucas Trask loved her work and even wanted to promote her. Instead, her former job for a pharma company was the focus, and a trial for an Alzheimer’s drug that left some people dead was actually the reason for her disappearance.
A man named Leo Finch, who worked as a chef for TURF, was the widower of one of the trial participants who died. He blamed Olivia for her disappearance and said he had abducted her. Just as McGee learned about this, Leo tried to run, and he went after him. Unfortunately, he took Mateo hostage, and McGee carefully put his weapon down before activating the alarm, allowing Mateo to escape so he could arrest Leo.
Thankfully, Olivia was found alive at Leo’s house. He had been holding her hostage, and Hodges had seemingly figured out Leo was the culprit before he was killed for getting too close. Just as she reunited with Mateo, Kasie gave McGee the paternity results.
It was, indeed, his son that Olivia had given birth to. She only found out she was pregnant after the relationship ended and didn’t want him to feel like he had to marry her. In her mind, she felt McGee would find his person eventually, which he did. However, she still kept it from him.
As hurt as McGee felt, he still wanted the chance to be part of Mateo’s life, if he was willing. Mateo hadn’t taken the news very well, though, given that his mom was actively missing; he might be more willing once he could process what had happened.
Fans have wanted to see McGee’s kid for a long time. However, we mostly meant John and Morgan, his twins. But this would also allow the show to provide more insight into McGee’s life and how he bridges both of his worlds together.
We do hope this means we will see Delilah soon, since she is also part of McGee’s life and will need to adjust to becoming a stepmother. But it does sound like she will be in his corner and will help him along this new journey.
Vance and Parker set aside their differences just as a new twist brings NCIS more trouble
In addition to McGee’s arc, Leon Vance and Agent Alden Parker were busy recertifying their weapons test. After an incident where they got into a fight, they finally talked things out, and Parker learned why Vance had been so off the last few months. NCIS was in danger of being shut down, and he was attempting to make sure they kept their jobs.
Unfortunately, he learns that the CID was never the ones going under. In fact, NCIS was being shut down, meaning none of them would be agents anymore. With so many agencies being shut down in the country or in danger of being shut down, it makes sense for NCIS to touch on the possibility on their show. However, it still is shocking, but considering we know the show is renewed for another season, we have a feeling something will keep them afloat.
We’ll have to see how the team handles this in the next episode, which will mark the 500th episode. Until then, you can catch up on what has been happening on Paramount+.
NCIS airs Tuesdays on CBS at 8/7c.