Worlds are about to collide for fans of two of the biggest crime dramas on broadcast. The Rookie star Patrick Keleher will be guest starring on CBS’s longest-running primetime drama, NCIS, and it’s looking like his character could have a major impact on the life of Agent Tim McGee.
In NCIS season 23, episode 12, “In Too Deep,” the murder of a drone pilot leads the NCIS team to a missing woman from McGee’s past. This mystery woman is someone who shared a relationship with McGee which he thought was long behind him; however, as the team investigates the case, McGee comes to realize that the woman’s reappearance could not only unravel the investigation but also his own life.
CBS keeps the specifics vague, but this woman’s reappearance threatens to “change the course of his life,” which supports early reports that an upcoming storyline would rewrite his life. This is where Keleher comes into play.
The name and role of Keleher’s character in the episode are unknown, but The Rookie star appears in a pair of photos from the episode, which offer up some interesting context clues. In the first, we see the character in Palmer’s lab at NCIS standing alongside both McGee and Agent Parker. His character is wearing an NCIS visitor pass and seems to be casually leaning up against the autopsy table, looking ahead, possibly in the direction of Palmer or Kasie with a look of anticipation.
It’s the second photo that is perhaps most intriguing. In this photo, which is clearly from the same scene, we see McGee resting his hand on Keleher’s character’s arm in an assuring manner as Keleher’s character faces McGee. This is paired with a photo of McGee holding a file from Kasey, with a telling look on his face. Could it be that this mystery woman and McGee shared a romantic relationship and that there is a question of whether Keleher’s character could be McGee’s son?
The prospect of McGee having a son he never knew about would certainly change the course of his life, and we have to wonder if these photos are from the scene in which McGee and Keleher’s character learn whether they’re related or not. It would make sense for Kasey to run the results to see if the pair are a genetic match.
It would certainly be interesting to explore the fallout of McGee discovering he has a son he never knew about. The twist would lead to a lot of interesting storylines in examining how it impacts his family dynamic with Delilah and also how he copes with knowing he missed so many years of his son's life. It would also suggest that Keleher’s character would stick around beyond an episode, playing a larger role as NCIS season 23 continues, which would be a win for fans of The Rookie.
There’s just one problem: we’re pretty certain Keleher’s character won’t end up being McGee’s son. The photo of McGee holding Keleher’s character’s arm suggests perhaps he was hoping McGee would end up being his father, but the results proved they were not related after all. A photo is worth a thousand words, and the facial expression of Keleher’s character seems like someone who got some disappointing news.
We’ll see how the storyline plays out when episode 12 airs on March 17, and we’re certainly excited to see where the story goes.