Alden Parker (Gary Cole) stepped into big shoes. He was tasked with filling in for Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon), the most iconic character in the NCIS franchise.
To his credit, he did precisely that. Not only did he keep the show running (metaphorically and literally), but he also instilled confidence in a fanbase that was unsure about continuing without Gibbs.
The big question heading into season 21 is, of course, whether Parker will stay. There’s been a lot of time invested in his character, so his departure would not only be a huge waste of time on the writers’ part, but it would also call the show’s leadership into question.
Gary Cole is leaving NCIS after season 21?
Fortunately, there are issues to be concerned about here. Parker will undoubtedly return for Season 21. During a 2022 interview with TV Insider, Cole went into great detail about the daunting task of replacing Harmon:
When Parker said, ‘I know this is weird,’ they actually wrote a moment for the audience as well as the team in the squad room. OK, I get it, but we need to get past this so we can finish the job…’
That was a way for the [show’s] writers to signal to the viewers that, yes, this would be different, but also familiar, because the show has been on for so long and has worked on so many different levels.
In the same interview, co-star Sean Murray described Parker as a deliberate departure from Gibbs’ personality and decision-making. “Parker arrived as a completely different character than Gibbs,” he explained. “I think we have something different going on.”
NCIS executive producer Charles Floyd Johnson agrees that Cole pulled off a potentially disastrous transition. He told The Hollywood Reporter that he avoided making comparisons between Gibbs and Parker during the latter’s first few appearances, but when he saw what Cole was doing, he knew they’d found their new flagship actor.
“In the end, we struck gold with Gary Cole,” Johnson concluded. “A lot of names were tossed around… We told him he was coming in but wasn’t sure he’d stay with the team, so he wouldn’t have to feel like he was stepping into the shoes of someone who had been there for 18 seasons.”
We will hopefully get to see the character fleshed out now that he has passed through this transitional period and is guaranteed to be the focus of the show for years to come.
There were glimpses of the man he was before joining NCIS, as well as moments of rage and bitterness that were unusual given his usually calm demeanor. That’s the character we’d like to see more of in Season 21.
