Season 22, episode 13 of NCIS features the rather surprising return of a villain from the previous season, but this unexpected reunion may actually prove to be a blessing for McGee fans. As the longest-standing regular among the NCIS season 22 cast and the only one to have had strong relationships with the original NCIS cast, Sean Murray’s McGee naturally carries a lot of weight with longtime fans. While some have had doubts about McGee’s future on the series, the episode “Bad Blood” provides one possible route to set him back on the right track.
“Bad Blood” involves the murder of a woman who worked for a company called Life Sequence, which studies the relationship between nutritional needs and genetic perfection. This sets up the NCIS episode’s returning villain as one of three primary suspects at the company, although his arc is handled much differently this time around. While “Bad Blood” reveals that the CEO of Life Sequence has been falsely accused, the exact same character was a secondary villain in NCIS’ 1000th episode.
Fletcher Voss’ NCIS Season 22 Return After His 1000th Episode Debut Explained
Voss’ Latest Appearance Is A Complete Turnaround For The Character
T.J. Thyne is one of several actors who play multiple NCIS characters, but his most recent is Fletcher Voss from the 1000th NCIS episode (season 21, episode 7). Voss is a technological visionary who funds a lot of projects but can’t actually code, and who’s obsessed with going to the moon. He becomes a minor villain when trying to manipulate a young woman into ruining Vance’s (Rocky Carroll) reputation as part of a scheme to secure a tech contract with NCIS, but Voss winds up in jail when his lackey shoots Vance, sets off several bombs, and nearly destroys Air Force One.
In season 22, it’s revealed that Voss only spent a few months in jail after his lawyers successfully cut his time short on appeal. His personality remains abrasive, but he’s still adamant that he never meant for Vance to get shot. Although initially the prime suspect in the murder of his employee and girlfriend, an attempt on Fletcher’s life by the real killer clears him of all suspicion. By the end of the episode, Voss and McGee become friends after Fletcher buys 100 boxes of coffee from the McGee twins’ school fundraiser and Tim donates blood to save Fletcher’s life.
McGee’s Unexpected Friendship With McGee Is Good For The Veteran MCRT Agent’s Future
Tim Needs Something To Do More Than Anyone Else On The Show
Voss and McGee are an odd couple to become friends, but it’s not necessarily the worst thing to throw an unpredictable variable into McGee’s life right now. McGee’s character lacks momentum after more than 20 years on the show, and he seems to agree given his attempt at promotion in the NCIS season 22 premiere. Even prior to that, there’s already a stagnation in his character arc. But in most episodes outside the LaRoche (Seamus Dever) plotline, he has simple subplots like his kids’ fundraiser or writing a book the team finds steamy. They seem to be out of subplots that really build on his character in any meaningful way.
There’s also the fact that Voss gives McGee an excuse to utilize his tech skills. McGee doesn’t flex that muscle a lot anymore, but “Bad Blood” sets him up to work on hacking Life Sequence with Kasie (Diona Reasonover). It’s a fairly important beat in the story, and it’s one of the few that truly relies on multiple team members at a time, since Torres (Wilmer Valderrama) is given a role in that scene as well. Because of Fletcher’s proximity to the tech world, further investigations involving him could bring McGee’s skills front and center more often.
How Voss’ NCIS Season 22 Re-Entry Could Impact The Show’s Storytelling
Voss Could Make For An Extremely Useful Recurring Character
There are already plenty of ways to incorporate Voss into future storylines, especially with NCIS season 23 confirmed. The easiest way to include Voss would be to call on him whenever an investigation brushes up against the tech or business worlds, as Voss has resources and connections that could prove useful. Most of those connections are either competitors or former colleagues who pushed Voss out of his own companies, so using Voss to gain access to them would likely add comedic tension to the proceedings.
Also, while Voss doesn’t know how to code, his businesses are still generally depicted as groundbreaking. Voss works best as an idea man, which means he could easily appear for the more tech-based investigations in NCIS to propose solutions that McGee then has to execute. Not only would that strengthen their character relationship, but it would make McGee a lot more interesting to watch than he has been in recent episodes.
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