New Era, New Tony, Same Epic Bromance: NCIS Season 24’s Trailer Knows How to Tease & Please

You know what’s great about one of the longest-running scripted TV dramas on primetime?

It knows how to keep things fresh and nostalgic at the same time.

And that’s what NCIS promises in a trailer that honestly has us more giddy than ever for the sheer fact that we’re getting the best of NCIS that we know and love with a nostalgic flair.

Tony DiNozzo’s return to NCIS is highly anticipated, and CBS wasted no time teasing all the goods in the trailer.

Right off the bat, it’s exciting because after Vance’s death during NCIS Season 23, the show’s tone understandably shifted a bit.

We lost a mainstay of the series in a tragic, albeit heroic manner, as the NCIS Season 23 Episode 13 delivered a series best and one of the most well-crafted and executed swan songs for a character in the past two decades.

No, I’m not exaggerating, but you’re free to disagree.

It meant the rest of the season had the NCIS crew reeling from this loss and the absence of a leader, someone who could permanently sit in that director’s chair and do what Vance did.

And without Vance as an anchor, everyone stumbled for a bit.

The rest of the season became highly emotional, as they had to balance the weight of Vance’s loss amid everything else and still keep that bit of lighthearted humor the show does so well.

For the most part, the series struck the right balance when it comes to that.

But the best way to assuage viewers and transition into a new era for a series that finds new ways to reinvent itself as it nears 25 years is to bring a familiar face whom viewers generally love.

Enter Tony DiNozzo.

Unfortunately, we lost NCIS: Tony & Ziva, and frankly, many of us here at TV Fanatic are still angry about that cancellation decision.

But Tony returning to NCIS, his origins, pardon the pun, is satisfying because it means we’ll get to see the version of Tony who has matured and truly evolved.

We’ll see the one we saw in Tony & Ziva walk through the doors of that elevator, in a place that used to be his home, in an authoritative position that feels well-earned.

It’s a great way of keeping this newer, more mature, and compelling version of Tony alive, and getting to see that up against McGee and the rest of the team.

Aside from the fact that we likely won’t be seeing Ziva and Tali: Boo. Hiss. It’s an exciting prospect.

And why? Because, frankly, at the heart of NCIS for many years was the begrudging bromance that formed between Tony and McGee.

Their dynamic is one of the most historically memorable, appealing, and fun of the entire series.

Tony’s return allows them to revisit that bromance in a fun, fresh, and interesting way, especially with Tony in this position of authority that looms over the team.

The trailer leans into that hard, and it’s glorious as a result!

From the second someone asks what Mr. DiNozzo thinks about a security breach, we’re carried right into DiNozzo marveling over those infamous “orange walls” and him saying, “Very Special Non-Agent Anthony DiNozzo is back.”

And boy is he! In fact, he entirely steals the trailer!

When you consider the fact that the NCIS Season 23 Finale left us with a cliffhanger and us not knowing whether or not Mateo or Torres got shot, well, the mostly happy-go-lucky Tony-centered promo shows us plenty of Torres, who seems perfectly fine and hot as ever.

So we can probably cross off the notion that he hurt himself.

But there are hints that after such a massive breach, thanks to Mateo’s infiltration and so forth, there’s a lot for the team to delve into, and it’s most likely the primary reason why Tony is there in the first place.

We know that Tali has been attending boarding school in the States, and Tony is opening his own private security firm in DC, so if anyone is clued in on what may be going on at NCIS, it’s him, and he’s willing to extend his services.

So, no, he’s not the new director, but he’s certainly playing a different type of game and serving as a new authoritative figure, which might take some getting used to for McGee.

Tony comes with a warning about something bad coming for NCIS on the horizon, and he’s willing to help.

But he also expresses his complete faith in McGee and his ability to see what’s coming and figure it out before it’s too late.

That vote of confidence, sans teasing, becomes a bit of a running joke in the trailer, as everyone tries to reconcile the Tony they heard about (the guy who superglued McGee’s fingers to a keyboard once, for example) with the guy who’s singing McGee’s praises now.

Ah, that’s the fun of sibling-like dynamics: just when you think you have them figured out, they change drastically, just to keep things fresh and everyone confused, even the people within them!

So, NCIS has a breach; we still don’t know what happened to McGee’s son, Mateo, and LaRoche is likely still plotting somewhere in the background, much to our chagrin.

But never fear, NCIS Fanatics, because Tony DiNozzo is here — and for that alone, this season is going to be epic!

They’re teasing a new era, we’re getting a dash of nostalgia, and fresh new dynamics (Tony winking at Parker is something I didn’t know I needed!); that sounds like the perfect combination to me!

Indulge yourself with this trailer below!

And if you stick around until the end, you’ll find Austin Stowell and Mark Harmon teasing the drop of the NCIS: Origins trailer. Fall TV is back, baby!

NCIS returns with an all-new season on Tuesday, October 6, at 8/7c on CBS. You can stream it the following day on Paramount+.