{"id":8624,"date":"2026-10-16T20:58:54","date_gmt":"2026-10-16T20:58:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/freshstoryes.lol\/?p=8624"},"modified":"2026-10-16T20:58:54","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T20:58:54","slug":"cbs-just-broke-1-of-nciss-oldest-rules-for-tony-dinozzo-in-season-24","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/freshstoryes.lol\/?p=8624","title":{"rendered":"CBS Just Broke 1 of NCIS\u2019s Oldest Rules for Tony DiNozzo in Season 24"},"content":{"rendered":"

NCIS<\/em>\u00a0is breaking the oldest rule in the book for Tony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly), letting him serve as both NCIS director and special agent in Season 24. Tony\u2019s Season 24 return made waves when Secretary of the Navy Helen Marsh (Jillian Armenante) appointed him director in the season premiere, ushering in a new era for\u00a0NCIS.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Tony is one of three major\u00a0NCIS<\/em>\u00a0characters returning to CBS this fall, alongside Mark Harmon reprising Leroy Jethro Gibbs in\u00a0NCIS: Origins<\/em>\u00a0Season 3 and LL Cool J reprising Sam Hanna for\u00a0NCIS: New York.<\/em>\u00a0NCIS<\/em>\u00a0has confirmed Tony will have a season-long arc, and \u201cClean Slate\u201d establishes how Tony will fundamentally change the director role in Season 24.<\/p>\n

Tony Breaks NCIS\u2019s Rules In Season 24<\/h2>\n
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\"Michael\u00a0<\/picture>Image via Paramount+<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Tony is throwing out the rulebook for how an NCIS director operates, establishing that he will act as both the agency\u2019s leader and, occasionally, one of its agents in Season 24. Despite\u00a0Special Agent Timothy McGee (Sean Murray)<\/a>\u00a0saying the title still doesn\u2019t sound real, \u201cDirector DiNozzo\u201d has a nice ring to it, and Tony gets comfortable in Episode 2.<\/p>\n

He suggests NCIS will barely notice him after pulling the biohazard alarm to test his ranks. However, Tony\u2019s changes in \u201cClean Slate\u201d are impossible to ignore, and it\u2019s not just the movie posters and popcorn machine he\u2019s added to the NCIS director\u2019s office. As the agents quickly notice, Tony prefers to be hands-on with the case, raising some concern.<\/p>\n

Tony checks in with\u00a0NCIS Forensic Scientist<\/a> Kasie Hines (Diona Reasonover) and Dr. Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen) during the case, which, as other characters point out, isn\u2019t standard operating procedure for an NCIS director. But Tony really raises eyebrows when he joins Jessica Knight (Katrina Law) in the interrogation, prompting Alden Parker (Gary Cole) to have McGee say something.<\/p>\n

Tony practically reads McGee\u2019s mind, anticipating the collective concern that he doesn\u2019t understand his role as NCIS director. However, as McGee finds out, Tony understands it exceptionally well. He says his job kills people, but it kills their soul first, and blowing off steam by busting bad guys is the only way he knows how to survive it.<\/p>\n

That said,\u00a0NCIS<\/em>\u00a0Season 24, Episode 2, properly justifies Tony breaking with standard protocol, and he still follows a formula. As Tony points out, other NCIS directors managed stress in their own ways, and as a former NCIS agent, he solves crimes. So while it\u2019s unconventional, the team can count on Tony\u2019s help this season.<\/p>\n

Will McGee Take Over As NCIS Director?<\/h2>\n
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\"Michael\u00a0<\/picture>Image via CBS<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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NCIS<\/em>\u00a0is making major changes to the director role. That said, the agency\u2019s entire power structure also seems to be shifting after\u00a0Director Leon Vance\u2019s (Rocky Carroll) death in\u00a0NCIS<\/em>\u2018s 500th episode<\/a>\u00a0set off a chain reaction. March is also considering advancing McGee, as Tony reveals she plans to have him take over her job.<\/p>\n

However, some fans theorize that McGee would become NCIS director in Season 24, and there are several pitfalls about him becoming SecNav. If McGee becomes NCIS director, he could stay part of the story. However, if McGee becomes SecNav, he would be separated from the team and work in a more political role at the Pentagon.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also a logistical concern about McGee\u2019s advancement, since the president, not the acting official, appoints SecNav. Still,\u00a0NCIS<\/em>\u00a0hasn\u2019t had time to explain exactly how Marsh\u2019s plans would play out, since Tony drops the information at the end of the episode. The series has had little time to explore the development, including whether McGee is interested.<\/p>\n

That said, Tony may not stay on as director past\u00a0NCIS<\/em>\u00a0Season 24, so the series could still have McGee in mind for the job. After\u00a0Tony replaced Vance as NCIS director<\/a>, agents like Knight and Nick Torres (Wilmer Valderrama) started voicing their support for McGee, so the show seems aware of fan expectations and may deliver.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

NCIS<\/em>\u00a0initially announced that\u00a0Michael Weatherly would reprise Tony in\u00a0NCIS<\/em>\u00a0Season 24<\/a>\u00a0for a season-long story, which could easily mean just one season. While Tony becoming NCIS director suggests expanding that arc, the plan could also be to make the most of the current installment and then have Tony exit the series and McGee take over.<\/p>\n

Weatherly\u2019s return to the flagship also sets up an on-screen\u00a0NCIS<\/em>\u00a0reunion between Gibbs and Tony after 10 years<\/a>, further suggesting Tony\u2019s return could be a one-off to deliver a massive\u00a0NCIS<\/em>\u00a0slate this fall. All that said, while some fans will undoubtedly want to see Tony stay, others may prefer McGee in the director\u2019s chair rather than as SecNav.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NCIS\u00a0is breaking the oldest rule in the book for Tony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly), letting him serve as both NCIS director and special agent in Season 24. Tony\u2019s Season 24 return made waves when Secretary...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8625,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/freshstoryes.lol\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/freshstoryes.lol\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/freshstoryes.lol\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freshstoryes.lol\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freshstoryes.lol\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8624"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/freshstoryes.lol\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8624\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8626,"href":"https:\/\/freshstoryes.lol\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8624\/revisions\/8626"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freshstoryes.lol\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/freshstoryes.lol\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freshstoryes.lol\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freshstoryes.lol\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}