Spoiler Alert for NCIS season 22, episode 5, "Out From the Cold"
NCIS justifies why McGee failed to get promoted to become the NCIS Deputy Director. After turning down the promotion to lead the team instead of Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon), McGee misses another opportunity to advance his career in the NCIS season 22 premiere. He gets sidelined by NCIS season 22's new villain, Gabrielle LaRoche (Seamus) Dever, who MCRT suspects of being a mole. Tim hears from Director Leon Vance (Rocky Carroll) that he didn't get the position, leaving McGee as a Senior Field Agent. While McGee is great with the team, season 22 has focused on McGee's potential elsewhere.
That changes in NCIS season 22, episode 5, "In From the Cold," when the team investigates a hostage situation that gets them entangled in a CIA operation involving a former Soviet Union spy. The spy, Captain Thomas Butler, is experiencing memory issues, causing his brain to "time shift" from his current reality. At some point, Butler insists he needs to talk to Sparrow, a 1970s CIA operative who looks strikingly like McGee. McGee dresses up as Sparrow to get incriminating information, reinvigorating his position on the Major Case Response Team (MCRT) and proving he's right where he needs to be.
NCIS Season 22, Episode 5 Shows Just How Great McGee Is At Field Work
McGee Wants To Advance But Is Great Where He Is
NCIS season 22, episode 5, show proves that no matter how badly McGee wants to move up the organization's ladder, he is a talented field agent, which adds to the show's appeal. McGee's disguise as Sparrow in "Out From the Cold" has high stakes, but ultimately, it is fun, and it proves that McGee is a versatile character and that his skills are perfectly inclined to investigate with his team. If McGee had been promoted in the season 22 premiere, seeing him in a different role would have been exciting, but it would have caused distance from his fieldwork.
McGee's fun disguise as Sparrow in NCIS season 22 proves that, while the agent is more than qualified for career advancement, McGee adds something unique to Parker's team. Knowing that McGee is the team's senior-most agent, Tim's dated costume is all the more compelling. His character drags his feet about dressing up, but ultimately, it's one of the best scenes that Sean Murray has had in recent seasons. In "Out From the Cold," McGee is the center of the excitement. It seems he will die briefly, giving McGee some well-deserved action in season 22 after focusing more on his personal life.
Can McGee Still Get His Promotion In NCIS Season 22?
McGee Is Still Investigating Gabrielle LaRoche
All that said, McGee can still become NCIS Deputy Director. While the team learned that Gabrielle LaRoche would be the new director instead of McGee, they also suspected him of being a mole in the agency. Despite that, LaRoche has taken a backseat in season 22, but he's not forgotten. NCIS season 22, episode 3, reveals that McGee is secretly investigating LaRoche, and if he finds dirt, then Vance could oust the Deputy Director from his position, and McGee could take over.
Still, even if LaRoche loses his job in NCIS season 22, the series will have to decide if it makes sense to move McGee higher in the ranks, especially after his performance in "Out From the Cold." The episode is a reminder that McGee is a talented and entertaining field agent, and he's been with the team for more than 20 years, which makes his value insurmountable. However, McGee's seniority is a reason to move the agent to a higher position, as long as the team has the best Timothy McGee replacement to take over on NCIS.
