When NCIS returns for Season 22 in October 2024, the Navy Criminal Investigative Service will continue to be led by agent Alden Parker (Gary Cole). Parker took the leadership duties following Leroy Jethro Gibbs’ emotional exit in 2021, proving to be a brilliant decision by the showrunners. Cole not only possesses the dramatic gravitas to fill Gibbs’ shoes, but he also plays a firmly established character that helps maintain the series’ continuity.
While Parker can be a loner at times, his colleagues and coworkers have come to love and respect his leadership qualities, something Cole felt was vital when accepting to replace Harmon, who has been the face of the show since its inception in 2003. Although other characters could have been named as Gibbs’ replacement, Parker’s graduation to the top of the NCIS ranks has injected newfound energy into the long-running police procedural that should continue ahead.
Who Is Leroy Jethro Gibbs on NCIS & Why Did He Depart?
Introduced in the NCIS pilot, Mark Harmon played Leroy Jethro Gibbs for 19 seasons and over 430 episodes of the popular police procedural. Gibbs leads the Naval Criminal Investigative Service in the Washington D.C. area, solving a rash of military, civilian, and terrorist crimes perpetrated on American soil. In the field, Gibbs is an expert marksman skilled at deescalating violent showdowns. In the office, Gibbs detests bureaucratic waste and wants things done efficiently. He can be strict with his subordinates, but usually means well and has a strong moral compass guiding the team forward.
Despite meaning well, Gibbs was forced to step down as NCIS leader after being suspended for beating a dog killer. Yet, rather than retire, Gibbs leaves his post and ventures into the Alaska wilderness to find peace and solace. A tragic family death also informed his decision to leave his investigative duties behind, effectively handing the reins to Agent Alden Parker (Gary Cole), a popular series mainstay since 2021. In Alaska, Gibbs found a sense of peace he hadn’t experienced for 30 years, since the death of his wife and daughter. As such, he decided to stay north and forgo his NCIS duties. Upon leaving, Gibbs suggests Parker take his place, the first of many reasons Cole makes an ideal substitute for Harmon.
Who Does Gary Cole Play on NCIS?
Introduced in Season 19, Episode 2, “Nearly Departed,” Gary Gole has played Agent Alden Parker in NCIS for three seasons and 54 episodes and counting. A former FBI Special Agent, Parker was recruited from the Navy Yard and named a Supervisory Special Agent for the NCIS team. With a firmer moral backbone that makes him a suitable replacement for Gibbs, Parker resigns from the FBI after paralyzing his former partner Jeremy Brighton (Michael Patrick Thronton) with a gunshot wound. Parker felt so guilty and remorseful that he left the bureau and joined the NCIS team. He may have hidden his FBI identity for a time, but Parker behaves properly when it’s time to act.
Great leadership entails accountability. Unlike Gibbs, who left his colleagues and ran away to Alaska in part to avoid his legal trouble, Parker faces his responsibilities head-on. In Season 20, Episode 14, “Old Wounds,” Parker visits Brighton and gives a heartfelt apology. Speaking with TV Insider about the scene, Gary Cole stated:
“It’s as emotional a scene as I’ve done in quite a long time, and I was able to do that in a more effective way than maybe I ever had — just because of life experience and working as an actor. I wanted Parker to get the letter and read it back to his partner, almost in anger at first, and then discover the turn [to forgiveness] that the letter makes almost as if it just kind of overtook him and he didn’t expect it. That’s what we wound up doing. It brought some closure to whatever Parker had been holding on to over that.”
Beyond the moral underpinnings of his character and the leadership qualities needed for the NCIS crew to succeed, Gary Cole is the right choice to replace Mark Harmon for several reasons.
Why Alden Parker Is the Best Choice to Replace Gibbs on NCIS
Apart from the ethical leadership qualities and emotional anchor his character levies, the caliber of acting Gary Gole brings to the show is the primary reason he’s such a great Gibbs replacement. Whether playing deadpan humor like Bill Lumberg in Office Space, a wise-cracking politico in Veep, or a drug-dealing criminal in Sam Raimi’s A Simple Plan, Gary Cole has the acting chops to play supporting and leading roles in TV and film, regardless of genre. It takes an experienced and talented performer of that stature to replace someone like Harmon, another veteran film and TV actor who played Gibbs in over 400 episodes.
Despite getting off to a rocky start with his agents, fans loved Cole as Parker from his first day. His workplace strictures are balanced by his quirky penchant for disguise, birding, exotic baked goods, and growing plants, making for a complex character who has plenty of layers to peel back moving forward. When asked about the bonding episode between him and his team in Season 19, Episode 11, “All Hands,” Cole stated:
“The circumstances were so black and white. People’s lives were on the line. Being in charge, he was responsible for them. Before then, the team had reason to not necessarily have a lot of confidence or trust in him because Gibbs had been there so long that they were used to one thing, and Parker was not that. In this episode, he’s proving himself to the team.”
At the end of Season 21, Gibbs and Knight (Jessica Law) are trapped inside an ancient Navy ship by a mysterious assailant, setting up a compelling cliffhanger ahead of Season 22. After Gibbs deliberately named Parker his professional replacement, it’s entirely logical to continue NCIS under Parker’s leadership. The decision ensures that the show maintains continuity while honoring Gibbs’ last wish on the job. Off-screen, replacing a heavyweight TV veteran like Harmon with an equally adept performer like Gary Cole ensures that the long-running police procedural will retain the same level of acting and dramatic storytelling.
Another key reason Parker is a great Gibbs replacement is his mysterious background, which can be filled in as the series progresses. As Cole states:
“We don’t know much about what went on when he was younger, but I think at one point he was yearning for his dad’s attention or approval. He loves his father, but it doesn’t come easy between the two of ’em.”
Between the on-screen drama and off-screen experience, Gary Cole is the perfect choice to replace Mark Harmon to keep NCIS afloat under Alden Parker’s leadership in 2024 and beyond.