McGee’s NCIS Future Is Confirmed By Sean Murray After Historic Twist

While not part of Leroy Jethro Gibbs’ original MCRT team, Sean Murray’s character has been in the procedural since its first season in 2003. More than two decades later and he is now the longest-serving cast member of NCIS during the 2025-2026 TV cycle, which means that he has gone through a lot over the years. That said, nobody could have prepared viewers for the massive plot twist that the show delivered involving the character in the episode “In Too Deep.”

The story is a classic case of McGee’s worlds colliding, as MCRT finds out that an abducted scientist, Gloria, at the center of the mystery once dated Murray’s character. NCIS never mentioned this relationship, which apparently quietly went down 18 years ago, and in-between his relationships with Abby Sciuto and his eventual wife, Delilah Fielding. Beyond the reunion with his old-flame, the case also led to McGee learning that he has a secret son with Gloria — Matteo. NCIS season 23, episode 12 ends with him expressing his desire to build a relationship with his son.

In a new interview with USA Today, Murray discussed the major story bomb from “In Too Deep,” offering an idea of what to expect from McGee’s story after this twist. The actor confirms that this plot isn’t just going to fade into obscurity, as NCIS has every intention of exploring the ramifications of this reveal. He points out that while McGee will eventually fall comfortable with the idea of having a full-grown son, it’s still unclear how Delilah will react. Read his full quote below:

“McGee has already prided himself in being a good father, because his relationship with his own father was not wonderful,” says Murray. “The idea that he has an 18-year-old son freaks him out at first, but he falls into the father role naturally.”

“So much remains to be seen, such as, how is Delilah going to react to this? We’re not going to set this and forget it. We’ll revisit this for sure.”

Ahead of the reveal, teases about someone from McGee’s past was appearing in NCIS season 23 were prevalent. Theories about who it might be included his sister and mother. Since Gloria was never even mentioned in the show, there was really no way of knowing where CBS was going with this storyline. Ultimately, however, it’s a good way to shake things up for the character. While the possibility of having a long-lost son was previously done with Gibbs, this is the first time that it ended up not being a red herring.

It’s good to know that NCIS isn’t done with this storyline just because McGee already found out about Matteo’s existence. So many storylines in procedurals, especially in long-running ones, tend to get lost in the shuffle because so much was happening. It’s curious, however, when Matteo will physically return to the series. Considering Director Vance’s other jaw-dropping news about the agency shutting down, it would be understandable if CBS doesn’t follow up with this story anytime soon.

McGee’s story has stagnated on NCIS for quite a while now. Because of the way MCRT is currently set up, there’s really no room for him to move up the agency ladder unless there’s a massive shake-up in the organization, which can still happen, given the government’s situation. However, if that doesn’t move the needle for McGee, at least he has another compelling story to navigate.