Parker’s Hunt For His Father’s Murderer in The NCIS Season 23 Premiere Was Intense, But It’s The Drama With His Sister That Really Has Me On Edge

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Warning: SPOILERS for the NCIS Season 23 premiere are ahead!

The season finale of *NCIS* ended with a shocking discovery: Alden Parker, played by Gary Cole, returned home to find his father murdered. The prime suspect is Carla Marino, a Kansas City mob boss who blames Parker for her son’s death years ago.

The new season of *NCIS* kicked off with Parker immediately searching for Carla. Although that storyline was exciting and revealed a larger danger, I found myself more worried about the difficult relationship between Parker and his sister, Navy Vice Admiral Harriet Parker, who is played by Nancy Travis.

Parker Crossed Some Major Lines Looking For Carla Marino

As Gary Cole foreshadowed in our May interview, Alden Parker quickly broke the rules in “Prodigal Son (Part 1)” while trying to find Carla Marino. He started by orchestrating a series of fake bomb threats to shut down transportation along the East Coast, preventing her escape. Then, despite Director Vance’s orders to stand down, the team secretly aided Parker, and he ended up in a gunfight when Carla’s rivals kidnapped one of her associates. After the team rescued the man, Parker went too far while questioning him, discovering Carla had used the stolen gun to kill Roman.

The team eventually discovered Carla would be aboard the ship *Quentin*, which was docked in Baltimore and sailing to Newfoundland – I’ll get into the details of that shortly. While Carla’s story will wrap up soon, it’s becoming clear that Alden Parker’s past choices will have lasting effects throughout Season 23, and have already damaged his working relationship with Vance.

Parker Is In His Sister’s Bad Graces Personally And Professionally

Despite not appearing together on screen in the present day, Alden Parker and Harriet’s complicated relationship was a major focus in the first part of “Prodigal Son.” Flashbacks revealed that Parker’s troubled youth and time in juvenile detention created distance between them, as Harriet struggled with how his behavior impacted their father’s well-being. After Roman’s death, neither sibling was eager to connect, though Harriet did attempt to call Parker, who didn’t respond.

More on NCIS

NCIS will pick up the thread of Parker’s mysterious past with Lily in its 23rd season, and the show’s creator recently clarified a key detail about that storyline, which is great news for fans.

This fall, NCIS and its prequel, NCIS: Origins, will be having a crossover event, and I’m really intrigued by the idea of a story that spans decades.

The personal drama in the NCIS Season 23 premiere created some tension, but things escalated when Harriet Parker became involved in the search for Carla Marino. It was discovered that the Quentin was suspected of transporting weapons and people connected to dangerous groups. Because of this, Navy Special Operations brought in Vice Admiral Parker to lead the operation concerning the ship.

Here’s the situation: Alden Parker secretly boarded the ship, the Quentin, hoping to locate Carla. However, an even more serious issue has arisen: Alden’s wife, Harriet, has received orders to destroy the Quentin with explosives before it leaves U.S. waters. This is because Carla Marino attempted to detonate a dirty bomb in the United States last year, and the Navy isn’t willing to risk her causing further harm.

Harriet gave the order to attack the Quentin at the end of the latest episode, but it’s likely something will stop that from happening in the next part of the story. We still need to see how the Parker siblings react when they finally meet and discuss the murder of their father – a crime motivated by a desire to harm Alden. New episodes of *NCIS* air Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on CBS and are available to stream on Paramount+ after they air.

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2025-10-15 04:08