Full spoilers for “Empty Nest,” the NCIS Season 22 premiere. The episode opens with the team scattered: Jessica Knight is training in California, Nick Torres is missing during an undercover cartel operation, and Alden Parker needs Knight’s help. The case brings her back into the field—and leads her to choose her former team in Washington, D.C.
What happens in “Empty Nest”?
“Empty Nest” is the first episode of NCIS Season 22. It aired October 14, 2024, and runs 43 minutes. CBS’s official premise is: “NCIS searches for a missing undercover agent in the midst of an active hostage situation.” Contemporary coverage identifies the missing agent as Torres and follows the case through Knight’s return to the team.
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The premiere’s ten most significant moments and reveals are below, in story order where the available reporting establishes it.
The 10 biggest moments and reveals
1. The story jumps six months ahead, with Knight in California
The premiere picks up six months after the Season 21 finale. Knight has settled into a Camp Pendleton REACT training job, a substantial change from her former work with the Washington team.
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2. The team has been split across different jobs
Knight is in California, Torres is undercover, and McGee is pursuing the deputy-director position. Back in Washington, Parker is running the operation with Jimmy Palmer and Kasie Hines. The team’s separation shapes both the case and the episode’s emotional stakes.
3. Torres goes missing during the undercover operation
Torres’s disappearance is the case’s central emergency. The official premise identifies a missing undercover agent; reporting on the episode names Torres and connects his operation to a cartel investigation.
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4. Parker asks Knight to help find him
With Torres missing, Parker goes to Knight in California. She is no longer assigned to his team, but the case draws her back into work with her former leader and colleagues.
5. Knight’s hostage setup is a misdirection
The opening image of Knight holding a priest suggests she has taken an innocent clergyman hostage. TVLine’s account identifies the man as El Padre, a drug magnate tied to Torres’s operation. The apparent hostage scene is therefore part of Knight’s attempt to get answers, not the simple abduction it first appears to be.
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- Genre: TV Action & Adventure
- Number of Discs: 4
- Number of Tracks: 0
- Playback Duration: 630
- Number of Movies: 0
6. Attorney Cecilia Ross becomes part of Knight’s plan
Knight also holds divorce attorney Cecilia Ross. She suspects Ross is on El Padre’s payroll and believes the attorney may have information that can help save Torres. The episode’s hostage tension thus connects directly to Knight’s effort to locate the missing agent.
7. The investigation reaches Knight’s new REACT team
The case does not stay confined to the old NCIS group: reporting says a member of Knight’s new team is caught up in the investigation. Memorable TV further reports that Torres remains undercover to prevent a hit on one of Knight’s former trainees. The available accounts do not establish more scene-by-scene detail about that thread.
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- Genre: TV Action & Adventure
- Number of Discs: 6
- Number of Tracks: 0
- Playback Duration: 934
- Rating: NR
8. The empty nest is felt by the people left behind
Jimmy and Kasie are left in Washington as their colleagues work elsewhere, and coverage describes them worrying about the team’s separation. Knight and Jimmy are also still apart after their breakup; the premiere does not resolve their relationship.
9. McGee’s deputy-director pursuit takes an unexpected turn
McGee is pursuing the deputy-director job, but the episode introduces Gabe LaRoche as his new boss. The recap coverage does not provide enough detail to treat that development as a complete hiring sequence or to call any wider rivalry or mole theory a reveal confirmed by this episode.
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10. Knight chooses to return to the Washington team
After helping with the case, Knight decides to decline a better promotion in California and return to her D.C. job. Parker accepts her decision. In a TVLine interview published October 14, 2024, Katrina Law described Knight’s pull toward home: “I thought I needed something new, I thought I needed to get away from everybody and just start over fresh, but ultimately what I want and what I need is to go home — and home is in D.C. at this moment.”
The choice is made in “Empty Nest,” but TVLine notes that viewers do not see Knight physically back at her desk by the episode’s end; she is back by Episode 2. Her decision is the premiere’s clearest character resolution, while her return to the familiar workplace follows in the next episode.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the premiere sets up—and what it does not resolve
- Knight’s homecoming: She chooses the D.C. team over her California promotion, though the on-screen return to her desk comes later.
- The team’s changing shape: Torres’s undercover work, McGee’s ambition, and the scattered colleagues establish ongoing season threads.
- McGee and LaRoche: LaRoche’s arrival as McGee’s boss is established, but broader implications are not confirmed by the episode coverage.
The available episode reporting does not establish that “Empty Nest” identifies Lily or resolves Parker’s visions, so neither should be treated as a reveal from this premiere.
Episode details
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Episode | “Empty Nest,” NCIS Season 22, Episode 1 |
| U.S. air date | October 14, 2024 |
| Runtime | 43 minutes |
| U.S. content rating | TV-PG V,L |
| Director | Diana Valentine |
| Writer | Christopher J. Waild |
CBS’s U.S. listing says a Paramount+ subscription is required to stream its hosted episode video. That listing does not establish availability in other territories or current access elsewhere.
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