Spoiler warning for anyone who hasn't seen tonight's episode of NCIS.
Before Season 14 of NCIS introduced its trio of talented new cast members to counter the absence of Michael Weatherly, the last time the drana brought in a new regular was back in Season 11, when Emily Wickersham joined the show as Ellie Bishop. The former NSA analyst was one of the big focuses of tonight's episode, "Enemy Combatant," as viewers not only got to meet her trio of nerve-grating brothers, but also got to meet her secret coworker boyfriend, who turned out not to be Gibbs, to the relief of the brothers.
No, NCIS revealed that Bishop has been getting romantic with Rafi Silver's Qasim Naasir, who was first introduced back in Season 12's "Lost in Translation" as the brother of terrorist Rasheed Naasir. Thankfully for everyone, Qasim is nowhere near as nefarious as his sibling, and he's on the right side of the law. In fact, he appeared a couple of times in tonight's episode before that big reveal, and we watched him working with Bishop on translating transcripts of an interrogation. Eagle-eyed viewers, especially ones who always suspect other people are up to no good, almost certainly got suspicious when Gibbs surprised the couple with dinner and they were a little too quick to show just how not together they were just then in that moment there.
There's a reason Bishop was somewhat worried about going public with her and Qasim's relationship. After all, her boss is Leroy Jethro Gibbs, the man who invented that all-important Rule 12. You know, the one that says a little something about not dating coworkers. When Bishop confronts Gibbs with her repenting admission that she's dating a colleague, however, the Lead Special Agent just responds with a simple "Took you long enough." Don't you hate when you've been worrying over something, and it turns out it was all for naught? And Gibbs usually doesn't make anything happen for naught.
Surprisingly, Bishop's brothers were only obnoxious and uncomfortable before they found out who their sister was getting dirty with, and they were quick to welcome Qasim once they finally knew who he was. Earlier, they basically had a suspect list formulated, and were going around on a bit of a witch hunt. Not that Bishop's coworkers were any better, with Quinn trying to coerce confessions and Abby crafting a Love Meter program that revealed, of all things, Bishop and Gibbs have an 87% compatibility match. That's...well, that's information to put aside for a rainy day.
With more romance and secrets undoubtedly coming in the future, NCIS airs Tuesday nights on CBS. Check our fall premiere schedule and our midseason premiere schedule to see what's yet to come on the small screen.
