Almost a decade before NCIS: Hawai’i gave viewers Vanessa Lachey as Special Agent in Charge Jane Tennant, Kim Raver was poised to lead NCIS: Red. Introduced in a two-part backdoor pilot episode of NCIS: Los Angeles in 2013, Red featured a mobile team of agents. This Red Team — hence the show’s name — was ready to be sent out to hotspots around the country. Despite the intriguing concept, the show was ultimately shelved and NCIS: New Orleans was developed instead. But what could Red have brought to the NCIS franchise?
The cast of characters had unexplored potential. Raver’s lead agent Paris Summerskill was another strong female character who had to deal with the reappearance of her ex-partner Roy Haines. There was a murky history to be explored between Paris and Haines (played by John Corbett), who was shot in the line of duty and now worked as an analyst.
Other team members included cheeky forensic specialist Dave Flynn (Scott Grimes of American Dad fame), tech specialist Kai Ashe (Edwin Hodge) and two other field agents, Claire Keats and Danny Gallagher (played by Gillian Alexy and Kenneth Mitchell).
Raver’s character had a no-nonsense Gibbs vibe and came across as tough, but fair. And with past events sparking tension between her and team member Roy Haines — his presence stirring unsettling memories and trust issues — story arcs abounded. That tension could have played out in a head-to-head conflict between them as NCIS: Red progressed, even causing division inside the unit. And with the quirky forensics analyst interjecting humor plus a comfortable team quality, the show had that familiar NCIS ambience.
The concept of the show also presented a fascinating glimpse of what could have been. A mobile team on the go was a different concept for the franchise that could have made NCIS: Red similar to Criminal Minds (which is about to make a comeback) as the characters interacted or clashed with local military authorities or other law enforcement. A different location each week would have kept the show fresh and expanded the world of NCIS, even presenting crossover possibilities with other CBS shows — something the network accomplished several years later with NCIS: Los Angeles and Hawaii Five-0.
NCIS: Red‘s legacy lies only in the two episodes shown as part of NCIS: Los Angeles and its lost promise. Some of what it tried to delve into with character and setting were realized in the spinoffs that followed: NCIS: New Orleans and NCIS: Hawai’i. But it’s interesting to consider that before returning as Dr. Teddy Altman on the possibly overdue Grey’s Anatomy, Kim Raver could have blazed a trail in the NCIS franchise instead.
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