SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers for NCIS Season 24, Episode 3.

Episode 3 of NCIS Season 24 is a Nick Torres-centric story, which means actor Wilmer Valderrama gets a chance to shine. And Valderrama is indeed excellent in “Sleeping Dogs.” The plot of the CBS show, though, goes down a predictable path right up to the very end.

As the title indicates, “Sleeping Dogs” sees Torres’ past come back to haunt him. Someone uses his undercover identity to carry out a string of murders related to a case he worked 13 years ago, forcing Torres to confront his old self—mostly in the person of his old handler, Walt Keller (portrayed by Mike O’Malley of Snowpiercer). Audiences can guess about the general themes that the episode is going to cover, and those who’ve seen enough TV crime dramas can intuit that the real Dante Navarro is going to be someone seen in that initial 2013 flashback.

Episodes where heroes confront their difficult pasts and/or people in them are common in this genre, and they can be memorable if done well, since they allow for heightened emotion and additional tension. “Sleeping Dogs” largely relies on Valderrama to provide both. This isn’t the first time NCIS has examined Torres’ complicated history, and he’s able to convey all of the expected inner turmoil that comes with it. The episode really lives or dies on Torres’ emotional journey, and Valderrama particularly excels in the more vulnerable moments.

Multi-hyphenate O’Malley isn’t given as much to work with. Keller is described by Torres as “old-school” and he embodies that stereotype in every conceivable way. His spiel to Torres about how Dante Navarro is the “real” him is incredibly on the nose, as is the late-episode reveal that Keller is not above board. It’s not uncommon in stories like this for the past friend to turn out to be in on the plot, although at least Keller isn’t the murderer.

There’s also some awkwardness in the continued effort to incorporate Michael Weatherly in every episode now that Tony DiNozzo is director of NCIS. In “Sleeping Dogs,” Tony feels like he’s essentially doing a drive-by for the most part, except for his final scene debriefing Torres. That scene, in which DiNozzo asks Torres what happened, could have been longer and shown more of Tony’s serious side. Instead, DiNozzo is mostly present for comic relief, including a subplot in which Jimmy Palmer wants to celebrate more birthdays that never gets off the ground.

Then there’s the ending: wracked with guilt over the fact that the family he promised to save “slipped through the cracks” (in Keller’s words), which then prompted their daughter to become Dante Navarro, Torres goes to Keller about a potential off-book job with the CIA. NCIS fans will understandably ask if this means Torres is leaving the show. There’s no indication of that, yet this would be such a disappointing way for him to potentially go out. It’d be an undoing of all of his progress as an NCIS agent. If he’s not leaving, what’s the point of that last scene? Is it the start of a short-term subplot (like what just occurred on FBI)? Is it an in-universe explanation for Valderrama taking a few episodes off? Either way, it doesn’t seem like a conclusion that adds anything.

“Sleeping Dogs” is a reminder of what Wilmer Valderrama brings to NCIS, and it’s always fun to see him lead an episode. Past that, though, the plot is predictable and ends in a head-scratching place. There have been better Torres-centric episodes before; this one just doesn’t work out.

NCIS airs Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on CBS. Photo Credit: Courtesy of CBS.

Article content is (c)2020-2026 Brittany Frederick and may not be excerpted or reproduced without express written permission by the author. Follow me on Twitter at @BFTVTwtr and on Instagram at @BFTVGram. For story pitches, contact me at tvbrittanyf@yahoo.com.