{"id":918311,"date":"2026-10-06T15:18:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T15:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/918311\/"},"modified":"2026-10-06T15:18:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T15:18:08","slug":"ncis-new-york-review-ll-cool-j-leads-a-solid-spinoff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/918311\/","title":{"rendered":"‘NCIS: New York’ Review: LL Cool J Leads a Solid Spinoff"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tThree years after \u201cNCIS: Los Angeles\u201d wrapped its 14-season run, LL Cool J<\/a> has returned to the franchise as Senior Special Agent Sam Hanna in CBS<\/a>\u2019 new \u201cNCIS\u201d spinoff, \u201cNCIS: New York<\/a>.\u201d Created by R. Scott Gemmill \u2014 also the creator of \u201cThe Pitt\u201d \u2014 the series follows Sam, who returns to his hometown after years working in the field across the globe. Though Sam is initially in New York only for one case, he finds himself drawn to the city and to a new team who are ready to defend one of the world\u2019s most vital ports. Though critics were just given the pilot for review, the episode works fine as a new extension of one of CBS\u2019 longest-running franchises.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe 20-episode season opens nearly 7,000 miles away from the Big Apple. Sam, who speaks Arabic fluently and whose specialties brought him to the Middle East, is working in Dubai. However, he is distracted by the repeated rings of his cellphone. An old friend, a Navy Reservist, has called him several times and left numerous voicemails. Sam notes the calls, but he keeps focusing on his case. Unfortunately, by the time he returns his friend\u2019s phone call, the man is lying dead on a bench in Central Park.<\/p>\n

Back stateside, Sam finds himself at the Naval Criminal Investigative Service\u2019s New York office at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. After convincing Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge Robyn Wells (Jennifer Beals<\/a>) to let him investigate what happened to his friend, Robyn partners Sam with Nick Schaeffer (Scott Caan<\/a>, playing a different role from his \u201cHawaii Five-O\u201d character, who\u2019d appeared on \u201cNCIS: Los Angeles in a crossover episode). Nick is an agent with a devil-may-care attitude, who shares Sam\u2019s love of NYC. Rounding out the New York field office are Special Agent Addison \u201cAddy\u201d Ross (Jacqueline Byers), Special Agent Wyatt Sellers (Shane Harper) and Sean Sullivan (Devin Druid), a young, ill-mannered techie who\u2019s stuck working for NCIS only because he was caught hacking the police pension fund.<\/p>\n

\u201cNCIS: New York\u201d works like a well-oiled machine. Sam and Nick\u2019s first case involves murder, a love scam, kidnapping and a massive shootout. Viewers get only glimmers of the characters\u2019 personalities and backgrounds, but the show offers enough detail and texture to understand how Season 1 might unfold. LL Cool J\u2019s Sam and Caan\u2019s Nick have great chemistry and work well as a buddy-comedy duo rather than a dark, overserious pair, which adds levity to the series. Despite some corny jokes that mostly play on the two men\u2019s height difference, their banter is all in good fun and will undoubtedly endear itself to long-time fans of the \u201cNCIS\u201d universe.<\/p>\n

New York City also plays a major role in \u201cNCIS: New York.\u201d While trying to solve the mystery of the Navy Reservist\u2019s death, Sam and the team journey across town, from Brooklyn to Queens and even the Diamond District in Midtown. Beyond the repartee between Nick and Sam, Addy and Wyatt share a sibling-like relationship that could turn into something more, especially since Wyatt is nursing a broken heart following the sudden end of his engagement. Moreover, \u201cNCIS\u201d fans will certainly be interested to see what kind of bond and connection Sam and Robyn could form, even as he still mourns his late wife.<\/p>\n

\u201cNCIS: New York\u201d is a solid spinoff. Though the show (thus far) doesn\u2019t necessarily elevate the franchise, it has all the components that have made it a staple of network television for the last two decades. With a beloved character in Sam and some brand-new faces entering the scene, the show is steady, intriguing and will likely go the distance.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cNCIS: New York\u201d debuts Oct. 6 on CBS, with the remaining episodes airing weekly on Tuesdays.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Three years after \u201cNCIS: Los Angeles\u201d wrapped its 14-season run, LL Cool J has returned to the franchise…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":918312,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[64,63,3871,134,371182,2775,371183,486424,427],"class_list":["post-918311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cbs","tag-entertainment","tag-jennifer-beals","tag-ll-cool-j","tag-ncis-new-york","tag-scott-caan","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/918311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=918311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/918311\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/918312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=918311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=918311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=918311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}