NCIS: Sean Murray Breaks Down McGee's Wild Book Fantasies ('This Was A Fun One'), Hints At A Key Character's Return

Warning: This post contains spoilers for Tuesday's "NCIS." 

McGee's second life as a book author collided with his first life as a federal agent in a big way this week on "NCIS."

In Tuesday's episode, McGee was kidnapped while promoting the latest book in his "Deep Six" crime series. As McGee was chained to a bed in the attic, he began hallucinating that he was talking with the characters from his books... who looked a lot like his fellow NCIS team members. Gary Cole, Wilmer Valderrama, and Katrina Law all got to play literary alter egos, with Parker going the scholarly route as "Professor Parkman," Torres nerding out as "Rick Soares" and Knight picking up an accent and wearing a tight bodysuit as, um, "Knightingdale."    

"This was a fun one," Sean Murray, who plays McGee on the long-running CBS procedural, tells TVLine. "It was like a completely different show, in a lot of respects, in terms of the sets and the characters and everything... It was a lot of fun watching all of our guys come together and seeing them play these very, very different types of characters."  

Murray adds that in Season 23, "we feel kind of renewed. There's sort of this renewed energy. We're like, 'You know what? We're lucky enough to be here 23 years later. Let's not just rest on our laurels.' We always push it forward." And he loved getting the chance to dabble in the realm of fantasy: "I'm a big fan of dream sequences and all that. I'm a big David Lynch freak. So when it comes to things like dream sequences, I am game to do that stuff."

A lot of the fun came from seeing his longtime co-stars take on different personas, Murray says: "Wilmer, Katrina and Gary and I are together all the time. We have a big shorthand. We know each other's characters... So this was kind of like, 'Oh, I can't wait to see what Gary's gonna come and try.' 'I can't wait to see what Wilmer's gonna try.'" It was a way for them all to flex their acting muscles, he notes: "Watching Wilmer's discovery of 'Rick Soares' and the sweater vest and the glasses, the sort of intonations in the way that he would talk, completely different from Wilmer or Torres, was fantastic." 

Murray even encouraged Law to push her character further, he recalls: "She was like, 'Should I try and do kind of a semi accent, you know? A little bit character-y, somewhat cartoonish?' It's like, 'Yes, yes, let's see everyone do something we haven't seen before at all."

He doesn't think McGee should quit his day job and pursue being an author full-time, though: "I think McGee was very successful early on in this Thom E. Gemcity outings, and I think maybe he's not quite at the level that he was at one point." For now, he's happy with it being just a side hustle: "You're dealing with a federal agent salary, [which is] probably not so great," so "that extra shoe money from the writing, I think that can help at this point. The kids are getting older. I think that money can help." 

This week's episode isn't the only highlight from Season 23, though. Murray hints at a few more things to look forward to in the months to come. "We're gonna get some very big, unexpected family-related news from McGee" later this season, he says. "When they told me about this idea, I was very excited, and I think it's going to come together." Plus, we'll get some fresh developments in the ongoing mystery surrounding Parker's connection to the young girl Lily: "We're gonna dive more into that. We're gonna find out more about that."

But the biggest bombshell might be the return of a key "NCIS" character we haven't seen in a while: "Someone from the world of 'NCIS' who everyone knows very well but hasn't seen in a very long time may pop up." Hmmm... our wheels are already turning.

What'd you think of this week's "NCIS"? And who do you think is the mystery person returning later this season? Hit the comments below to share your thoughts!