The following contains spoilers for NCIS Season 19, Episode 19, "The Brat Pack," which aired Monday, May 2 on CBS.
With NCIS' Season 19 finale on the horizon, the series has done a good job of striking a balance between focusing on established characters, while giving storylines to its new additions that it could utilize in Season 20. Just in the latter half of the season, there was an episode that focused on Director Vance's daughter becoming an agent, another episode might have given Dr. Palmer a love interest, and there was a crossover that allowed Torres to appear on NCIS: Hawai'i before more hints were dropped about his possible departure.
This week was Timothy McGee's turn to be in the spotlight, and the storyline had an extra bit of off-screen importance. McGee's actor Sean Murray got to share his character's episode with someone special. Here's what happened in "The Brat Pack" and how Murray got to work with his daughter, Cay Ryan Murray.
The episode opened with McGee, Torres and Knight in the squad room. Everyone was ready to go home early when Parker met them at the elevator and informed them of a robbery on the Norfolk Naval Base. Once they arrived, the NCIS team realized that the robbery was part of a bigger problem. All the doors on base were operated with key cards, so someone had hacked into Norfolk's security system. Even worse, the incident was one in a string of recent break-ins.
The robbers were not an experienced crew, but just teenagers who had made a habit of partying in empty houses. A particularly smart girl named Teagan Fields had organized everything and wasn't completely truthful when she and her friends were arrested. However, things got further complicated when an explosion killed a Navy lieutenant. That meant Teagan had shared her hacking algorithm with someone else, so they had no choice but to enlist her services to catch the new culprit.
The team trusted Teagan for a while, although NCIS had suspicion mount against her through more lies, even suggesting that she might also be the bomber. But even this computer genius was able to be deceived. Her "boyfriend" was a catfish who had used her algorithm to kill the lieutenant and frame Teagan for his murder. (Where's Nev Schulman when you need him?)
The episode was even better if fans realized that Teagan Fields was played by Cay Ryan Murray, Sean Murray's daughter. "The Brat Pack" gave McGee had a special connection with Teagan. They both had tumultuous relationships with their military parents and struggled with feeling alone, while also bonding over their computer skills. It was Teagan's hacking that caught the killer at the end of the episode, and she subsequently opened up to McGee -- telling him not to worry about his twins because they were lucky to have him as a father.
NCIS was Cay's first proper TV or film credit, but she has been acting in theater productions for years. Asked about his daughter's performance, Sean Murray told Parade, "It didn’t overwhelm her. She was able to stay up. She did such a terrific job, I’m so proud.” Cay did a great job in the role, and her father also told the magazine, "Acting is where she gets her joy.” So perhaps NCIS viewers will see Teagan pop up again in Season 20, similar to how Sean Harmon recurred as the younger version of his father Mark's character Leroy Jethro Gibbs.
To see what the NCIS team does leading up to the Season 19 finale, watch NCIS on Monday at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.
