After so many major event episodes last season - the departure of Ziva (Cote de Pablo), the introduction of Bishop (Emily Wickersham), the NCIS: New Orleans backdoor pilot, and a tribute episode to Ralph Waite - Glasberg says he's excited to be entering a more character-driven run. "Season 12 is all about bringing the team together and sort of keeping the family going, and really emphasizing the group," Glasberg - who's also serving as showrunner on NCIS: With no cliff-hanger to resolve, NCIS gets off to a fresh start on Tuesday's season premiere, which finds Gibbs (Mark Harmon) and McGee (Sean Murray) heading to Russia to escort an NCIS computer engineer home safely. [...] they quickly find themselves the targets of a local mercenary group, putting both their lives and classified intel at risk. Enter Leia Pendergast (Stephanie Jacobsen), a former U.S.