NCIS season 19 episode 5: Why did McGee turn down job offer?

NCIS season 19 episode 5 gave us the first Gibbsless episode of the season and it was obvious from the get go that things were going to be bumpy. Nick is still having a difficult time seeing Gibbs leave as former FBI Agent Alden Parker comes in to possibly take over. Of course, he doesn’t necessarily want to take over, even though Gibbs put in a good word for him to Vance.

Plus, they are also curious about why McGee didn’t take the offer of Gibbs’ job when it was given to him. It’s a question we also had and we got some insight into his personal feelings about it. It was strange to see the team without Gibbs after 19 seasons, even though there were times he was away from the team before. But this time, there is a finality there that has the entire team struck.

The episode followed the team as they tracked down who killed Petty Officer James Bolton. All things seem routine until his body blows up in the back of Jimmy’s van. After taking him to autopsy, they discover a bomb was surgically implanted in his body. It appears he may have been a suicide bomber and they look into his online life to see what he was dealing in.

They eventually discover he was on the dark web, doing various services for people, such as ransomware attacks. After finding out he was looking into a man named Royman, they try to determine how he was involved. He’s a stenographer who works on highly classified cases and Bolton had recently come to his home acting as a cable guy.

NCIS season 19 episode 5 answered our McGee questions

The case is confusing for the team, at first, and they eventually learn Bolton was fixing lottery numbers. While that wasn’t connected to their murder case, it was just a latest in oddities the team uncovered. Thanks to evidence Kasie got from the device in Bolton, they learn Royman himself had surgery and a “pacemaker” was replaced in his body.

Parker gets him to confess that an Albanian kingpin, who was going on trial in which Royman would be present for, hired Bolton to obtain his medical records and had used him to test out the bomb.

In the midst of the case, Nick and Parker both wonder why McGee didn’t take Gibbs’ job. After an uncomfortable exchange with Parker, McGee ends up telling Nick what happened. He said he would have liked to have the job at one point. But after Gibbs made the difficult decision to shoot him and seeing how the job affected him so badly, McGee did not want that for his life. He had a family to think about and didn’t want the job to ruin that.

McGee has grown as a competent agent and he would make a great team leader. But to see him make this decision shows he also knows what his limits are and how he wants to make sure he is there for his family as much as he can be. We truly love seeing his growth.

It also appears that Parker may join the team as the team leader, despite a rocky start. Do you think he will eventually fit in? Let us know in the comments your thoughts on NCIS season 19 episode 5.

Watch NCIS every Monday on CBS. Catch up the next day on Paramount+.