'NCIS' season 15 release date news: Will Gibbs escape his captors? Is Mark Harmon calling it quits?

Mark Harmon as Gibbs in the CBS drama "NCIS" Twitter/NCIS_CBS

"NCIS" season 15 is coming back this September and fans have burning questions that need answers. Will Special Agents Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) and Timothy McGee (Sean Murray) find their way out of the jungle? Meanwhile, is it the show's lead actor exiting the show?

Although Gibbs and McGee will be trapped in the Paraguayan jungle during the premiere of "NCIS" season 15, Nick Torres (Wilmer Valderrama) will not stop until he finds the duo.

The series will pick up two months after the last season ended. Gibbs and McGee will be fighting a group of rebels after their rescue of young boys being forced into combat by the rebels.

"I think what happens to Gibbs during that two months is going to change him a little bit," executive producer Frank Cardea told Parade.com. "He'll still be the Gibbs we love, but he's going to be slightly different."

Torres is undergoing some character development as well, as Cardea said that the experience will have him becoming less of a soloist this season.

"You'll see that right in the second episode," Cardea said. "He is becoming more of a team player now. He realizes he can trust these people now."

Torres and NCIS Director Leon Vance (Rocky Carroll) will be summoned to a congressional hearing to discuss the fallout of their mission to Paraguay.

Meanwhile, Harmon does not look like he is going anywhere, despite earlier rumors that he is exiting the CBS drama. The proof? A new cast addition is starring opposite the actor as his new love interest.

Maria Bello will be joining "NCIS" as an agent who used to be a second lieutenant in the Army and served two tours in Afghanistan. She became a leading forensic psychologist at NCIS and is able to second-guess and challenge Gibbs, unlike other characters in the show. She will make her first appearance in episode 4.

"NCIS" season 15 will premiere on Tuesday, Sept. 26 at 8 p.m. EDT on CBS.

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