NCIS: New York Reveals What Brings LL Cool J’s Sam Hanna Back Home

Sam Hanna has spent years taking on special assignments and covert operations, but NCIS: New York is bringing him back to where it all started.

CBS has released the official storyline for the upcoming NCIS spinoff's series premiere, revealing the personal case that puts LL Cool J's longtime NCIS character at the center of a brand-new team.

After returning to his hometown of New York City, Sam learns that his friend Jack Halloway, a Navy reservist, has been found dead. Rather than leaving the investigation to someone else because have we met Sam Hanna? — he requests permission from Assistant Special Agent-In-Charge Robyn Wells, played by Jennifer Beals, to investigate the death himself.

Robyn agrees, but Sam isn't working alone.

She pairs him with Nick Schaeffer, the “roguish” agent played by Scott Caan. Through Nick, Sam meets the rest of his new colleagues: Shane Harper as Wyatt Sellers, Jacqueline Byers as Addy Ross and Devin Druid as Sean Sullivan, a hacker who has apparently gone legit enough to become the team's computer guy.

Starting the series with the death of someone Sam personally knows is an interesting choice because it immediately makes NCIS: New York more than another case-of-the-week expansion of the franchise. Sam isn't being transferred into some random office and introduced to his coworkers over coffee. He's coming into this team carrying something personal.

And pairing LL Cool J with Scott Caan? Yeah, we're watching that dynamic closely. CBS is already positioning Nick as the more roguish personality of the two, while longtime NCIS fans know exactly how seriously Sam takes the job. There is plenty of room there for these two to get on each other's nerves before inevitably figuring out how to work together.

NCIS: New York premieres Tuesday, Oct. 6 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CBS and streams on Paramount+.