NCIS season 20 finale: why is Torres in prison?

Wilmer Valderrama in NCIS
Wilmer Valderrama in NCIS (Image credit: Sonja Flemming/CBS)

There's going to be a lot going on with the NCIS season 20 finale, as the team desperately tries to thwart a terrorist attack from a rogue Russian spy. But there's another major question that we have from the promo materials and synopsis for the episode, titled "Black Sky." Why is Torres (Wilmer Valderrama) in prison?

It's a fair question, as those who are caught up with the crime procedural won't recall anything happening to Torres at the end of the previous episode that would have sent him to be locked up. Yet he is donning an orange jumpsuit and dealing with a prison full of dangerous criminals.

From the clues, it doesn't seem like you missed something — this appears to be a strategic move to try and get critical information to stop the terrorist plot. As we see in the promo for the season finale, Jessica Knight (Katrina Law) asks "How's Torres doing?", to which Parker (Gary Cole) responds, "Made it through the night," indicating that they are keeping tabs on Torres and what he is able to find out. Though getting info does not look like it is going to be easy, as the promo shows Torres getting into a fight with an inmate and someone (perhaps Torres) wielding a shiv.

All of this is to try to get key information from Yuri, the Russian spy who appears to be behind a potential terrorist attack that involves a weapon of mass destruction. The promo also reveals just what the weapon might do, with Knight saying that the plan is to knock out electricity to the entire US.

David McCallum in NCIS

David McCallum in NCIS (Image credit: Michael Yarish/CBS)

While that is scary and is sure to have NCIS fans on the edge of their seats, there is also going to be a specific treat in the episode for viewers — another appearance by Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum). Ducky just made his third appearance of season 20 in the previous episode, Zooming in from Scotland while he is on his lecture tour to lend a hand to the team. A still from the episode reveals that he will do so once again as they try and save the day from a potentially disastrous event.

To find out how Torres, Knight, Parker and the NCIS team are going to figure this one out, tune into the NCIS season 20 finale on Monday, May 22, at 9 pm ET/PT on CBS, stream it later on Paramount Plus.

Michael Balderston

Michael Balderston is a DC-based entertainment and assistant managing editor for What to Watch, who has previously written about the TV and movies with TV Technology, Awards Circuit and regional publications. Spending most of his time watching new movies at the theater or classics on TCM, some of Michael's favorite movies include Casablanca, Moulin Rouge!, Silence of the Lambs, Children of Men, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and Star Wars. On the TV side he enjoys Only Murders in the Building, Yellowstone, The Boys, Game of Thrones and is always up for a Seinfeld rerun. Follow on Letterboxd.