NCIS: Los Angeles Season 4 Episode 19, “Red: Part Two,” originally aired March 26, 2013, and concluded a two-part story that was designed to introduce viewers to an entirely new corner of the NCIS universe.
The episode brought the Los Angeles team together with NCIS: Red, a mobile unit of agents who traveled the country in two specially equipped trucks while investigating cases wherever they were needed. The prospective spinoff starred Kim Raver as Special Agent Paris Summerskill, John Corbett as Roy Haines, Scott Grimes as Special Agent Dave Flynn, Gillian Alexy as Claire Keats and Edwin Hodge as Kai Ashe. CBS promoted the two episodes as the introduction to the potential new series.
There was just one twist viewers couldn’t have known at the time: NCIS: Red never became a series.
“Red” and “Red: Part Two” served as a backdoor pilot for what was intended to become the next NCIS spinoff after NCIS: Los Angeles, but CBS ultimately passed on the project in May 2013. As a result, these two NCIS: Los Angelesepisodes became the primary surviving look at an NCIS team and format that might have expanded the franchise in a very different direction.
What Was NCIS: Red?
Unlike the Washington-based original series or the Los Angeles Office of Special Projects, NCIS: Red was built around a team that lived and worked on the road.
The Red Team traveled in mobile units nicknamed “Laverne and Shirley,” allowing the agents to move from location to location as cases demanded. “Red: Part Two” followed the combined teams as they raced to track down terrorist Robert Spears before he could disappear.
The concept was ambitious for the franchise at the time, and the cast was already populated with recognizable television veterans. John Corbett was positioned as former NCIS agent Roy Haines, while Kim Raver played team leader Paris Summerskill and Scott Grimes played forensic specialist Dave Flynn.
More than a decade later, “Red: Part Two” remains an interesting NCIS curiosity: a finale of sorts for a television series that technically never began.
NCIS: Los Angeles “Red: Part Two” Photos
Below, take a look back at the official photos from NCIS: Los Angeles Season 4 Episode 19, “Red: Part Two,” featuring the NCIS: Los Angeles cast alongside the team that nearly became the stars of NCIS: Red.
Thomas Miller is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Seat42F, covering television, movies and streaming entertainment. He launched Seat42F in 2007 and has spent nearly two decades covering the entertainment industry.
