Did ‘NCIS: Los Angeles’ Episode Tease an ‘NCIS: Cold Case’ Spinoff?

“Sometimes you’re the pigeon, sometimes you’re the statue.”

CBS’ NCIS: Los Angeles, with its penultimate episode ahead of its two-part series finale, introduced Callen, Sam and us the viewers to NCIS cold case investigator Special Agent Daisy Van Zant. And we cannot help but think that Daisy’s team could be the focus of a new spinoff for CBS to jump on.

As winningly played by Rose Abdoo (whose previous TV credits include Hacks, Scandal and Bunheads), Daisy was a wry breath of fresh air who sure as hell knew how to turn a phrase, as she shared with the OSP agents how things work in her less-glamorous branch of the agency, soot-stained/waterlogged case files and all.

There has been no official word about this past Sunday’s episode being an actual backdoor spinoff pilot — we’re just dream-programming here, as we brace to lose one of the three current NCISes — but man, this week’s NCIS: LA sure dropped a lotta breadcrumbs for CBS’ development department to chew on.

“How many [cold case files] are there?”
“I stopped keeping count.”

And then, once the cold case at hand was solved by Callen & Co., and Daisy retreated into the room where so many other files were stored….

“One down… hundreds to go.”

Paramount+ screenshot

Hmmm, “hundreds” sounds like at least a few seasons to us. But what about you? Did Daisy’s introduction in the episode “Maybe Today” get you curious about more NCIS cold cases?