For years, fans of the long-running crime drama NCIS have watched the lives of their favourite agents unfold—through heartbreak, heroism, and the steady march of time. Among the most beloved storylines has been the quietly touching romance between Tim McGee, played by the ever-reliable Sean Murray, and his wife Delilah, portrayed by Margo Harshman. Their journey together has been nothing short of a masterclass in resilience and understated devotion, from Delilah’s life-altering injury in a terrorist attack to the joy and chaos of welcoming twins. Yet, for all the references to their children, John and Morgan, one question has lingered in the minds of eagle-eyed viewers: where exactly are the McGee twins?

It’s a curious absence that hasn’t gone unnoticed. Since their dramatic arrival in Season 15’s “Ready or Not”—a sequence that saw McGee juggling the demands of impending fatherhood with the small matter of apprehending a suspect—John and Morgan have become something of a running joke among the NCIS faithful. They’re talked about, worried over, and even the subject of McGee’s schoolyard insecurities, but they’re almost never seen. As one fan quipped online, the twins are like “ghosts”—present in spirit, but rarely, if ever, in the flesh.

The explanation, as it turns out, is less to do with narrative oversight and more a reflection of the extraordinary times in which the show has been produced. Showrunner Steven D. Binder, in a candid conversation with the press, shed some light on the practical headaches involved. The arrival of COVID-19 upended television production across the globe, and NCIS was no exception. Health protocols made it all but impossible to have young children on set, particularly during the height of the pandemic. As a result, the showrunners were forced to sideline any plans to bring McGee’s twins into the spotlight, no matter how much they might have wanted to explore the family dynamic in greater d3Fpth.

Now, with restrictions eased and the world slowly returning to a semblance of normality, the question of the twins’ on-screen future has resurfaced. There’s a catch, however: time, as always, waits for no one. In the years since their last (fleeting) appearance, John and Morgan would logically be approaching primary school age. This means recasting is inevitable—a process that brings its own set of challenges, not least the need to find young actors who can capture the essence of characters who, up to now, have existed largely in the audience’s imagination.

Binder pointed to a recent example: when the show reintroduced Jimmy Palmer’s daughter in 2022, they opted to age her up, reflecting the passage of time both on screen and off. It’s a move that could well be repeated for the McGee twins, especially as the series has incorporated time jumps and subtle shifts in its timeline. The result is a kind of narrative limbo, where the children are at once ever-present—through references, jokes, and the occasional off-screen crisis—and tantalisingly out of reach.

Of course, the absence of the twins hasn’t stopped the writers from mining their existence for comic and emotional effect. McGee’s struggles with fatherhood have provided some of the show’s lighter moments, from his well-meaning attempts to fit in with the “cool” dads at school to the inevitable chaos of juggling a demanding job with the realities of family life. These glimpses into his home life have helped deepen his character, making him more relatable and, in many ways, more human.

Yet there’s no denying the sense of anticipation among fans, many of whom are eager to see the McGee family unit brought fully into the NCIS fold. The prospect of a Christmas episode, with the twins finally making their on-screen debut at a family gathering, has sparked a flurry of speculation. It’s the kind of heartwarming moment that the series does so well: a reminder that, beneath the procedural drama and high-stakes investigations, NCIS has always been about the bonds of family—both chosen and biological.

For now, though, the twins remain something of a tantalising mystery. Their story, like so much in the world of NCIS, is one of patience and promise, of plans delayed but not abandoned. As Binder and his team look to the future, they face the delicate task of weaving John and Morgan into the fabric of the show in a way that feels authentic and earned. It’s a challenge they seem ready to embrace, buoyed by the knowledge that, after all these years, the audience is still invested in the lives of these characters—not just as agents, but as people.

In the end, perhaps that’s the true magic of NCIS. It’s not just the cases or the twists and turns, but the small, quiet moments—the laughter, the losses, the milestones missed and celebrated. For McGee and Delilah, the journey has been anything but straightforward, marked by adversity and triumph in equal measure. And for their twins, the best may be yet to come: a long-awaited introduction, a chance to step out of the shadows and into the light, and, just maybe, a few more smiles around the Christmas table.

Until then, fans will continue to watch, to wonder, and to wait—secure in the knowledge that, in the world of NCIS, family is never far from the heart of the story.