Celebrate Sean Murray’s Birthday and His 20th ‘NCIS’ Anniversary With His Most Memorable 5 Episodes

Mark Harmon may not have made 20 years on NCIS—he left in season 19—but Sean Murray, who stars as Special Agent Tim McGee, is celebrating his 20^th anniversary on the hit naval investigative drama on Nov. 18. In fact, the whole week is special for Murray as today is his birthday.

While we may not have new episodes of the hit series currently—NCIS is scheduled to return to work in the next few weeks to begin filming season 21, which will premiere Feb. 12, but as fans of Murray’s work, we couldn’t let this occasion go by without a mention of how much we appreciate him.

“It’s wild that what was originally a guest-starring role turned into 20+ years of working with people who have become a second family to me,” Murray exclusively tells Parade. “I’ve been very fortunate, and I will always be grateful and proud of what we’ve accomplished together.”

So, to mark the remarkable occasion, here are our picks of the best Tim McGee episodes of NCIS. Viewing party anyone?

Sean Murray’s Best NCIS Episodes

“Twisted Sister” Season 4, Episode 9

Troian Bellisario, who is Murray’s half-sister in real life—Troian’s father and NCIS creator Don Bellisario married Sean’s mother Vivienne Murray (née Lee), on November 27, 1998—first appeared on NCIS in a small role in the season 2 episode 20 episode “Red Cell.”

But her memorable guest starring role was in “Twisted Sister” when Sarah McGee shows up at Tim’s apartment covered in blood at 2:30 a.m., saying, “I think I killed someone, Tim.”

Caring brother that he is, Tim emails in sick, determined to prove Sarah’s innocence, and begins to investigate the crime until he is busted when Gibbs and the team are called in to solve the death of a Navy seaman, from USS Enterprise, on the campus of Waverly College, the same university where Sarah is enrolled. The two investigations collide and, while there’s a moment where Sarah looks guilty, in the end, a crucial discovery by Abby (Pauley Perrette) helps the team solve the crime and arrest the real killer.

“Cover Story” Season 4, Episode 20

In the episode “Dead Man Talking” (season 1, episode 19), it was revealed that McGee writes mystery/crime stories. And in “Cover Story,” we learn that he has released a successful novel in what will become a Deep Six series of novels under the pseudonym Thom E. Gemcity, and the next one is about to be released but so far, only his editor has read it.

But while the NCIS team is investigating a crime scene at the rented home of a Navy petty officer named Cove in Norfolk, Virginia, McGee realizes that it is a copycat of a murder from his unpublished second novel. As the team turns to the novels for clues, the bodies pile up, so they also investigate how someone got ahold of his pages.

Eventually, they realize that the killer was reading McGee’s novel off of his typewriter ribbon and they were able to find the murderer.

“The Penelope Papers” Season 9, Episode 3

Acting legend Lily Tomlin played McGee’s eccentric grandmother, Penelope Langston, in this episode, which reveals a lot more about Tim’s backstory as it was his grandmother who helped Tim find himself when his father, Navy Admiral John McGee (Jamey Sheridan), didn’t understand him.

The case begins with the murder of a Naval Reserve lieutenant in mufti in a public park in Washington, D.C., and the case takes a surprising turn when it’s discovered that he has a business card with Tim McGee’s name on it.

A little investigating reveals that McGee’s paternal grandmother Penny had a relationship with the lieutenant, who taught math and worked for a think tank, which is where the tie to Penny comes in.

Penny has quite the history as a former analyst for the Tellis Naval group and a former peace activist. It was her work at the Tellis Naval group on a project known as the Anax Principle that is now putting her life in jeopardy. She survives three attempts before the NCIS team figures out that the project, which would have devastating consequences if reactivated, was the cause.

“House Rules” Season 12, Episode 10

It’s no secret that McGee has always had a contentious relationship with his father Navy Admiral John McGee, so it’s interesting in the “House Rules” episode that McGee is writing a Christmas letter to his father in which he describes the details of a case where the team investigates hackers who may be responsible for the Internet going down in the D.C. area and where he’s put in charge. It’s as if he’s reaching out to try to heal the rift by showing his father his worth.

We had learned in the season 10 episode 19 episode “Squall” that the admiral had been diagnosed with stage four cancer, so at the end of this episode when it’s revealed that McGee’s dad had died, it isn’t a surprise, and that the purpose of the letter was so that McGee could place it in his father’s casket.