'NCIS': Season 10 opens with 'Extreme Prejudice' - what to watch for

"NCIS" ended its ninth season in literally explosive fashion, with vengeful financier-turned-terrorist Harper Dearing planting a bomb at NCIS headquarters and putting the entire team in jeopardy.

When Season 10 opens Tuesday (Sept. 25), fans will see the immediate aftermath of the bombing and the renewed hunt for Dearing (guest star Richard Schiff), who's not done with his campaign. Here's of what you can expect in the premiere, titled "Extreme Prejudice."

The investigation isn't easy -- or quick. The bomb doesn't destroy the building, but it inflicts some pretty heavy damage -- leaving Gibbs (Mark Harmon) and Co. a few steps behind. The episode covers several months of time, from the date of the bombing up to Tuesday, putting the show in sync with the calendar.

Ducky's fate revealed. Ducky (David McCallum) wasn't in the building when the bomb went off, but upon hearing the news he suffered a heart attack. While it's no secret that McCallum (and the rest of the cast) is under contract for this season, it's not going to be the easiest road back for Ducky, or anyone else, for that matter.

An old friend returns. Joe Spano reprises his role as FBI Agent Tobias Fornell. He helps out with the Dearing investigation, obviously, but he's there just as much to lend emotional support to Gibbs.

Gibbs goes dark. Gibbs has a line in "Extreme Prejudice" about Dearing having come after his family, and it's clear that moreso than most, he's taking this case very personally. Executive producer Gary Glasberg tells Zap2it that Harmon was interested in exploring that facet of Gibbs' character and just how far Gibbs will go when the people closest to him are threatened. The final scenes between Gibbs and Dearing is memorably intense.

... But there's still some fun. Tony (Michael Weatherly) and Ziva (Cote de Pablo) spend the early part of the episode trapped in an elevator at NCIS headquarters, and as you can imagine, the proximity leads to a lot of barbed banter. Glasberg says getting the humor into an episode like this one was a little trickier than usual, but we suspect fans wouldn't want it any other way.

"NCIS" premieres at 8 p.m. ET Tuesday on CBS.