The twelfth season of the police procedural drama NCIS premiered on September 23, 2014, in the same time slot as the previous seasons, Tuesdays at 8pm. This is the first season in which NCIS: Los Angeles did not air after NCIS. This season, NCIS: New Orleans aired after NCIS.[1] The entire cast from season eleven has renewed their contracts and will be returning.[2] The premier episode aired on September 23, 2014 and was seen by 18.23 million people.[3]
The "big bad" of the season is Sergei Mishnev, played by Alex Veadov. This character first appeared in "Twenty Klicks", the premiere episode.[4] In the fourth episode of the season, "Choke Hold", one of Sergei's associates was sent to the United States to kill a Russian scientist that refused to work with him. In this episode we see the reappearance of Anton Pavlenko (previously seen in "Twenty Klicks"), portrayed by Lev Gorn, a Russian counselor.[5]