NCIS episode Sleeping Dogs pits Torres against his old undercover identity
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The gist
NCIS airs Season 24 Episode 3, Sleeping Dogs, on CBS on Tuesday, Oct.
The case forces agent Nick Torres to reunite with his former handler and face a past self.
Background
NCIS is a long-running CBS procedural drama, and "Sleeping Dogs" is the third episode of its 24th season. The episode centers on Nicholas "Nick" Torres, an NCIS character played by Wilmer Valderrama, whose retired undercover identity is used to commit murders. It brings in guest star Mike O'Malley as Walt Keller, described by CBS as Torres' "grizzled old-school former handler." The episode follows "Clean Slate," which showed Michael Weatherly settling into his new role as NCIS director Tony DiNozzo.
How it unfolded
- Oct 14, 2026SpoilerTV publishes a preview of "Sleeping Dogs" (24.03), and a trailer for the episode is released.
- Oct 18, 2026Hollywood Outbreak publishes a preview titled "Torres Faces His Past."
- Oct 19, 2026Give Me My Remote publishes photos from the episode.
- Oct 20, 2026"Sleeping Dogs" airs Tuesday from 8:00–9:00 PM ET/PT on CBS, streams live on Paramount+ Premium and is available on demand the following day.
Who’s saying what
- Official
- CBS says the episode has Torres forced to team up with his former handler, Walt Keller, and confront a darker version of himself he thought he'd left behind.
- Analysts
- SpoilerTV's preview frames the episode around who could be using Torres' old undercover identity to commit murder and what secrets from his past might resurface.