‘NCIS’ Season 24 Episode 3 Recap & Ending Explained: Torres Just Chose the Dark Side of Undercover Work

Every undercover agent carries a version of themselves they hope stays buried. For Nick Torres, that version has a name, a signature weapon, and a past he has spent years deflecting with jokes. This ‘NCIS‘ recap and ending explained breakdown looks at what happens when that buried persona gets dragged back into the light.

The episode, titled ‘Sleeping Dogs’, aired on CBS on Tuesday, October 20. It was written by Marco Schnabel and directed by José Clemente Hernandez, with Mike O’Malley guest starring as Walt Keller, Torres’ old handler. Torres has always been the team’s lighthearted heart, so an hour about his darkest chapter was a real shift in tone.

The case begins when a burned body turns up in the trunk of a car. A registration hit ties the vehicle to Dante Navarro, a hitman persona Torres retired when he joined ‘NCIS’. The victim, a paralegal named Mandy DuBrow, was strangled with a garrote wire, the alias’s weapon of choice.

Torres says only 2 people ever knew about Dante: himself and Keller. Kasie soon finds the name attached to several unsolved murders from the past 2 years. The victims were using changed names, and all of them trace back to Sergio Cimino, the head of a Baltimore crime family Torres helped put away while undercover. Each victim had worked for the family and given sealed testimony at trial.

Keller arrives as everything Torres has tried to outgrow. He mocks Torres as a house cat and insists Dante is the real man while Nick is the cover. When Torres pulls his gun during a tense moment, Keller seems almost proud.

Meanwhile, Kasie and Jimmy listen to old wire recordings of Torres torturing a man named Mikey, and they are visibly rattled by how real Dante sounded. Mikey admits he stole over $10 million from Cimino, and “Grace,” the name that keeps surfacing, turns out to be the boat where the cash was hidden. Mikey is then shot dead mid-conversation, and the shooter escapes.

The trail leads to a bookkeeper in hiding who says there is no money left. A federal agent named Bob Graves offered him $10 million in exchange for full immunity. Torres recognizes Graves as an old alias of Keller’s, and Tony reveals he had already been tailing Keller, who had been making calls on a burner phone.

Kasie then traces the money to an offshore account that funds a custodial account for a young girl named Sasha Norris. Torres recognizes her immediately. She is the child from the opening flashback, set 13 years earlier, when Torres killed a man in a bar who was threatening an 8-year-old.

Torres heads to that same bar and finds Keller waiting. Sasha is the daughter of Ray, the bar owner and informant who entered witness protection. The Ciminos had Ray and his family murdered after he testified, and Sasha survived only because she hid under a bed. Keller admits he took the money and sent it to her, and says he came to arrest her rather than kill her.

Sasha arrives and shoots Keller. Torres reveals himself as Dante and apologizes for failing her father. She lowers her rifle, but Keller fires and kills her, insisting she had drawn a second gun. Tony later backs Keller’s account as self-defense.

The final beat is the one fans will be dissecting. After a call with Parker, who asks why Torres kept Sasha to himself, Torres drives out to Keller’s cabin. He asks whether the side job with the CIA is still open.

NCIS Season 24, Episode 3 Promo: Sleeping Dogs Airing Tuesday, October 20, at 8:00 PM ET/PT on CBS. 📹: CBS and TV Promos #GaryCole #NCIS #NCISVerse #MichaelWeatherly #WilmerValderrama https://t.co/HyIWSgyyiq

— Club Cole (Gary Cole Fans) (@ClubGCole) October 14, 2026

The move echoes Bishop’s exit, since she left for CIA undercover work and invited Torres to join her. He declined at the time, but this episode suggests he may be ready now. TV Fanatic rated the episode 4.2 out of 5. Its critic thought the flashbacks and Torres’ reckoning were stronger than the case itself, and noted the timing, since Bishop is set to reunite with Gibbs on ‘NCIS: Origins’ next week.

Nothing confirms Torres is leaving. The same review suggests this could simply set up trouble for him around the midseason finale. McGee is also being vetted to eventually replace the Secretary of the Navy, which makes the whole episode feel like a season of possible exits taking shape.

Torres told Parker the case helped him figure out who he is, and the cabin scene suggests that answer isn’t a comfortable one. The next episode, ‘Like and Subscribe’, airs October 27, so the fallout may have to wait a little.

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments!