‘NCIS: Los Angeles’ Adds Esai Morales for Recurring Role in Season 10

Esai Morales, an actor familiar to CBS viewers from Criminal Minds and Blue Bloods, is joining NCIS: Los Angeles in a recurring role.

Morales was cast as Deputy Director Gaines, a smart, authoritative and easily trusted man who works with the special Department of Defense prosecutor investigating the NCIS activities in Los Angeles, reports Deadline. He is there to protect his team and give them advice on respond to questions. Gaines will make his first appearance in a late October episode.

“Following the rescue mission in Mexico from last season’s finale and this season’s premiere, our NCIS: Los Angeles team will face challenging repercussions but they will have a new ally in the Deputy Director,” executive producer R. Scott Gemmill said in a statement to Deadline. “We are thrilled that the talented Esai Morales has signed on to this recurring role.”

NCIS: Los Angeles is a spinoff of CBS’ NCIS, which itself was a spinoff of JAG. The main cast includes LL Cool J, Chris O’Donnell, Peter Cambor, Daniela Ruah, Adam Jama Craig, Linda Hunt, Barrett Foa, Eric Christian Olsen, Renee Felice Smith and Nia Long.

As for Morales, he appeared in two episodes of Blue Bloods in 2015 and 2016, and had a recurring role on Criminal Minds from 2013 to 2015. His other credits include SuperFly, How To Get Away With Murder, Chicago P.D., Mars, Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders, From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series and Magic City.

NCIS: LA‘s season nine ended with a surprising cliffhanger, where the team went to the desert to save the son of Long’s Mosley. Four of the main characters — Marty Deeks (Olsen), Kensi Blye (Ruah), Harley Hidoko (Bordeaux) and G. Callen (O’Donnell) — were all in a car hit by a missile, and it’s not clear who survived.

Harley seems like a possibility, since Bordeaux left a message hinting at her departure on Instagram.

“Tonight is the season 9 finale of @ncisla and I just wanted to take a moment to say how grateful, humbled and honored I’ve been to be a part of this show. Thank you so much to the amazing cast and #thebestcrewinhollywood,” she wrote.

NCIS: LA season 10 starts on Sunday, Sept. 30 at 9 p.m. ET on CBS. NCIS starts its 16th season and NCIS: New Orleans starts its fifth season on Tuesday, Sept. 25 on CBS.

Photo credit: Richard Foreman/CBS