NCIS: Origins’ Doc Tango Is One Of The Show’s Most Underrated Characters. Why He Deserves More Attention

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Season 2 of NCIS: Origins began on Tuesday, October 14, 2025, alongside the premieres of NCIS Season 23 and NCIS: Sydney Season 3. After six weeks of new episodes, the show is taking a one-week break before airing “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” and “End of the Road” later this year. As we celebrate Native American Heritage Month, I want to highlight a fantastic but often overlooked character: Témet Téngalkat, also known as Doc Tango, played by Julian Black Antelope.

Doc Tango Has A Great Rapport With The Team

Doc Tango is the medical examiner who performs autopsies on the victims investigated by the main characters in NCIS: Origins. He frequently works alongside Dr. Lenora Friedman, the assistant medical examiner, and is Tishmal Kwa’la’s uncle – Tishmal being Mike Franks’ former girlfriend. This connection means Doc Tango and Mike have a good rapport, as Tango isn’t bothered by Mike’s blunt demeanor. Overall, he’s a personable and friendly professional.

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Unlike medical examiners on other NCIS shows – like Ducky Mallard on the original series and Rosie Penrose on NCIS: Sydney – Tango isn’t dedicated to just one team. Instead, she works with several law enforcement agencies from the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office. When a younger version of Ducky appeared in an episode, the team realized they were already well-served by Doc Tango and didn’t need to hire their own full-time medical examiner.

Hopefully, things will improve in the future. Unless Julian Black Antelope leaves the show, we’ll likely continue to see him regularly. It would be great if he became a full-time member of the NIS team, allowing us to see more of his excellent chemistry with everyone. Ideally, he could also develop stronger bonds with characters like Gibbs, Lala, and Randy, and Lenora could join them too.

I Want To See Doc Tango’s Personal Life, History And Culture Explored

Season 1’s “From the Ashes” episode offered a glimpse into Doc Tango’s history and Native American roots, primarily through flashbacks focusing on Tish’s story before she left. Later, when Ducky met the team from Camp Pendleton, he noticed the design on Tango’s bolo tie and identified it as belonging to the Luiseño people, also known as Payómkawichum, meaning “People of the West.”

More about NCIS: Origins
  • NCIS: Origins Star Talks Aftermath Of Randy And Franks’ Fight, And Why Those Kinds Of Stories Are What Keeps The Franchise Going
  • NCIS: Origins Is Bringing In The Younger Version Of Scott Bakula’s New Orleans Character, And There’s One Big Moment I’m Eager To See Between Him And Gibbs

Recently, we’ve seen more TV shows featuring Native American stories and characters, such as Reservation Dogs, Dark Winds, Echo, and even the character Forge in X-Men ’97. It’s great to see NCIS: Origins explore Doc Tango’s background and include more Native American representation on network television. The show also dedicates episodes to developing its characters – Season 1 covered Richard Kowalski’s time as an Army chaplain, and Season 2 will feature an episode about Gary Callahan. Hopefully, we’ll get to learn more about Tango’s life outside of his work as a forensic scientist.

I hope NCIS: Origins gets another season, and if it does, I’d love to see Julian Black Antelope become a main character. If he stays as a guest star, though, the show should still try to feature Témet Téngalkat as much as possible. He’s a strong character now, and has the potential to be even better.

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2025-11-24 17:08