This is the first season premiere without an appearance by or direct reference to Mark Harmon as Leroy Jethro Gibbs, as well as the first episode in which he does not appear in the intro. It also marks the first time that an actor other than Harmon (Sean Murray) playing a character who is not the lead agent of the MCRT reads the line "Previously on NCIS" and is top-billed first in the opening credits.
Gibbs' Rule #39: There is no such thing as a coincidence.
This is technically a two-part episode, the second half of the plot is concluded in NCIS: Hawai'i Prisoners' Dilemma (2022).