The ‘Tragic’ Real-Life Story that Inspired *This* NCIS Plotline

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The most recent episode of NCIS gave an update on Tim McGee’s personal life and featured a cameo from his wife, Delilah Fielding. The latter hasn’t been on our screens in a minute, so fans had some questions about the character, including why Delilah is in a wheelchair. Here’s a refresher on everything that happened to Tim McGee’s wife.

NCIS is CBS’ decades-long police procedural that focuses on the personal and professional lives of special agents in the Naval Criminal Investigation Service’s Major Case Response Team, which investigates criminal activity involving the United States Navy, Marine Corps and their families. The series premiered in 2003 and it is the third-longest-running U.S. primetime drama currently on air. Its success has led to several different spin-offs, including the 14-season hit NCIS: Los Angeles, NCIS: Hawai’i and NCIS: Sydney, among others. 

Margo Harshman has recurred as Delilah Fielding, a Department of Defense employee, since Season 10. She was first introduced as Special Agent Tim McGee’s (played by Sean Murray) then-girlfriend. The couple eventually got married in Season 14 and went on to welcome fraternal twins.

The Season 21 episode “Prime Cut” checked back in on the pair with an adorable storyline about their kitchen renovation. McGee and Delilah were trying to get on a reality show titled Home Sweet Home Remodel, but they ultimately flunked their addition as the show thrived on marital discord. Even when disagreeing on design details, the couple were clearly still madly in love with one another. They ultimately decided to forgo the renovation process, noting that their kitchen holds too many family memories.

It’s been several seasons since an accident left Delilah in a wheelchair, and not all fans remember what happened. So, here’s everything you need to know about Delilah Fielding, including why she’s in a wheelchair and if her portrayer uses one in real life.

Why is Delilah in a wheelchair on NCIS?

Why is Delilah in a wheelchair on NCIS? In Season 11, Episode 13, a gala was thrown in Delilah’s honor for her exceptional work in counterterrorism. During the event, McGee got a call from Tony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly), who informed him that terrorist Benham Parsa was planning on bombing the hotel. McGee rushed to get everyone out in time, but a bomb went off while Delilah was still inside. She was quickly transported to the hospital, where she briefly flatlined and was rushed into emergency surgery. Although she ultimately survived, viewers learned in the following episode that a piece of shrapnel had pierced her spinal cord, leaving her paralyzed. As a result, Delilah now uses a green wheelchair.

Late showrunner Gary Glasberg told reporters at the time that the storyline was inspired by the survivors of the Boston Marathon bombings. “I remember seeing a piece on I think it was the Today show about a bunch of women who had really managed to start to pull their lives back together again,” he said, per Entertainment Weekly. “I wanted to try to capture some of that on our show. So the intent was — and is — to show someone who comes from a government background involved in something tragic like this and manages to persevere.”

In real life, the actress who portrays Delilah is not paralyzed and only uses the wheelchair as a prop. In addition to NCIS, Margo Harshman has appeared on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Bones, How I Met Your Father, The Big Bang Theory, House and Modern Family, among others. 

Delilah is also not the first character to use a wheelchair in the NCIS universe. Daryll Mitchell starred on all seven seasons of the spin-off NCIS: New Orleans as Patton Plame, a paraplegic hacker-turned-cyber specialist. Unlike Harshman, Mitchell uses a wheelchair in real life. The actor was paralyzed from the waist down following a motorcycle accident in 2001.

NCIS airs on CBS on Mondays at 9 p.m. ET and streams on Paramount+.

For more on NCIS, check out this gallery on the cast’s real-life partners.