In the NCIS Season 21 finale, a dark chapter from Alden Parker’s past was hinted at, leaving viewers with more questions than answers. While investigating a murder aboard a Navy ship, Parker found himself trapped under a large piece of metal, leading to a severe injury on his leg. Despite Katrina Law’s character, Jessica Knight, freeing him, the wound continued to bleed, causing Parker to lose consciousness intermittently. During these moments of unconsciousness, Parker experienced vivid hallucinations while both agents were confined to the ship’s engine room.
One of these hallucinations introduced a mysterious girl named Lily, who appeared to be playing hide-and-seek in the engine room. As the vision continued, it became evident that this wasn’t just a random hallucination but a repressed memory from Parker’s past. The memory showed Lily playing the same game with a young boy she called “Aldie,” implying that the boy was a young Alden Parker and that Lily was his sister. The scene also featured a woman, presumably their mother, who scolded the children. However, when Parker later woke up and Knight asked him about Lily, he genuinely seemed to have no recollection of her, suggesting that this memory had been deeply buried.
NCIS showrunner Steven D. Binder has since provided some insights into Parker’s experience. According to Binder, Parker himself isn’t entirely sure who the girl in the flashback was, which aligns with his character’s honesty when he told Knight he didn’t know a “Lily.” This ambiguity suggests that Parker might have subconsciously repressed a traumatic memory involving Lily. The theory is that Parker may have experienced something so devastating, possibly Lily’s death, that his mind blocked out all memories of her. If Lily had survived, Parker would likely have had subsequent memories of her, making it difficult for him to forget her entirely.
The finale left fans with the possibility that Parker’s past holds a tragedy severe enough to erase the existence of his sister from his conscious mind, adding a layer of depth and mystery to his character.
