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Tonight's episode of NCIS aims to set the stage for the show's New Orleans based spin-off.

Synopsis for the new episode titled Crescent City (Part 1) reads:

"A Congressman, who was a former NCIS agent, is murdered in New Orleans. Gibbs joins the case with a former colleague in the Crescent City field office and the FBI to determine whether the murder was politically motivated or linked to the victim's arrest of a serial killer who targeted military personnel and public servants."

The episode will also feature Vance (Rocky Carroll) who will reappear in the show through this first half of a two-part backdoor pilot for NCIS: New Orleans, reports The Latino Post.

The former colleague Gibbs teams up with in New Orleans is Dwayne Pride (Scott Bakula) and together they investigate the murder of the former NCIS member who was also Pride's mentor.

"They were all together part of a group called the Fed 5, which was this very strong group of NCIS agents," said creator Gary Glasberg.

"This is really a look back at who and what they were as a team. ... It was an opportunity to cast some really special actors to come in and help us, and have some fun with the folklore and the history of Gibbs."

Glasberg also spoke to TV Line about the way forward for the show and revealed his plans on the finale.

"You know what, the penultimate episode is a fantastic story for Tony that actually sends him to France, and we're really excited about that. It's sort of a Three Days of the Condor story that is action-packed and fun with lots of twists and turns," he said.

"And that leads us into the finale, which I'm co-writing with Gina Monreal, and although it has a significant crime story happening, that honestly turns out to be our homage to Ralph Waite, to Jackson Gibbs."

Crescent City airs tonight at 8 pm on CBS.