Duluth Woven Into Storyline Of New CBS Primetime Crime Show Episode

While most of us are probably dreaming of a tropical location right about now, the writers of a new crime spinoff were thinking of us! Yes, they were thinking of us in Duluth.

Minnesota and Duluth are not uncommon characters in television shows. This may seem random but Duluth itself has been mentioned a handful of times over the years. For example, back in 2018 when the hit show Roseanne was brought back for a short time, one of the episodes made mention of us. It wasn't super personal but they did it!

Another little Duluth connection happened in the NBC hit Chicago Fire. This also wasn't a super personal shout out but it was still fun! During one line in an episode that dropped in 2020, a few of the main characters were investigating an arson. The suspect was pinged in Duluth, Minnesota. They claim that he was trying to get to Canada. Ha!

Of course, we can't forget the time when a major character on Grey's Anatomy went to Minnesota for part of her medical residency. The show had a little too much fun making fun of Minnesota and what they think we do around here. Ha!

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Now, a new crime spinoff is giving Duluth some love. The show is an NCIS spinoff called NCIS: Hawaii. It just made its debut in September of this year and not even into ten episodes, they are showing us some love.

So what happened? It all went down in the eighth episode of season one, titled Legacy. The whole entire episode is centered around a feud between a billionaire and a group of activists fighting over a piece of land.

Our Duluth shout out comes at around the twenty-eight minute mark. One of the agents, played by Vanessa Lachey, is questioning a woman who is suspected of being involved in a murder regarding the piece of land.

That is when the woman goes on a little bit of a tangent talking about her husband and their past. She says the following:

When we were young, in Duluth, I thought success would help smooth the edges but some things never change.

It doesn't just end there! Less than a minute later, the agent in question goes to the rest of her team and tells them that the line about Duluth stuck with her, saying:

Duluth. Morgan couldn't talk freely but she was trying to tell me something. She mentioned when she and Damian were young in Duluth.

In case you are being cynical and thinking there is no way that they were talking about Duluth in the Northland, we have proof that they are. One of the other agents says that the couple were married in Minneapolis, saying:

Damian and Morgan met and married in Minneapolis. They never lived in Duluth.

Oh boy, it looks like Duluth is a big part of this mysterious puzzle. I won't give anything away but you should definitely watch the episode if you want to see how it plays into the big picture. In the same scene, they pull up a picture of Morgan, who is posing in front of a cabin on a lake, which is meant to look like it was taken here. We have to laugh at what people in Hollywood think about our little town. Ha!

And last but not least, another agent in the crew comments that the place in the photos makes Morgan happy and he says that it would make him happy too. Awwwww.

By the way, it looks like the spinoff isn't going anywhere! In October, it was ordered for a full season pickup, which means there are many more episodes to come. Maybe this means there are more shout outs to come, too!

Most recently, I have been watching another crime drama of sorts. It is called 9-1-1 and it is on the FOX network. It features a group of first responders and one is from the Twin Cities in real life and on the show. For this reason, they play off of Minnesota stereotypes quite a bit.