Who plays the baker in NCIS season 22? Character arc from the police procedural, explored

CBS's NCIS Season 22 returned after a winter break with Episode 10, titled Baker's Man, which followed a murder in Parker's favorite bakery.

NCIS Season 22 Episode 10 opened with Parker getting an order of Greek sweet treats from his favorite bakery, Kostakis Bakery, when McGee noticed that the pastry box is not just filled with pastries but a secret message from one of the employees named Virgil.

But it was too late for Virgil, who was already dead by the time the team got there, and they were embroiled in a secret drug smuggling.

Episode 10 had many guest appearances, such as Carlos Javier Rivera, Jordyn Owens, Joel Damany Steingold, and Ken Garito.

Actress Melina Kanakaredes starred as Eleni, a baker and the owner of Kostakis Bakery, in NCIS Season 22. She has earlier appeared in CSI: NY and The Resident.

Read on to know about her guest appearance in Season 22's winter premiere.

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Melina Kanakaredes guest-starred as a baker in

NCIS Season 22 Episode 10

After Parker and McGee see the secret message on their pastry box to call 911, they visit the bakery, but it is already too late as Virgil is dead.

Eleni, the bakery owner, reaches the crime scene and is visibly shocked to see her employee's fate. The team concludes that the murder was not because of the robbery but because Virgil's wallet was left untouched.

Upon investigation, they find out that Virgil has recently been released from Sutherland Prison for felony cases, and they suspect that one of his inmates has murdered him.

They talk to his parole officer, Mandel, but he reveals that Virgi is harmless and has no enemies inside the prison.

Elsewhere, Kasie discovers in her lab that Eleni's meringue cookies contain 67% cocaine, and the team finds out that her bakery was secretly smuggling $100,000 worth of cocaine by mixing it in their pastries.

They also learn from Eleni's lawyer that she received $25,000 from an offshore account and is a Greek immigrant who stayed in the US, unlike her four sisters.

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Why was Eleni mixing cocaine in her meringue cookies in NCIS Season 22 Episode 10?

Upon questioning Eleni's lawyer, the NCIS team learns that the money in her account is linked with a drug cartel member, Arturo Jimenez, who is using her bakery as a cover for his drug dealings. In addition, he is also threatening to kill her nephew Manny, who is an inmate in Sutherland prison.

But the team realizes this a little too late, as Arturo has already held Eleni, Torres, and Knight hostages and is forcing them to bake more meringue cocaine cookies as he was on a time crunch.

When the NCIS team, under Parker's leadership, gets there in time, they arrest Arturo for his dubious activities and unlawful narcotics trafficking. However, it turns out that he did not kill Virgil.

Rather, Virgil was murdered by his parole officer, who was demanding money from the relatives of prisoners in exchange for protecting them. Since Eleni had failed to pay for Manny, they killed her employee as a warning.

Ultimately, she reveals that she will be returning to Greece with Manny to her family.

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