When NBC's Las Vegas left off last season, Ed (James Caan) looked worried as Danny McCoy (Josh Duhamel) was recalled to the Marine Corps for a mysterious intelligence mission. Just before leaving Sin City, Dan the Man finally made love to his childhood best friend, Mary (Nikki Cox). (Jackpot!) But will the dapper Duhamel be MIA when Season 2 begins tonight at 9 pm/ET?

"We've had so many fans asking if Josh Duhamel is leaving the show," says creator Gary Scott Thompson. "No, he's not! Danny is back in Vegas in the season opener. He will have completed his mission off screen over the summer."

It's not that simple, though. Danny will struggle with post-traumatic stress. "Much like real soldiers returning from Afghanistan after watching their buddies get killed," Thompson says, "it's going to be a difficult adjustment back to normal life." On the (kinda) bright side, Ed and Danny "will be more simpatico" now that they share psychological battle scars. "A lot of people who've gone to war," he notes, "come back with some regrets about what they did."

In other season-opener scoop, look for Michael and David DeLuise (yeah, Dom's sons) to guest-star as dim-witted Montecito Casino guests. "We'll also have the funeral home directors' convention in town," Thompson enthuses. "It's very colorful and crazy. Strippers in coffins! What can I say?"

As for the rest of this season, Jon Lovitz is back in the second episode as Fred Puterbaugh, the would-be roof-jumper who won $6 million gambling, and Cheryl Ladd returns as Ed's sexy wife, Jillian. The younger cast members also have a fun story line coming up. "The four girls and the two young guys will pool their money in a fun partnership to make some money quick," Thompson says. "It will go awry, of course. And no, it's not a Nevada bordello."