Warning: Spoilers ahead for NCIS season 23.NCIS could be reuniting with one of its stars after a shocking death in the series’ 500th episode.
NCIS‘s 23rd season had a lot of emotional rollercoasters and included a crossover with NCIS Origins while bringing back Vera Strickland and Ellie Bishop. However, the death of one character has left everyone reeling, and that is the death of Rocky Carroll’s character, Director Leon Vance, who was introduced to the series in 2008. In an interview with the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, Carroll discusses how “emotional” the final moments were and how he could return:
Rocky Carroll: It was very emotional, but I think for me, there was a silver lining, because working as a director on the show, a month later, I was back directing an episode of the show. So, my role on camera has changed, but I’m still there, I’m still in the family. I’m not at the dinner table every night, but holidays and birthdays, I’m there. I’m a visiting relative. I say to people all the time, we kind of cornered the market on people coming back as ghosts. We use the term “ghost star” all the time on our show. If a writer gets in a jam and can’t figure out a scene, it’s like, “Let’s go to the wayback machine and have Vance give us some sage advice.”
Matt Mitovich: I could see a scenario where one of his kids, a couple years from now, stumbles across another dead petty officer, gets involved in an NCIS case. The kid’s in jeopardy and maybe gets a visit from ghost dad.
Rocky Carroll: From Hamlet’s ghost, there he is, yes.
In Season 23, episode 13, titled “All Good Things”, the case of Billy Fuentes is introduced, but the real shocking moment was the news that Vance was killed while investigating the case. His sendoff has been remarked as one of the series’ best, with many feeling extremely upset over a longtime character now departing NCIS.
Carroll hasn’t been quiet after he departed from NCIS and even spoke to People about how he was approached when the writers wanted to pitch his death and have the 500th episode centered around him:
“The middle of November, I believe, is when our executive producer, our showrunner Steve Binder, came to me after a day of filming and said, ‘So the 500th episode of NCIS is coming up, and we want to do something big. We want to do something that shocks our loyal viewers and just really turns the NCIS universe upside down. In the process of saving the agency, Director Vance loses his life. It’s a great story.
I remember sitting there for a minute and having this out-of-body experience. Steve, he goes, ‘You want to hear more about the story?’ And I was like, ‘Let me process the whole thing, what you just told me. Let me take a moment, because right now I’m kind of having a bit of an out-of-body experience.’ This wasn’t one of those scenarios where I came to the network, or I came to the producers and said, ‘Hey, it’s been a great run, but I think I want to move on.’”
The episode has remained a constant source of emotion for longtime fans of the series, and NCIS will feel a huge loss after the departure of Carroll and the death of Vance.