‘NCIS’ Has the Opportunity To Finally Bring Back This Beloved Character After 4 Years

With 23 seasons and counting, NCIS has created enough characters and storylines to supply multiple shows. Indeed, the CBS series has spawned its own franchise with six spinoffs, though the flagship title remains its biggest success story. The core ensemble has seen plenty of turnover — the current cast only includes two people who originated in Season 1, Sean Murray and Brian Dietzen — and so inevitably, some characters make varying impressions on viewers by the time they leave.

While some characters, like Mark Harmon‘s Leroy Jethro Gibbs, leave sizable gaps in the team once they’re gone, others, such as Alex Quinn (Jennifer Esposito), are brief flickers in NCIS‘ substantial run. With Gibbs’ story continuing on NCIS: Origins and beloved departed characters Tony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) and Ziva David (Cote de Pablo) returning for their own spinoff, it feels like the franchise is more nostalgic than ever. That’s why now is the perfect time to revisit one of its most underrated characters: Ellie Bishop (Emily Wickersham).

Ellie Bishop’s ‘NCIS’ Exit Was a Huge Surprise – and Incredibly Mysterious

Introduced in NCIS Season 11 in the wake of Ziva’s departure, Bishop was a very different kind of female agent. While her predecessors came to the job as experienced field operatives, Bishop was a National Security Agency (NSA) analyst with eccentric work habits. Her first onscreen appearance found her working on the floor of the NSA; at other points of the episode, she hopped up on an autopsy table while brainstorming, requested snacks to help her think, and gained the upper hand in an interrogation through some admittedly shady methods. In other words, she was a distinctive new addition to NCIS right from the beginning

After spending the next several years as an integral part of Gibbs’ team, Bishop exited the series in dramatic fashion in the Season 18 finale. She was accused of leaking classified NSA files, and while her teammates all believed in her innocence, she confessed to the crime and quit. Though her motivations were largely kept a secret from those around her, viewers soon learned that she discredited herself so that she could go on a covert mission with Ziva’s former ally Odette Malone (Elayn J. Taylor). She disappeared without a trace, but not before kissing Nick Torres (Wilmer Valderrama).

Wickersham’s NCIS departure wasn’t revealed prior to the episode airing, so viewers were thrown for a loop. It’s been standard practice for longtime cast members, such as Weatherly, de Pablo, and Pauley Perrette, to confirm their exits well in advance. The suddenness of Wickersham’s finale, coupled with the espionage twist in Bishop’s story, made for an all-around shocking end for the quirky, brilliant agent.

Now Is the Best Time for ‘NCIS’ To Bring Back Bishop

It’s now been over four years since Bishop was last seen on NCIS, and the franchise’s current era means it’s the ideal time to bring her back. Perhaps it’s because the flagship series is about to hit 500 episodes, but it seems NCIS has been more nostalgic than usual lately. There’s the recent NCIS: Tony & Ziva spin-off, and the Origins episode that revisited a younger Ducky’s (Adam Campbell) relationship with Gibbs. One of the latest episodes of NCIS Season 23 went all in on revisiting McGee’s author alter ego, Thom E. Gemcity, while another crossed over with Origins and brought back Vera Strickland (Roma Maffia).

With all this looking back, NCIS can’t ignore one of its longest-running characters. While the show has touched on the whereabouts of other departed characters, like Gibbs and DiNozzo, Bishop’s remains a mystery — understandably, considering the circumstances of her exit. Still, said circumstances also opened the door for a compelling story if she were to ever return, and NCIS would be foolish to ignore that.

Signs Bishop Will Return to ‘NCIS’ This Season

Image via CBS

The concept of Bishop finally coming back to NCIS hasn’t come out of nowhere. To begin with, Sean Murray told TVLine, “Someone from the world of ‘NCIS’ who everyone knows very well but hasn’t seen in a very long time may pop up.” At the time of writing, there haven’t been any announcements for this potential return, leaving plenty of options. On top of that, the synopsis for the Season 23 fall finale (via ScreenRant) reads, “Knight is given her first NCIS: Elite mission, which involves tracking down a former member of the team.”

Seeing as Bishop left NCIS in disgrace, it wouldn’t be that outlandish to imagine a scenario where she’s now being hunted by the very organization she once worked for. It would give the show the perfect opportunity to shed some light on what she’s been doing for Odette while also presenting an emotionally thorny conflict for the team. McGee and Torres worked quite closely with her and felt betrayed by her sudden departure. The latter case is even more gripping considering the feelings Torres and Bishop had for each other, which were never really acted on beyond their parting kiss.

If NCIS really wants to explore the journeys their characters have been on, Bishop was a big part of Torres’ and can’t be ignored. Her return, particularly at the center of a manhunt, would be a fascinating character-driven storyline that would fit in perfectly with Season 23’s other ongoing arcs. It helps that Wickersham recently visited her former NCIS co-workers on the Paramount lot, though she was notably spotted alongside Origins producer David J. North. Nevertheless, that, along with her guest appearance on Weatherly and de Pablo’s rewatch podcast last year, shows she isn’t against revisiting her NCIS tenure.