“NCIS” dropped a bombshell Tuesday night, but this time it wasn’t explosive.
Warning: Contains spoilers.
In one of its cruelest twists to date, the long-running CBS hit action drama killed off Rocky Carroll director Leon Vance during its milestone 500th episode, leaving fans completely reeling.
“It’s never easy saying goodbye to any of our characters,” executive producer Stephen D. Binder told TV Insider. “But we wanted to honor Rocky and his legacy on the show as much as possible. In this case, he gave his life so his agency could survive.”
After 18 seasons, Carol’s stable commander, Vance, met a shocking end not with glory, but with cruel betrayal.
The episode began with NCIS itself in crisis mode, shutting down amid a growing scandal. Vance refuses to back down, even when he threatens to use a bomb to destroy vital evidence that could save the agency.
But what about bombs? Fake out.
The real danger stands right next to him.
An Army CID agent working with Vance is secretly part of a smuggling ring, and while Gibbs (Mark Harmon) attempts to exonerate an innocent woman accused of murder in a case dating back to his early days, the reassembled team investigates the same conspiracy.
Then comes the moment that changes everything.
The agent turns and shoots Vance.
For a moment, it looks like he might survive. This scene depicts Vance wearing a bulletproof vest and surviving the shooting.
However, when Vance is later talking to the interrogator, who turns out to be a younger version of Dr. “Ducky” Donald Mallard, who serves as a stand-in for the Angel of Death, it turns out that he has been shot dead.
“There were always real stakes,” Binder said, pointing to the show’s history of shocking losses. “Perhaps best exemplified by what happened to Agent Todd (Sasha Alexander) in the Season 2 finale.”
Carroll admitted that he did not resist the decision to kill off the character he had played for nearly 20 years. In fact, he accepted it.
“In the process of saving the agency, he lost his life,” he recalled Binder telling him. “That’s a wonderful story.
“Basically, it was communicated to me that the studio and the network wanted to do something really epic, really big, something that would shock the NCIS fanbase and the community.”
The emotional punch continued to hit Vance in his final moments as he was led to his death by Ducky, who plays Young Ducky in the NCIS spinoff NCIS: Origins.
“We don’t need a special reason to bring Adam Campbell back. He’s a rock star,” Binder said. “I happened to watch an episode of Young Ducky on Paramount+ and as soon as I saw Adam’s face I knew what this was about.”
By the end, the plot is revealed. The NCIS shutdown was built on falsified numbers by corrupt officials. The agency is back, the team is back, and Parker (Gary Cole) is coming out of retirement.
But victory comes at an irreparable price.
“Obviously the team will be sad,” Binder said. “Vance died protecting them all, and they’re going to honor that by putting one foot in front of the other and just continuing their mission to protect and defend their country.”
The message is clear. NCIS moves forward. Even without Vance.
