“We do more ghost stars than we do flashbacks,” the actor who plays the character who was killed off in NCIS Episode 500 tells TV Insider.
Yes, the big milestone ended on a shocking note, with a major character, one of the cast members who had been on the show for years, saying goodbye. But will that be the last time we see that person? TV Insider had to ask the actor just that. Warning: Spoilers for NCIS Episode 500 (Season 23 Episode 13) ahead!
Director Leon Vance (Rocky Carroll) dies in NCIS Episode 500, saving the agency. He defuses a bomb set to go off to destroy evidence of a smuggling ring that includes the CID director and the agent working closely with McGee (Sean Murray) and Knight (Katrina Law) after their transfer when NCIS, having been shut down, is folded into the other agency. But that agent was in on it and shot Vance — and while at first it looked like he’d been wearing a vest, as it was soon revealed, by the Angel of Death, eventually revealed to look like a young Ducky (Adam Campbell), he wasn’t.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll never see Vance again. After all, when Kate was killed off at the end of Season 2, Sasha Alexander then appeared as the team processed her death.
“I don’t think you’ve seen the last of Director Vance,” Rocky Carroll confirms to TV Insider. “I think NCIS has cornered the market in the ghost stars, people returning, being, and playing significant characters. We do more ghost stars than we do flashbacks.”
And we will see the team grieving, executive producer Steven D. Binder says. “But we felt it important that, at the end of the episode, the team is just as focused on Vance’s sacrifice as they are on their loss. Vance died to protect them all. And they are going to honor that by putting one foot in front of the other, and just continuing on their mission to protect and safeguard their country.”
Carroll’s also back to direct another episode.
“The last day of the episode was filmed December 11. About a month later, I was back behind the camera directing another episode of NCIS. I knew the last day we shot this episode, and it was very emotional with the crew and the other people there. And I was saying to everybody, ‘Hey guys, this is just goodbye for now. I’ll be back.’ I’m like a visiting relative. I won’t be here for every night for dinner, but I’ll be here for all the holidays,” Carroll says.
How do you want to see Vance back onscreen on NCIS? Let us know in the comments section below.
NCIS, Tuesdays, 8/7c, CBS
