I didn't see that coming.
'NCIS' Spoilers: Did Gibbs Actually Just Kill [Spoiler]?
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Spoilers ahead for NCIS season 23!
NCIS season 23 just surprised us all because episode 19 (which aired on May 5), set up the ultimate shocking finale after the death of Wayne Rogers (J. Paul Boehmer)...but I'm getting ahead of myself.
Now, as a refresher, Rogers is on trial for a myriad of crimes, but it's also incredibly personal to the team because of his connection to Leon Vance's (Rocky Carroll) death.
Here's what happened at the end of NCIS season 23, episode 19 — and how Gibbs made a surprise return.
Did Gibbs return to NCIS?
When shots are fired in the courthouse, Rogers is able to make a run for it, and then uses some insider info as leverage to get sent into the Witness Protection Program. But this isn't the resolution characters like Alden Parker (Gary Cole) feel satisfied with, and he swears to do whatever it takes to bring Rogers to justice.
And near the end of the episode, we learn that the vehicle transporting Rogers actually broke down, and a sniper ended up taking him out...from 4,500 feet away. When Parker says he doesn't know anything about snipers, he offers up some fresh Alaskan salmon he has on hand — which is a major clue that he got some off-camera help from Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) to make the shot. Justice is served! (Fans will remember that Gibbs has been residing in Alaska for quite some time!)
What did the NCIS cast have to say about the surprise?
“I don’t know who called Gibbs, but definitely someone who knows him. I’ll tell you that," Wilmer Valderrama tells TV Insider, adding that if his character Nicholas Torres had been faced with the opportunity to take the shot himself, he would have. “I think there’s a part of the new Torres that held him back, but the old Torres would have just not missed the opportunity to get the job done. Even if that means that he loses the badge. For him, I think ‘justice at all costs necessary’ is really who he is.”
He also explains that taking a more reckless and Wild West approach to the job is satisfying for Torres in its own way. “I think Torres has had such an interesting ongoing frustration with how we do things on NCIS. Since he got there, now 10 years ago, he’s had to kind of really assimilate to how they do things, the rules, the protocols, how they’re going to go about it. So, needless to say that he was thrilled to see that we were drawing outside the lines,” Valderrama continues. “That’s really where he thrives the most. That’s really where he wants to live. For Torres, you’re going to see that being a common theme in the next season as well. We’re building towards something pretty big with this character.”
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