Director Leon Vance has defended the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) team for the last time.
During the 500th episode of NCIS, which aired Tuesday on CBS, fans were stunned when Director Leon Vance (Rocky Carroll) was killed in a shooting involving a corrupt federal agent. Following his death, he is reunited with the late chief medical examiner Donald “Ducky” Mallard (Adam Campbell), who welcomes him to heaven.
Here’s what to know about Carroll’s exit from NCIS and what Vance’s fate means for the show.
Vance defuses a bomb set to destroy evidence of a smuggling ring
According to TV Insider, Vance valiantly defuses a bomb set to destroy evidence of a smuggling ring involving the CID director and a federal agent who had been working closely with Timothy McGee (Sean Murray) and Jessica Knight (Katrina Law) following their transfer after NCIS merged with another agency.
It is soon revealed that the agent is part of the smuggling ring, and he shoots Vance. At first, it appears Vance may be wearing a bulletproof vest, but when the Angel of Death appears in the form of a young Donald “Ducky” Mallard, viewers learn that Vance is, in fact, dead.
Carroll had a ‘knee-jerk response’ to learning of Vance’s death
Stunned fans have speculated online about why Carroll left the show, but the actor clarified to TVLine that he “was not the catalyst for this happening” and his departure was a more recent development.
Carroll explained the episode was shot at the end of November and the beginning of December, and he said he found out about Vance’s fate “two episodes before we shot it.” Killing the character off, Carroll revealed, was executive producer Steven D. Binder’s idea. The actor said Binder wanted the 500th episode of NCIS to “shockwaves through the TV community and the fan base.”
And send shockwaves it did.
Carroll, who has been playing Vance for 18 seasons, said he thought the character’s death was “a great story” and he was “surprised” about “how quickly I was able to kind of come to terms with it.”
“I would have loved to have been one of the characters who was there for the very last episode, when they board up the windows, and when they officially do say, ‘All right, it’s time for everybody to turn off the lights and go home.’ You’d like to be one of the last men standing,” he added. “But after 18 seasons, I couldn’t have asked for more,” he told TVLine.
But it wasn’t all smooth sailing. Carroll admitted that, before hearing Binder’s reasoning for killing off Vance, he wasn’t convinced the beloved character should die.
“I had this kind of knee-jerk response,” he said, according to E! Online, “where I remember one of the first things I was saying to our executive producers was: ‘We lose characters all the time, but we sent Gibbs off to Alaska. Tony and Ziva, Bishop, all these characters, they were all able to kind of go on their own free will, always with the thought that they’re gone, but not dead. So if you wanted this character to go, why are we being so final about it, when everybody else just gets sent off to another country?'”
Carrol ultimately felt Vance “really kind of came full circle,” and the episode is “a real love letter to the character that really summarized his journey and his impact on the show.”
Carroll will return to NCIS as a director
Despite Vance’s death, both Carroll and the character aren’t leaving the NCIS universe anytime soon.
“I don’t think you’ve seen the last of Director Vance,” the actor told 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 Carroll is set to return to direct an episode of the military police procedural.
“The last day of the episode was filmed Dec. 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 said.
New episodes of NCIS air Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on CBS.