Who doesn't love a bit of NCIS? It's definitely got to "classic" status at this point. But, as time goes on, actors need to leave. And it comes to the point that there's not all that many original-era characters left.
And it looks like another big hitter's just been crossed off that list. On the 500th episode, too! As reported by Page Six, Director Leon Vance has been killed off after a tense 500th NCIS episode special.
Executive producer Steven D. Binder has explained that he knows that it's a big deal. "It is never easy to say goodbye to any of our characters. But we wanted to honor Rocky and his legacy on the show as best as we could... in this case, giving his life so his agency could live."
Leon Vance, played by Rocky Carroll, ended up dying within the NCIS headquarters itself. It turns out that a corrupt agent had infiltrated another agency, and killed him at a very vulnerable moment. And, it's connected with a case from Gibbs' (Mark Harmon's) early days.
And the poor guy got shot. Twice. And in a touching tribute, Ducky acts as the angel of death, guiding Carroll toward his fate.
Videos by Wide Open Country
This Isn't the First Major Unexpected Death in the 'NCIS' Franchise
As Binder put it, NCIS has always had "real stakes". "Perhaps [this is] best embodied by what happened to Agent Todd (Sasha Alexander) in the Season 2 finale."
If you're not aware, Todd met a grisly fate whilst investigating Ari, a Mossad double agent. There's some similarities between the two deaths, despite being so many NCIS episodes apart. Both are very obviously shocking, and especially unexpected.
Carroll himself admitted that he embraced the death of his character. "In the process of saving the agency, he loses his life... It's a great story," he recalled. "It was basically presented to me that the studio and the network wanted to do something really spectacular, really big, and something that would really send shockwaves through the NCIS fan base and the community."
As someone who's kept up with NCIS for years now, this is a really shocking death!
