Leon Vance (Rocky Carroll) delivers tough news in NCIS’ 500th episode
Director Leon Vance (Rocky Carroll) brings big news to episode 500 of NCIS, which airs March 24th.
Spoiler alert for the 500th episode of “NCIS” on March 24th!
Director Leon Vance literally left the NCIS building and went to heaven.
The 500th episode airing March 24 of CBS’ long-running crime show (now streaming on Paramount+), which spanned 18 seasons and 392 episodes, delivered a divine bombshell with the murder of NCIS boss Vance, played by classically trained actor and “Chicago Hope” star Rocky Carroll.
This powerful episode features the shooting death of a beloved leader and a surreal, imagined reunion between Vance and his former colleague, the late Chief Medical Examiner Donald “Ducky” Mallard (Adam Campbell) in their younger years.
A mallard in a bow tie guides Vance to heaven and glows magically behind the assistant’s office door, usually next to the NCIS director.
Carroll, 62, told USA TODAY that he had an out-of-body experience when he learned Vance’s fate on the NCIS set in November when showrunner Stephen D. Binder knocked on his trailer door after a day of filming to discuss the 500th episode.
Binder explained that CBS and the show’s producers wanted to add some jolt to this milestone. The planned episode will see Vance fight a plot by a nefarious rival CID agency to shut down NCIS.
“All hope seemed lost, but fortunately Director Vance was able to get to the bottom of this plan and save the agency,” Carol recalls Binder telling her. “And in the process of saving the agency, he loses his life.”
Stunned, Carol immediately asks to rewind the “losing your life” section.
“I said, ‘Repeat that last part again,'” Carroll recalled. “I’m sitting there having an out-of-body experience, because I’ve been told that this episode is basically going to revolve around this character’s death, and I finally realized that I was just getting there.”
What will happen in the 500th episode of “NCIS”? Who will die?
Vance said Binder had “accomplished the mission” he had promised in trailer talk, and said the 500th episode would not only shake up the NCIS story, but would also be a “love letter” to the fallen Vance and a “real sendoff.”
So mission accomplished. In the episode titled “All Good Things,” Vance reconciles with his work-weary friend Supervising Special Agent Alden Parker (Gary Cole), defuses a bomb in an NCIS evidence locker (pulling a dangerous wire!), and discovers that CID agent Dolan Thompson (Matt Cook) is a traitor. The discovery was too late, as Thompson pulled out a gun and fired three shots into Vance’s chest before being shot dead by arriving agents Parker and Timothy McGee (Sean Murray).
At first, Vance appeared to be saved by his bulletproof vest. However, an interrogation of Vance in his office by a mysterious agent reveals that the bureaucrat is not wearing a vest. And he is actually dead. The mysterious agent was revealed to be a young Ducky, one of the original “NCIS” characters played by Scottish actor David McCallum, who died in September 2023 during Vance’s tenure.
Campbell, who played Young Ducky on NCIS: Origins, explains that one of the “perks” of being in heaven is looking younger.
Before disappearing, Ducky points out that Vance’s next destination is a light shining through the assistant’s door. There’s a tear-jerking montage of past “NCIS” moments before Vance goes solo into the light. He hears his beloved wife Jackie (Paula Newsome), who was assassinated in season 6, call out to her husband as he arrives: “Hey, baby.” Vance’s death also saves the NCIS agency, and Parker comes out of retirement to restart it. The final victory.
Filming this episode was “bittersweet,” Carroll said, leaving her feeling emotional for her performance. “Once the cameras started rolling, it was like, ‘We have a job to do,'” he says.
Although it took months for her to make a decision, Carol is now relieved to leave the role after a long stint on NCIS, which began in 2008.
Carol is grateful for the rare experience of appearing on the long-running show, saying, “I had time to come to terms with it. I found out about it in November.” “If this had happened in my third season, it would have been devastating. But season 18 is rarefied air. If someone offered me a role on NCIS and said something bad was going to happen in season 18, there’s not an actor on the planet who wouldn’t say, ‘Who do I sign with?'” That’s the equivalent of living to 105. ”
Carroll, who directed 25 episodes of NCIS, will return to direct the next season’s 24 episodes.
“We’ve been around for over 20 years, but this version of our relationship with the show has come to an end,” Carroll says. “Once the smoke clears, I’ll be back to direct the episode in a month. It’s not as final as you might think.”
Carroll’s plan for this episode included seeing it live at a private screening for unsuspecting Screen Actors Guild members.
“The lights come on in the house and we end up doing a Q&A with 150 stunned faces,” Carol says. “They’ll probably say, ‘What the hell happened?'” I’m very proud of this episode. It celebrates nearly 20 years of working on one of the most beloved shows in television history. ”
The actor is scheduled to appear on “CBS Morning” with Gayle King on March 25th.
“The funny thing about dying on TV is that in real life you can come back on TV the next day and talk about it,” Carroll says.
