With over 22 seasons of NCIS and Season 23 officially greenlit, the series is showing no signs of slowing down. Throughout its run, the franchise has seen its fair share of characters who have come and gone. The face of NCIS, Mark Harmon's Leroy Jethro Gibbs, left the show in Season 19, and all hope seemed lost for his return. That was until NCIS: Origins was announced, with Austin Stowell playing a young version of the iconic character, and Harmon returning to occasionally guest-star while narrating every episode. Beloved characters like Ziva David (Cote de Pablo) and Tony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) also exited NCIS years prior, only for them to return in guest roles and lead the upcoming spin-off, NCIS: Tony & Ziva.
As such, NCIS has proven that even though characters have left the series, there is still room for them to return. In Ziva's case, she was killed off-screen in Season 13, but the Season 16 finale revealed she faked her death. Ahead of the Season 22 finale, Collider's Ryan Cortero chatted with NCIS star Brian Dietzen about the show's production. Dietzen not only shared which episode they're currently filming, but he also teased the return of a notable character:
"We're shooting our 18th episode. We have 20 ordered on the season. So this is the pre-pre finale, and it's great. We got some good stuff going on…I just did a scene with a wonderful guest star who you're definitely going to recognize, and I can't talk about yet. But, but, teaser: it's, it's one that I think our fans are really going to love…With 22 years of catalog, you go back to a lot of people. But yeah, it's pretty cool. Definitely a fan favorite."
A Fan-Favorite 'NCIS' Character Will Return in Season 22, Episode 18
As the franchise has surpassed 1,000 episodes across NCIS, NCIS: Origins, NCIS: Los Angeles, NCIS: New Orleans, NCIS: Hawai'i, and NCIS: Sydney, there's a large universe of characters that could appear in the lead-up to the NCIS Season 22 finale. NCIS Season 22, Episode 13 "Bad Blood" featured a subplot where Kasie Hines (Diona Reasonover) reached out to different NCIS agencies to help raise funds for a fundraiser Timothy McGee's (Sean Murray) kids are a part of at school. Although the characters didn't appear, it featured references to G. Callen (Chris O'Donnell), Kensi Blye (Daniela Ruah), Jane Tennant (Vanessa Lachey), Dwayne Pride (Scott Bakula), and Michelle Mackey (Olivia Swann)—the first mention of NCIS: Sydney on NCIS. Although a NCIS and NCIS: Sydney crossover is unlikely due to production schedules, and the fact that NCIS: Origins is a prequel story, the character will likely be someone from NCIS itself.
A character like Jennifer Esposito's Alex Quinn is possible since she exited after only one season. After her directorial debut and passion project, Fresh Kills, was released in 2023, she could be ready to revisit her NCIS character. Quinn has interacted with Palmer throughout her run, so it would make sense that Dietzen would have a scene with this "wonderful guest star." NCIS has done a good job of bringing back characters and giving them a meaningful storyline. With over 22 seasons of characters, the possibilities are endless. Until then, tune into NCIS Season 22, Episode 14 "Close to Home" on Monday, March 3, which will see the return of Elle Graper's Victoria Palmer.
New episodes of NCIS air on CBS at 8 pm ET every Monday. Previous episodes are available for streaming on Paramount+.
