Fans assuming that Torres is leaving NCIS after what took place in the latest episode of the show may not be far off the mark.
Recently, there have been quite a few storyline hints that we may be watching the final episodes for NCIS Special Agent Nicholas “Nick” Torres.
Part of it goes back to when Agent Eleanor Bishop left on the Season 18 finale (played by Emily Wickersham), but a lot of it also stems from Gibbs leaving his team behind to “retire” to Alaska this season.
When Mark Harmon decided to take a step back from the show, it opened the door for the writers to create a storyline where Torres was simply unable to get past the feelings of abandonment that came with losing his mentor.
Is Torres leaving NCIS?
There has been no official announcement that Torres is leaving NCIS or that Wilmer Valderrama is leaving the NCIS cast. At the same time, there have also been a lot of rumors that due to the number of projects Valderrama is working on, he may no longer have time to be on NCIS Season 20.
Valderrama is going to be starring in a new Disney+ show about Zorro, and his production company has several other projects that received the green light to premiere on television very soon. Those seemed to be heavy hints that Valderrama already has a foot out the door when it comes to being on NCIS.
Is NCIS Season 20 going to air on CBS?
There are also a lot of online rumors about the current season of NCIS being the swan song for the drama. CBS has been pretty quiet about greenlighting NCIS Season 20, but it is also still a bit early for all the renewal notices to be made.
If Valderrama already knows that the show is coming to an end this spring — or if he has a feeling that NCIS is coming to an end — it would make perfect sense for him to put plans in place for jobs next year. And that would also provide a lot of lead time to write off the character of Nick Torres in a way that fans would understand.
Valderrama joined the NCIS cast as a replacement for Michael Weatherly (played Anthony DiNozzo), so that shows how long he has now been with the drama. It’s an interesting coincidence that Weatherly also announced he was leaving Bull recently, possibly opening the door for him to return to NCIS.
What is very clear is that there are going to be some noteworthy episodes in the back end of NCIS Season 19, including a big crossover event between NCIS and NCIS: Hawai’i this spring.
Usually, NCIS is pretty good about warning viewers that the final episodes for a main character are coming up, so, hopefully, if these are the final episodes for Torres on NCIS coming up, we will learn about it ahead of time.
NCIS airs Mondays at 9/8c on CBS.