NCIS spoilers: Major cast member leaving the show in Season 18

NCIS spoilers have already been revealed about the big casting change that will take place during Season 18.

There had been previous NCIS rumors about one of the primary cast members leaving at the end of Season 17, but due to the coronavirus pandemic shutting down production of new episodes, the season got cut short.

Now, Season 18 has begun, even though the first episode of the new season left a few viewers confused and frustrated about the direction of the show.

Still, at least NCIS has returned to television, giving CBS viewers something new to watch each Tuesday night.

Spoilers about NCIS Season 18 cast

Actress Maria Bello, who plays Special Agent Jacqueline “Jack” Sloane on NCIS, joined the show back in Season 15. At the time, she signed on with a three-year contract, with the intent to leave at the end of Season 17.

The good news is that Bello didn’t decide to just leave the show in the lurch when the Season 17 episodes got interrupted. Instead, she agreed to come back for some Season 18 episodes, allowing the writers to close the book on the character in the right way.

Now, Sloane is scheduled to appear in eight episodes of Season 18, with her official departure date unannounced. That means it’s going to be a while before her last episode airs, but fans know well in advance that the exit is coming.

How will Sloane leave NCIS? That’s shrouded in a lot of mystery. There had been previous NCIS rumors about a romantic relationship developing between Sloan and Gibbs (Mark Harmon) but that never really took place on the show.

Wonder who. #NCIS pic.twitter.com/wNyJTwb050

— NCIS (@NCIS_CBS) March 11, 2020

Season 18 already off to an interesting start

The NCIS season premiere began with an intriguing scene that still has viewers asking about it. It was intended to appear that Gibbs shot McGee (Sean Murray) on an airport runway, without much information to go along with that scene.

It was assumed that more would be explained later in the episode, but the writers left that plot point dangling. We will all have to tune in for future episodes to find out exactly why Gibbs and McGee were at the airport.

Meanwhile, we will also be watching closely as we try to guess how Sloane will leave the show. Will she be killed off to seal her fate? Or, will she get a happy ending? Maybe an official long-term reunion with her daughter is waiting?

NCIS airs Tuesday nights at 8/7c on CBS.