NCIS Season 18 will resume soon and during the run of new episodes, one of the major characters is going to depart.
The winter hiatus has felt even longer this season than in the past, specifically because only three new episodes of NCIS Season 18 aired in the fall.
There has also been some bad news released that resuming production on new episodes had to be delayed. Hopefully, that doesn’t last long and the writers for the show are given the chance to end Season 18 with some great episodes.
But back to the topic at hand. Before the NCIS Season 18 finale rolls around, one of the major characters of the show will likely already be gone.
Who is leaving NCIS this season?
Actress Maria Bello is leaving NCIS very soon. Bello joined NCIS in Season 15 and she plays Special Agent Jacqueline “Jack” Sloane.
Sloane seems to serve as the moral compass for the team, helping to reel people in and giving advice where it is needed. The character has been interesting when seen in the field, but she is often only on newer episodes as someone working in the offices.
As for Bello, she originally signed up to be a recurring character for three seasons of the show. The story arc for her character was supposed to run through the season 17 finale of NCIS, but the coronavirus pandemic got in the way of that happening.
Bello agreed to return to the NCIS cast for eight additional episodes in Season 18, where the intent was to give the writers enough time to write her out of the show.
The beginning of Season 18 got delayed and then Episode No. 400 was used to flashback to Gibbs meeting Ducky for the first time.
Now, though, it’s time to get back to business and bring things back to the present day. But first, a double feature will take place as part of the winter premiere, giving fans answers about why it appeared that Gibbs shot McGee in the season premiere.
After those two new episodes, it is likely that the show will start focusing on the exit of Agent Jack Sloane. Bello will have only three episodes left on her contract, so it is very likely that the network will start advertising that her final scenes are approaching.
Sloane doesn’t give up that easily. #NCIS pic.twitter.com/GT2iZxdA2w
— NCIS (@NCIS_CBS) January 3, 2018
More news from the world of NCIS
Ratings are down a bit for NCIS: Los Angeles and NCIS: New Orleans on Sunday nights. The shows will have new episodes on each of the next two Sunday nights, so hopefully, things level out a bit.
And don’t forget that the winter premiere of NCIS is coming up soon, with two new episodes featuring McGee’s wife that will wrap up that Gibbs-Tobias investigation.
NCIS airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on CBS.