NCIS has never been a stranger for killing off characters in shocking fashion, but the show’s latest death may very well be its most unexpected and hardest death yet.
In the show’s 500th episode, the NCIS writers shocked fans by killing longtime NCIS Director Leon Vance, who paid the ultimate sacrifice on the job to protect the agency he’d given his life to running. The death was one that sent shockwaves through the NCIS fandom as it brought an end to Rocky Carroll’s near-two-decades-long run on the series, making him one of the show’s longest-tenured cast members.
Fans have struggled to accept the decision to kill Vance off the show, and it seems they’re not alone as former NCIS lead Mark Harmon was strongly against the decision and didn’t like the idea one bit.
“He wasn't as on board with the idea as I was. Let's just put it that way,” Carroll told Matt Webb Mitovich during a SAG-AFTRA Foundation conversation following his exit from NCIS. “He just felt like, ‘Hey, man, what you brought to this role… almost two decades in this role.’ I think he was speaking from the heart, just like my other cast members too.”
Unsurprisingly, Harmon was not the only one of Carroll’s co-stars who was not in support of the writers’ decision to kill Vance off in the 500th episode. It was Carroll who had to help sell them on the idea, which he firmly stands behind as being a really good story.
“They [were] just like, ‘No, we don't want this to happen! We don't want this to end! What can we do to make this [go away]?’ I felt like the character who was talking to Vance. It's like, ‘Come on, it is what it is, but it's time to move on.’ And it's a really good episode. It's a good story. So, we've talked and [Mark] knows it’s like, ‘You're going to live your life.’”
It’s not at all surprising that Harmon and Carroll’s fellow NCIS co-stars were not immediately on board with the decision. Carroll has been a staple on the show since season 5 and was one of only three actors from the early days of the show still with the cast (Sean Murray and Brian Dietzen have both been with the show since its first season).
Knowing how strongly Harmon felt about the decision, it’s a shame he wasn’t able to be a part of Carroll’s send-off in some way and it’s disappointing to know we likely won’t ever see the pair share the screen again on NCIS. At least we got to see some flashback clips of Vance and Gibbs in the show’s tribute reel in the closing moments of the 500th episode revisiting Vance’s life through the show.
It also goes to show that while he may no longer be starring in the show, Harmon is very much still involved behind the scenes and continues to look out for the NCIS cast. It's also unsurprising that Carroll's co-stars shared Harmon's same sentiment in not wanting his time on the show to come to an end.
Thus far, Carroll is the only member of the cast who has publically addressed his exit from the seires, so it will be interesting to see if any additional members of the cast share their personal reactions to Vance's death. Given Carroll's comments, it seems his NCIS colleagues had some strong opinions and we'll be eager to see if any members of the cast share those with the fans.