NCIS has said goodbye to all of its main characters at one point or another. It’s a side effect of being on TV for two decades, and its a testament to the showrunners and writers that it has managed to keep its quality intact. Other shows are done the moment their main character decides to leave, but NCIS keeps right on going.
There hasn’t been many details on the upcoming season, due to the fact that it has been delayed to 2024. The writers room has opened back up, which means new episodes are finally being put together, but it’s still too early on in the process to know what will happen. What we do know, however, is that we could be losing some more characters.
Is Nick Torres leaving NCIS season 21?
Nick Torres has become essential to the NCIS team, but the personal controversies of the actor who plays him, Wilmer Valderrama, had led to nagging rumors that Torres will be written off the show in season 21. The character had some close calls last season, especially during the season 20 finale, where he confronted a man with ties to his family and presumably killed him.
Valderrama has not been able to comment on these rumors due to the actors strike, so we hope these rumors are just that: rumors. Torres is a good counterbalance to the rest of the team, and his individual storyline culminating in the aforementioned confrontation made up some of the tensest moments of the season. If he leaves it will be a huge blow, but that’s a huge “if.”
Is Donald “Ducky” Mallard leaving NCIS season 21?
This one is sadly ironclad. David McCallum died on NCIS Day, which commemorated the show’s premiere, and the news was met with an outpouring of kind words and support for the actor’s family. Had production resumed when it usually does, during the summertime, then there’s a chance that McCallum would have been able to film scenes as “Ducky”, but the show being delayed to 2024 means the actor died before any cameras rolled.
It hasn’t yet been announced how the show plans to address McCallum’s death, and whether they plan to have “Ducky” die in the world of the show. Either way, we are expecting a tribute to the actor that is heartfelt and perhaps even bolstered by cameos from the original cast members.
