NCIS Recap: Rocky Carroll Returns As Leon Vance In Season 23 Finale

Warning: This post contains spoilers for Tuesday’s “NCIS” season finale.

Hello again, Leon Vance, nice to see you.

This week’s “NCIS” season finale gave fans a treat with the return of Rocky Carroll as Director Vance, two months after he was killed in the line of duty. Vance returned in flashbacks with his daughter Kayla (played once again by Naomi Grace), who joined forces with the NCIS team to crack the case of a string of deadly bombings. Plus, the deputy director LaRoche looked to be eyeing Vance’s director’s chair — boo! — and McGee’s son Mateo took a tour of the NCIS office while considering an internship. Nick sensed something was amiss, though, and when he confronted Mateo in a back alley, Mateo showed him he was carrying a gun, warning Nick: “Turn around and walk away. They could be watching.” Then as Nick held a gun on him, we heard a gunshot — and the screen went black.

That’s a lot to process in one finale, so TVLine reached out to “NCIS” showrunner Steven D. Binder to give us the scoop on all the twists and turns, from Vance’s return — and Kayla’s future — to what we really know about Mateo and that gunshot. Plus, we quizzed him about that sniper shot last week that had Leroy “Jethro” Gibbs written all over it.

TVLINE | It was great to see Rocky Carroll back in flashbacks as Leon Vance. Was this part of the plan all along, when you decided that Vance would die this season?
I wouldn’t say a plan, just a clear understanding that after what happened to him in [Episode] 500 that we would see him again. We’ve done this before with other characters, and there was no way we weren’t going to do it with this character. We were going to see him either in flashbacks, or in people’s heads like Jiminy Cricket. So it was always the plan. The timing wasn’t necessarily planned out, but it quickly became apparent to us that we needed to see him again. And when we realized that we were going to do the show a disservice by not bringing Kayla back, because that was going to happen at some point, it just seemed like, “Let’s not have her come back three years from now.” We needed to bring her in, and when you bring her in, it just seemed like, “Let’s see a daughter and her father together.” How do you not do that? I say this all in hindsight. [Laughs] This was, like, seven weeks of banging your head against the wall. But once you get the answer, then you realize that always had to be the answer.

TVLINE | Could he possibly return, either next season or in the future?
We’re going to, as we often do, let figuring out the best stories guide us in that. We don’t have checklists of things we necessarily want to hit. But it’s great just even thinking about Jiminy Cricket Vance. In the Season 16 finale, Gibbs’ dead ex-wife shows up, and he just can’t escape her. Now part of the fun there was the fireworks whenever you got those two together, alive or dead. But it just was a really fun episode, having someone whispering in your ear at the worst possible time. And the idea of seeing Vance be that guy seems too juicy. Because when he’s the [NCIS] director, there’s a certain level of decorum. But when he’s just the guy in your ear, you know, the gloves are off.

TVLINE | Vance’s daughter Kayla also returned in this episode, and she’s struck out on her own to form this team that’s infiltrating online extremist groups. She hasn’t decided yet whether she’s going to leave NCIS to do this full-time. Will we be checking in with her next season to follow up on that decision?
Yeah, I think we will see her again, or hear from her again. That character will be involved in some way, absolutely, next season. And that’s on my checklist. What that looks like is TBD.

TVLINE | I was thinking: Could she possibly be a full-time team member at some point in the future?
Yeah, I think her idea is you go one of two ways in a situation like this. It’s, “This is my father’s legacy, and I want to honor it and follow it. I honor my love by following in his footsteps.” Or you can’t bear to be in the building. That’s the other way to go. And I will tell you, we will go in the direction that seems like it’ll give us the most interesting episodes for the longest amount of time. But the answer to what that is, I don’t know quite yet.

TVLINE | Parker was butting heads with the deputy director LaRoche all episode long, and it looked like LaRoche had his eye on Vance’s director’s chair. Could we see Parker and his team being led by someone that they don’t exactly get along with?
When I think of that, I think of two things. I think, “Well, that’s certainly more interesting than being led by someone they get along with.” But then I also think “trope.” So we’ve got to square that circle and figure out again what are the best, most interesting stories. I do think to some degree, we retired the director’s jersey with Rocky Carroll, with Leon Vance. I don’t think you’ll have another director like that, as involved that much. Just for example, I’m not saying this is happening at all in any way, shape or form, but let’s say the studio said, “We want a director. Pick one. Stop this interim nonsense. And we want it to be LaRoche.” I would say, “OK, but maybe five episodes a season, tops.” That’s where I’m thinking the director fits. Now that is all subject to change. But that’s how I originally thought of Rocky Carroll’s departure. That’s what I communicated to him, and unless something comes our way that’s big, I think that’s how we’re going to play it.

TVLINE | We also spent more time with McGee’s son Mateo, and it seemed like he was applying for an internship at NCIS. But then Nick sensed something was wrong, and he confronted Mateo in the alley, and they ended up pulling guns on each other. We heard a gunshot. So do we pick up right there next season with the aftermath of that gunshot?
Yeah, we’ll either do a direct pickup, or some time will pass and we’ll have a few flashbacks to that. The reason I mention that is sometimes for other story things we’re doing, being that far back in time doesn’t work. But it feels to me we would be picking it up right there, right before, right after.

TVLINE | With a twist like this, do you and the writers like to paint yourselves into a corner in a way, where you say, “OK, we don’t know exactly how this is going to turn out, but we know we want a gunshot, and we’ll figure it out later”?
I am a huge fan of corner-painting. That goes to a philosophy of mine, which is: If you can plan it all out in advance, where you’re going to go, then someone can probably see it in advance, where you’re going to go. Whereas if you write yourself a situation where it’s like, “I have no idea how we deal with this,” neither will the fans, at least right out of the gate. In this case, you’ve got a situation where McGee is too proud, I guess, to see what’s going on with his son. But Torres is a little more suspicious character, and he sees it. Something’s up. So I think we thought about it that much, and we certainly talked about what it could be, should not be, or maybe might be. I hate to say there’s no plan. The plan is that Mateo is involved in something, and we the writers are going to find out what that is. We’re just as curious as everybody else is.

TVLINE | What can you say about Mateo and his true motivations? Is he being controlled by some bad people, or is he one of the bad people?
His frightened attitude and the way he says “They could be watching” certainly suggests he’s in over his head. I can just say, and I never want to ruin any surprises, but it just doesn’t feel right to me to give McGee a son and have the son be truly evil. I don’t want to see that. I want to see a father and a son have some problems. But I don’t want to see that. I don’t think anyone wants to see it. So it probably will not be that.

TVLINE | I have to go back to last week’s episode with the death of Wayne Rogers from this sniper bullet. Put that together with the Alaskan salmon, and all signs point to Gibbs. So what made you decide to bring him back, if only off-screen?
From the beginning, when Gibbs disappeared, we’ve been cautious to not place him in time and space too much. He sort of exists as this angelic creature, or angel with teeth, who’s transcended to some sort of heavenly afterlife in Alaska. So we’ve been very particular about not bringing him back or referencing him only in oblique ways and sort of continue to paint the mystery. And the question is: When is he going to actually really show up in a profound way, and not just making deposits in people’s college funds and things like that, and saying how proud he is of McGee? And if not now, when? This is one of his close friends. Leon Vance has been murdered. The guy’s going to get away with it. He’s going to continue to behave in a way that’s going to get people killed. And he’s now overtly threatened Gibbs’ family. He’s basically said, “I know where you are,” so Parker and the team are going to be looking over their shoulders for the rest of their lives. This guy’s untouchable, and that’s exactly the sort of vacuum that Leroy “Jethro” Gibbs has stepped into over and over again. So if not now, when?

TVLINE | Was there any talk of Mark Harmon possibly appearing on camera, if only for a moment?
There wasn’t, really, because it really needed to happen in such a subtle way. And it really is subtle. It’s a sniper shot. “I don’t know a lot of people who can make that shot.” I mean, that’s it. And if you see him there then… the lines in those moments were really played with and toyed with and tinkered with, how long we sat on their faces while they were like, “Wait a second, wait a second…” A lot of that was extended because it leaned it too far into thinking, “Oh, it was Gibbs!” So if Gibbs is around, I think you’re just way too far in that direction. Because it is murder. It still is murder.

Now it’s your turn: Give the “NCIS” finale — and the season as a whole — a grade in our polls, and hit the comments to share your thoughts.