NCIS Star Breaks Silence After Leon Vance’s Shocking Fate In The 500th Episode

Throughout its time on the air, NCIS has had its fair share of deaths. This shouldn’t be surprising, considering the nature of MCRT’s jobs. So many beloved characters have seen their respective ends in various ways, including Kate Todd’s jaw-dropping murder in NCIS season 2. For years, that was regarded as the show’s best demise, but that’s effectively topped at the end of NCIS season 23, episode 13, “All Good Things.”

Coming into NCIS‘s 500th episode, there was an expectation that CBS was preparing something significant for fans. After a period of tumult, due to various reasons, including Mark Harmon’s exit, the procedural has seemingly found its identity again during the 2025-2026 TV cycle. The revamp hasn’t been easy, however, as the show needed to move some pieces and find the right mix of characters to ensure that it can continue for several more years. As such, NCIS‘s 500th episode did just that when it ended with the shocking death of long-time MCRT director.

Speaking with People, Rocky Carroll recalled how the idea of Vance’s death was first pitched to him, saying that he learned about it back in November, ahead of filming the project. It was showrunner Steve Binder who informed him of the plans for NCIS‘s 500th episode, which would be centered around the death of his character. They wanted to make sure that the send-off would function as a love letter to NCIS’s leader of nearly two decades, and they’re happy to have achieved that. Read Carroll’s comment below:

The middle of November, I believe, is when our executive producer, our showrunner Steve Binder, came to me after a day of filming and said, ‘So the 500th episode of NCIS is coming up and we want to do something big. We want to do something that shocks our loyal viewers and just really turns the NCIS universe upside down. In the process of saving the agency, Director Vance loses his life. It’s a great story.

I remember sitting there for a minute and having this out-of-body experience. Steve, he goes, ‘You want to hear more about the story?’ And I was like, ‘Let me process the whole thing, what you just told me. Let me take a moment, because right now I’m kind of having a bit of an out-of-body experience.’ This wasn’t one of those scenarios where I came to the network or I came to the producers and said, ‘Hey, it’s been a great run, but I think I want to move on.’

Carroll added that while the idea to leave NCIS wasn’t from him, it surprised him that he quickly accepted the fate of his character. Despite the short notice, he appreciated that Vance was being written out in one of the best ways that a character in the show has been sent off. He also liked what his death represented for NCIS:

The only thing that surprised me more than being told what the storyline was, was how quickly I was able to come to terms with it and be okay with it. I guess the director and the creative in me, my response was, ‘Really, that is actually a great story. It’s a terrific story.’

People still like simple justice. There are good guys, there are bad guys, and at the end of the hour the bad guys get brought to justice.

Looking back at NCIS‘s 1000th episode, Vance was also at the center of its story, as he was targeted by someone tied Gibbs’ very first case in the show. He survived and continued to be a steady presence in the show amid so many challenges in the last couple of years. While his death in “All Good Things” came as a major shocker, there were hints that Vance’s time on the show was running out. That said, theories were mainly about him either retiring or being fired — two options that were still viable until Adam Campbell’s Ducky revealed that massive twist.

Due to how people consume entertainment nowadays, traditional broadcast shows don’t get the same attention as their streaming or cable counterparts. Procedurals, in particular, are looked down on for its formulaic storytelling, which is a part of its nature, considering its weekly format. That said, there’s simply no substitute for the kind of investment network show viewers have for their characters, especially ones like Vance, who has been a part of NCIS since 2008. Luckily, Binder and his writers found a fitting way for his swan song.