Rocky Carroll has played Leon Vance on NCIS since 2007. After 18 seasons, the show finally wrote him out — and gave him a send-off most long-running characters never get.
The exit comes in the 500th episode, which aired March 24. Vance dies and is reunited in the afterlife with his wife, with a final appearance from Ducky guiding him there.
It’s sentimental. But it doesn’t feel random.
Showrunner Steven D. Binder told Variety the decision had been sitting in the background for a while. No one wanted to lose Vance. That part wasn’t complicated.
The timing was.
The 500th episode gave them a reason to finally do it — something big enough to justify the move. Binder even pointed back to Kate’s death in Season 2, the moment that helped define the show early on. Whether this lands the same way isn’t guaranteed. It’s a gamble.
Carroll doesn’t sound like someone closing a chapter.
He called it “goodbye for now,” and that’s not just phrasing. He’s already been back on set. Carroll still directs multiple episodes each season and returned in January to prep another one.
His way of putting it is simpler: he’s not at every family dinner anymore, but he still shows up for the holidays.
Could he return on-screen?
Probably.
NCIS has a long habit of bringing characters back in unexpected ways — including as what Carroll calls “ghost stars.” He seems open to it.
There’s also the reality the show doesn’t hide.
Series this deep into their run don’t make moves like this by accident. Big exits bring attention. Binder admitted as much — saying the story could help carry the show forward for a few more years.
That doesn’t cancel out the moment.
It just explains why it happened now.