NCIS Sets Up Its Biggest Team Shakeup in Years

For most of its run, NCIS has preferred stability, with a clear hierarchy in the Major Case Response Team. Wilmer Valderrama has teased “major changes” and “major additions” for Season 24, and with Leon Vance gone and several questions left from the Season 23 finale, the new season appears poised to do more than simply replace missing pieces.

Vance’s death creates a vacancy unlike the usual agent departures. Rocky Carroll’s character served nearly two decades as the bridge between field work and agency politics, a position that is considerably harder to fill than a field agent’s role. Gabriel LaRoche has his own interests, and his political maneuvers suggest a power struggle could emerge before the dust settles.

NCIS has typically favored one-for-one substitutions — when Gibbs left, Parker took over; when Abby departed, Kasie stepped into the lab, and Jessica Knight’s arrival maintained the familiar rhythm.

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