NCIS returns to TV on March 3 after the winter break, and viewers will get to see a “wonderful” journey between Special Agent Nick Torres (Wilmer Valderrama) and Eleanor Bishop as the former special agent returns despite beinga fugitive.
“The episode that we come back to focuses much more, deservedly so, on Torres and his journey with Bishop,” Brian Dietzen tells HELLO! “There’s some wonderful stuff in this script between Torres and Bishop and, if past is prologue, Wilmer and Emily are going to be phenomenal together as they always have been.”
© CBSBishop was seen in the mid-season finale watching NCIS Special Agent Jessica Knight as she was given her first assignment with NCIS: ELITE – to hunt down wanted fugitive Bishop. Viewers however know that in season 18 staged the decision to leak NSA documents, framing herself as a disgraced agent to gain credibility that would allow her to go deep undercover for CIA agent Odette Malone.
Bishop now stands accused of being an international cyberterrorist, and she will reunite with Torres, five years after their romantic “will-they-won’t-they” relationship which began in season 14.
© CBSSeason 23 will also see Brian’s Jimmy Palmer achieve some “really big wins,” which will be important following his decision at the end of the mid-season finale to become someone who lives each day for itself.
“Episodes 17 and 18 are a two-parter, and 17 really focuses a lot on Jimmy, the struggles that he’s going through, and some really big wins that he’s achieving as well,” he said.
“As a person who views death every single day, [Jimmy] can’t help but have perspective. If that doesn’t give you a little bit of carpe diem, or the feeling of, ‘I only get one shot at this and I have to really experience it…’ [and] that touches on a lot of what we shot for episode 17. It’s Jimmy saying, ‘I really want to challenge myself and I really want to move on and I have this large goal.’ And it’s fun.”
© CBSAs for his co-star Diona Reasonover, who stars as Kasie Hines, she will be the focus in episode 18, and Brian shared there is a “cool story mechanic that unites the two of us.”
Brian, who is also a writer on the CBS series, tells HELLO! that although he can “neither confirm nor deny,” Kasie may also have some romance “on the horizon”.
© CBS“Although maybe my initial answer did,” he laughed. “Kasie is such a wonderful character that people have grown to love and it’s great to see those characters get wins, so we’re going to be potentially exploring something that will, not be a cornerstone of the series, but let’s viewers know that Kasie has got cool stuff going on, and I think people are going to enjoy what they see – and of course, as always, Diona just delivers.”