Is a change on the way for one of the characters on NCIS?
As fans tune in every week to watch NCIS season 23, they’re familiar with their favorite federal agents, like Nick Torres, portrayed by Wilmer Valderrama. He’s been a staple on NCIS since the season 14 premiere back in 2016, getting into dangerous scenarios for work and turbulent romantic relationships.
But NCIS may havehinted that there’s a chance he could leave after season 23.
When NCIS season 23 returned for its midseason premiere on March 3, fans saw Torres reunite with former work partner and fellow NCIS agent Ellie Bishop (Emily Wickersham). Fans remember that the two were a team on cases throughout their time at the government agency, before Bishop shocked Torres by leaving the team.
When Bishop returned, she offered Torres the chance to join her on more missions. And while Torres decided he’d rather stay where he is for the moment, the storyline implied there’s a chance Torres could eventually leave NCIS.
So, what does this mean for Torres—and the future of his time on NCIS? When Wilmer spoke with TV Insider about it, he noted that this fork in the road for the character comes with pros and cons.
“That’s a hard question because at the moment, I would say he made the right choice,” he told the outlet in an interview published on March 4. “He has an oath to this team, and he wants to see it through, and no one understands that more than Bishop. And I think she knows that that was a question that needed to be asked … [Torres is] getting to a point in his career where he’s like, ‘Well, I’ve been an agent for 10 years now. Where else does the [world] need an agent like him?’ But as soon as he looked over her shoulder and saw his team, he realized that his job is not finished here, which, I think, is an unpredictable way of thinking about things.”
“Is he going to go, is he going to stay? Is she coming back? Is he going? And I think that that’s not what life is,” he added. “Life’s timing is never really perfect. You’re never going to be fully ready to either go here or go there, but you have to play what you’ve been given in this moment. And in that very moment, that was the right choice.”
After all of this, it seems like there’s more of a reason to tune into NCIS.