Farewell, Mark Harmon: The “soul” of the NCIS series passes away at the age of 74 md20

This isn’t a surprise, given that Rocky Carroll told TV Insider while breaking down his character Director Leon Vance’s heartbreaking death in NCIS Episode 500 that he would be back, but we now have photos of him on set again!

Yes, Carroll is back for the Tuesday, April 14, episode of NCIS, but he won’t be appearing onscreen. Rather, he’s directing again — his 29th episode behind the cameras of the series —and this was something he knew would happen from the moment he found out his character was being killed off. (Notably, he remains in the opening credits, at least in the episode following his last on-screen appearance.)

In the episode, titled “S.O.S.,” CBS teases, “A Navy lieutenant resurfaces a year after her plane vanished with a story that doesn’t quite add up. As the team peels back the mystery of a crash that was anything but accidental, every answer sparks a new twist.” Check out photos below of the team working the case as well as Rocky Caroll directing his former costars.

But Carroll hasn’t ruled out an onscreen return either. “I don’t think you’ve seen the last of Director Vance,” he told us. “I think NCIS has [cornered] the market in the ghost stars, people returning and playing significant characters. We do more ghost stars than we do flashbacks.”