‘NCIS’ Boss Explains Bishop’s Big Return & What It Means for Torres
Spoiler Alert
What To Know
- The NCIS Season 23 fall finale features a return of a major character not seen in years.
- Executive producer Steven D. Binder explains what that character’s reappearance means for the team and teases other familiar faces in upcoming episodes.
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for NCIS Season 23 Episode 9 “Heaven and Nature.”]
Welcome back to NCIS, Emily Wickersham! The Tuesday, December 16, fall finale ends with the shocking reveal that Knight’s (Katrina Law) new NCIS: Elite target is none other than Bishop — who has eyes on the team at the cemetery. She was last seen in the Season 18 finale.
Elsewhere in the last new episode of 2025 before the series returns on Tuesday, February 24, 2026, Parker (Gary Cole) got answers about his mother’s death and learned exactly who Lily is: the daughter of a cop who abused his family. Parker’s mother was killed by said cop while protecting Lily. Parker gets his closure when he meets the adult Lily, and he also is able to give his mom a proper burial (after it’s discovered that it was Lily’s mom’s body, not his mom’s, in her grave).
Below, executive producer Steven D. Binder reveals why NCIS has brought back Emily Wickersham, what having Bishop back means for Torres (Wilmer Valderrama), and much more. Plus, get scoop on the original plan for Parker’s backstory here.
Why bring back Bishop now and in this way?
Steven D. Binder: When someone leaves, you’re always wondering, do they want to come back? Do we want them back? We wanted her back, and once we started hearing that she might be interested, we were like, OK, well, we can start really seriously thinking about the things that we’ve been doing. And one of the things that’s going on with the show is we’re exploring some relationships between our characters and some interesting mixing and matching. And we thought bringing Bishop in for Torres at this particular moment would upend an apple cart that’s coming down the pike after this episode airs and put a very interesting spin on it. Plus, he never got the closure that he felt he needed. And it was an abrupt departure. I think the details of it, why Bishop did what she did, become a little more clear in this episode, but he’s a fully-fledged human and this is a moment that he’s been wanting to have and we were happy to finally have an opportunity to give it to him.
CBS
How many episodes is Emily back for?
Well, the one you saw and then, so far just the one — for now.
When Bishop left, Gibbs (Mark Harmon) had told her she was living Rule 91 — when you decide to walk away, don’t look back. Can you say how much she’s lived by that rule since she left? Is she looking back now, or is she at the cemetery because NCIS Elite is targeting her? Because it’s unclear who exactly she’s watching in that last frame.
Right. I can say, and you’ll figure it out on the flip side, she is in the middle of it. She’s in the thick of things. She’s in a very active, very high-pressure, very tense situation. So she’s not on a beach in Tulum pontificating whether or not it’s time to return, she is forced to return by circumstance to the only people that, — well, the only people that she trusts or the only people that she’s going to screw over. We’ll see what happens.
Yeah, because the people she trusts, one of them is the one who, now Bishop’s her target.
That’s right.
So is this mission, whatever it is that’s going on with Bishop, still connected to when she left? Because when she did, she had to be a disgraced NCIS agent, and she said she’d be gone too long, so is that still the same thing, or can you say if there’s multiple things going on?
She has moved on. She’s in the same world. She’s fighting the good fight behind the scenes, and it is in a different arena. It’s a different theater, but one that more reflects some current things happening in the world. But she has found a niche, and she’s excelling in it. We brought her in, she was a cerebral character, she was a smart character, she was a computer-savvy character, and then we turned her into a kick-ass agent … sort of Jason Bourne in a way. It’s very dynamic.
You did bring up the Torres of it because that relationship was so complicated, it ended before it could even begin because of the way that she left. Where are their hearts when it comes to each other, and how aware are Torres and Bishop of it at this point? Because it’s two different things to know how you feel and to be aware of how you feel.
Yeah, I sort of buried the lede here because I’ve been thinking a little bit about an episode you haven’t seen yet, but I can tell you this: She’s been gone for a while. She’s been in a very serious life-or-death situation. She’s seen some very scary stuff and some very hairy stuff. She’s not the same person that [she was when] she left. She is a very different person. The world has beaten her up, and maybe a little too much, let’s put it that way. So, friends are enemies, enemies are friends in the world she’s in, and that’s how she views the world now, I think. And when she comes back, to people who were previously her friends, we may have to wonder where her head’s really at.
Sonja Flemming/CBS
That kind of leads into what I was going to bring up about Bishop and McGee (Sean Murray). They kind of left things on the wrong foot. They didn’t resolve things before she left.
They did, and I will refer back to, she’s not being targeted by NCIS Elite and by Director Vance [Rocky Carroll] and assigned to Agent Knight because she’s been a good person, let’s put it that way. So, all of her relationships are going to be colored, all of her feelings are going to be colored by who she is now and not who she was. Who she was if she was gone for five years, she’d come back and maybe there would be one conversation, but now she’s Bishop 2.0 and also it wouldn’t be interesting to bring her back and she hasn’t moved anywhere. It just wouldn’t be a good drama. And people move on with their life. People change, especially in the world that she’s in now. It’s a very high-stakes, high-pressure situation. People break, people’s loyalty shift, people’s priorities shift. And so when she comes back, her relationships with her old friends are very much — at least what it appears is that she’s not the person who we remember.
And you’ve also been touching on the possibility of Knight and Torres — is it just professional jealousy, what exactly is going on there? We had the moment with Palmer (Brian Dietzen) at the end of last week’s episode when he is watching them leave together. But you have to also take into account, now Knight is the only one who knows about Bishop. So how much is she struggling with not telling Torres about this?
Her loyalties will be clear very quickly, who she’s loyal to. Duty would suggest she needs to keep her mouth shut, but that’s not the way we’re going to go. It’s a family and a team, and this is her partner, and I can tell you she’s going to bring him in pretty early — but I want to correct that slightly. The issue will be solved for her to some degree. She won’t necessarily have to make a choice. Bishop will force this upon her. … Knight and Torres are going to find themselves teaming up in some new and exciting ways that challenge their bond, but also deepen it. And having Bishop show up right in the middle of that is also an interesting nuance.
So then there’s almost like a love square possibility going?
Right, right. There’s a lot of — quadrangle at this point or a pentagon. We’re doing some things.
Of course, now that you have Emily back, the question has to be, are there any other returning characters coming up, whether it’s in a regular episode or Episode 500 — which, also, congratulations on reaching that episode.
Thank you. There’s going to be a bunch of characters from the past coming back in the 500th, not as big as Bishop for sure, but there will be a lot of characters from the show’s history making an appearance, giving some nice nods to some fan favorite episodes. A lot of Easter eggs actually in the 500. I would say look closely in every corner, any image, any interesting image, it all is either foreshadowing or is just a fan Easter egg to honor the show’s legacy.
And we do have another character, a larger character — somewhere between a guest star from an episode and Bishop — who will be making an appearance towards the second half of the season. So we’re looking forward to that. Also, a two-parter, so that will be fun. And I’m trying to think what else we have coming down the pike. We’ve had some really solid episodes. I think the best episodes are yet to come. I really do. We’ve got when Bishop actually shows up, and we’ve got some major news for McGee, life-changing news for McGee, I think the 500’s going to change everything in some ways. And then we’ve got this really fun two-parter, so we got a lot of really fun stuff coming up.
NCIS, Midseason Return, Tuesday, February 24, 8/7c, CBS
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D
Bishop was always my favorite of Gibbs agents. As a hunger games fan I always saw her as a Katniss type kind caring but slowly had to adapt to the world she thrusted herself into the dark world she found herself facing the dangers in it but never losing herself in the battle. Which is why her departure disappointed me the Bishop who was going to leave Torres high and dry without a word wasn’t the same Bishop who willingly learned a murder victim’s favorite movie was Wizard of Oz, wasn’t the Bishop who named a ship after McGee’s late father, wasn’t the Bishop who comforted Torres after Reeves’ death, and wasn’t the Bishop who was so heartfelt and passionate she vehemently disagreed with Gibbs’ rule 10. That Bishop was replaced by a distant secretive almost cold person. Clearly there will be answers needed in a few months as to why she’s back and what she’s gotten into.
McGee and especially Torres will be the most conflicted McGee as far as he knows Bishop left disgraced, only Torres knew it was for her cover and clearly it affected his secret fling with her. Jimmy and Kasie were disappointed with her leaving so they will take her return hard.
Knight and Parker are the interesting ones. They clearly don’t have the years of history with Bishop the others do Knight is clearly conflicted about this assignment and keeping it secret from the team, Parker now that he has closure for his mom’s case will be back to the strict professional about it as he has no history with her.
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T
Okaaay. Since the theme for the back half will be 'Bringing back unresolved threads from years ago along side other familiar faces we haven't seen in a long while', how's about 1 of them being fringing back that ALSO 4 years unresolved Hetty mystery that we never got an answer to from NCIS LA? It'd be a ratings boom!
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D
Fuck hetty she was an add on save that crap for your bullshit fanfic
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T
She was the heart and soul of NCIS LA, it never would've lasted as long as it did without her, and as it's last 2 or 3 Seasons demonstrated, it was creatively lost without her.
She's also the most legendary leader in the franchise, possibly even bigger then Gibbs himself. We deserve to know what really happened to her after 4 years of mystery.
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D
“She's also the most legendary leader in the franchise, possibly even bigger then Gibbs himself“
LMFAO Spoken like a noob you are an embarrassment to NCIS fans everywhere. LA was trash.
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P
I absolutely Love that Emily/Bishop is returning!!! I just wish it was permanent! I thought she would have been an excellent & natural addition to Tony/Ziva with her new career path and enhanced Ziva-like abilities, it would have been expected that she would hear of their predicament and want to help, but I'm happy to have her back wherever we can get her! 😊
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A
Just a suggestion — a little summary of the role Bishop played and how she left would have helped. I recognized her immediately, but don’t have the foggiest about her story line. No apologies. I’m sure that is true for most who are not total diehards.
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D
Nutshell: Bishop developed this obsession of being the new Ziva got ‘special training’ by a woman named Odette apparently she’s some black ops head who can make female agents into lethal weapons think Dreykov from the Black Widow movie. Odette sends Bishop on a covert mission but to build her cover Bishop had to leave NCIS by ‘leaking information’ the rest of the team believes she’s a disgraced agent but only Torres knows its just for show because he and Bishop had a secret fling outside of work.
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G
In the Season 18 finale, Bishop resigned from NCIS after confessing that she leaked NSA secrets. Torres was the only one on the team who figured out that Bishop was going on a long-term CIA undercover mission for Odette Malone because the mission required a disgraced NCIS agent, and he confronted her just before she left; which in resulted in their first and only kiss in the series. As a result of Bishop's departure, Torres became angry for a while in Season 19; in one instance, it nearly led to a publicly embarrassing moment in the first episode in which he had an argument with McGee and told him that he was shouting at him because it felt good. Torres' anger also stemmed from the fact that Gibbs also resigned from NCIS and the fact that he had failed to heed Ziva's advice twice that was given to him in Season 17 to stop being a wuss and to tell Bishop how he feels about her.
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A
THANK YOU, I watched all those episodes but admit they were lost in the mists of time.
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J
What is this obsession this season with bringing back past characters or working on mysteries from years ago??
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T
Maybe it's this show's way of honoring it's past while celebrating reaching 500. (2 quick pics in this Season's opening credits are literally from the first Season).
I like it, just hope that it means that there's 1 years long thread from LA that they can resolve since they've already brought it up this spring and they know there are lots of fans out there who want to see it resolved.
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D
LOL! LA was trash the cancer of NCIS. Like post Endgame MCU or Disney Star Wars an add-on trying to be important.
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T
You do know that if it wasn't for LA, the franchise never would've existed, right? It's success paved the way for every single spin off and prequel that has been created since 2014.
Also, you may not like hearing this, but for a few years creative wise, LA was the better NCIS. It was the spy like thriller with the big budget and epic teamwork.
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D
Lol! The garbage you post is staggering NCIS was doing fine for six years before that trash hack LA show was brought in. Your obsession to think it had any bearing to a franchise that existed before it and lasted longer shows you’re just desperate to stay relevant, a leech latching onto something big like that westcoast set hyena filth show.
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G
Bad idea. Bishop always seemed like a little girl playing dress-up. Plus, she was so close to her family in OK that leaving for some under cover work didn't fit with her character. Then there is Torres. He appears to be following his addiction recovery program successfully. Bringing Bishop back could undo his hard work. He finally seems happy and at peace. I know tv shows like to stir things up for ratings but sometimes the best thing to do is not mess with a good thing. Let the characters keep catching the bad guys and do what they do best.
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B
I think Bishop was the best new cast member when she joind the team a long time ago. She will be a welcome member to see again. Another one I miss a lot is Pauli as Abby. She was great!!!
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E
NCIS has fully made the move from a law enforcement procedural to a full blown soap opera. What next? McGee finds out he has a evil twin? Knight is revealed to having had a baby with a drug lord? Torres is caught frequenting strip clubs? This is what happens when a show runs a very long time, some of the circumstances get a bit odd.
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G
Please don’t bring Ellie back! A shallow character that brought nothing meaningful to NCIS.
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D
Too late she is at least for an ep your misery about it brings me great joy.
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