‘NCIS’ Fans Are Ecstatic About Bishop’s Shocking Return
What To Know
- NCIS surprised fans by bringing back a fan-favorite character in the fall finale.
- Fans are excited to have her back but there’s one major question.
NCIS fans got quite the holiday treat in the December 16 fall finale: the return of a fan-favorite character. But Ellie Bishop (Emily Wickersham) has changed, and she’s on the other side of the team … maybe. It’s still unclear exactly what’s going on.
The episode saw Knight (Katrina Law) receive her first NCIS: Elite assignment, and her target is Bishop. As Vance (Rocky Carroll) told her, it hit close to home and she’d be getting more details, but until then, it had to stay between them — including from Knight’s partner and Bishop’s former love interest, Torres (Wilmer Valderrama). And what Knight didn’t know was that Bishop was watching the team at that moment.
Immediately following the episode, NCIS fans expressed their surprise and excitement for the returning Bishop. Emily Wickersham was last seen onscreen in the Season 18 finale, when she left NCIS as a disgraced agent for the mission she was undertaking.
“Woah! Caught me off guard,” one fan wrote to kick off a thread on Reddit.
“Yessss!!!! I kept telling myself not to get my hopes up and for the first time in a while I am not disappointed!!!” another wrote in the comments. “Well done to the writers for giving a great twist!”
That was a sentiment shared across the board, with others writing, “I squealed like a kid on Christmas morning,” “I have almost never been happier when it comes to NCIS and it usually takes much longer to get answers on what happens to characters after they leave,” “I gasped like a book character in surprise, honestly was unexpected a bit since being away for so long period of time it was like a shot in the dark,” and “Best news ever?” as well as “OMG MY FAVORITE IS BACK!!” and “I am SO HAPPY!!!! Cannot wait!”
One viewer was puzzled about Bishop now being a target of NCIS Elite, given, “Wasn’t Ellie being some kinda traitor supposed to some kinda of deep cover?” Another suggested, “She could have gone native and actually turned dark. Or could be getting framed, which I think is more likely. I’m just so happy to see her back in some capacity. The way her story ended was awful and I want them to fix it somehow!”
TV Insider spoke with executive producer Steven D. Binder about bringing Wickersham back as Bishop, and he teased that “she’s not being targeted … because she’s been a good person.”
He continued, “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.”
What are you hoping to see from Bishop when NCIS returns in February? Let us know in the comments section below.
NCIS, Midseason Return, Tuesday, February 24, 2026, 8/7c, CBS
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I know I’m certainly in the minority here but I was never that crazy about Bishop. To me she was ok but never really a ball of fire. I’m really happy for her fans and I’m curious to see what will happen down the road
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I never thought she fit quit watching while she was on just my opinion
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I've read that Knight is NOT keeping it a secret from the team about what's going on with Bishop. Also, given Vance's current by-the-book attitude he's displaying this season, I honestly think there will be massive rift between him and the team in regards to how they'll be handling the situation with Bishop, and I think it'll affect what happens during the second half of the season. I would honestly be shocked if Vance ends up being okay with Bishop being killed. Finally, if I recall correctly, Torres is the only one on the team who knows the truth about the circumstances of Bishop's departure; because he figured everything out and confronted her about it just before she left for her assignment. Hopefully, Torres will tell the team what he knows.
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I was never a big fan of Bishop on the show. Was kinda glad when she gone but this storyline will be interesting
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They are sending the ELITE team to extract Bishop
from her mission without alerting the bad guys so they have to play it for real.
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D
Bishop's return has me re-committed to NCIS. I look forward to a great "is she bad/is she good" story arc. With the audience never really sure how damaged she is from living undercover for years. Torres will definitely save her one or more time, even though he'll have doubts.
Again, great move in bringing back Bishop.
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Happy Bishop is back. The reason I always liked her was because she faced the darkness of the world but never lost her ability to care like Clarice Starling, Katniss Everdeen, and Sidney Prescott. That was what made her my favorite unlike Ziva who had to work hard to find that human part she thought she lost, Bishop had it since day one this was someone who willingly found out a murder victim’s movie was Wizard of Oz and who disagreed with Rule 10 because she was so passionate and heartfelt. Yet left being a cold unfeeling shell of that person, I feel her return to show showcase Torres’ growth let him be what she was to him.
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IMHO, I think the whole "Bishop caught leaking classified documents" line was to establish her a legend for her as a disgraced NCIS agent. Notice that Vance had pulled out several files before contacting Knight? I think they had to do with Bishop (I'm reaching, I know). I think, for whatever reason, Knight and NCIS Elite (and the MCRT when they finally get looped in) are being tasked with bringing Ellie Bishop in from the cold because she's been compromised and is in something over her head.
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😁I don't mind if she's changed as long as she's back and hopefully a regular character. That's all that matters. What a great twist, well done to the producers👏
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This shouldn't have been a surprise. It was made public weeks ago she was returning in some capacity.
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