‘NCIS’: Brian Dietzen Warns Finale Could ‘Change a Lot’ Like Vance’s Death Did

The world of NCIS completely shifted with its milestone 500th episode earlier this season: After 18 seasons, Rocky Carroll exited when Director Leon Vance was killed in the line of duty. It just hasn’t been the same since, as the team grieves and a permanent replacement has yet to be named; there’s only been an interim director and, as the agents noted, they expect five more temps before someone permanent. But now it sounds like another shakeup is coming at the end of the season.

“This season was a tumultuous one for our show because of the 500th episode, of losing Director Vance,” Brian Dietzen told TV Insider at CBS Fest on Wednesday, April 15. “The finale, I got to say, I’m not going to say it’s the same as the 500, but there’s echoes of it. And people are not going to want to miss the last, what, five minutes of this show because it has the potential to change a lot within our universe yet again.”

The NCIS Season 23 finale, titled “Sons and Daughters,” airs Tuesday, May 12. The description reads as follows: “One year after a deadly coffee shop bombing, a new explosion proves the attack wasn’t the work of a lone wolf — a case that forces the team to confront legacy and loyalty.”

The long-running drama’s finales have ended on some big moments in the past: Season 2’s killed off Kate (Sasha Alexander); Gibbs (Mark Harmon) left the team and moved to Mexico in Season 3’s; Vance split up the team at the end of Season 5 after Jenny’s (Lauren Holly) death; Season 9 left several characters’ fates unknown after a bomb went off on the Navy Yard and Ducky (David McCallum) had a heart attack; Gibbs was shot at the end of Season 12; and Ziva (Cote de Pablo) revealed she faked her death in Season 16’s final moments, to name a few. Will Season 23’s join that list?

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'NCIS' Stars Tease LL COOL J's Return and What to Expect From Sam (Exclusive)

This season’s finale is Episode 20. The next two episodes, airing on April 21 and 28, welcome back LL COOL J as Sam Hanna (the role he starred in on NCIS: Los Angeles and then brought over to NCIS: Hawai’i) ahead of his new spinoff this fall with Scott Caan (not playing the Hawaii Five-0 character that exists within the extended NCISverse), NCIS: New York.

What are your predictions for the NCIS Season 23 finale? Let us know in the comments section below.

NCIS, Tuesdays, 8/7c, CBS

—Reporting by Erin Maxwell