Fans of the long-running procedural NCIS received quite a shock on March 24, when Director Leon Vance (Rocky Carroll) was killed by a corrupt agent while protecting the agency. While not one of the original cast members -- Sean Murray's Timothy McGee has been on the longest -- the 18 seasons he spent on the show hadconvinced us that he wasn't going anywhere. Apparently, the writers and showrunner didn't agree.
"I gasped and sobbed so hard lol," wrote one fan on the NCIS Reddit page. "My heart can’t take when they kill/write off a long term character."
"Annoyed," a disgruntled viewer wrote. "The writers/showrunners dropped the ball getting rid of one of the oldest characters in that way."
Binder revealed that someone would try to destroy NCIS, but Vance would be a hero and stop them. However, when he explained that Vance wouldn't survive the experience, Carroll was shocked.
Gary Cole as Alden Parker, Rocky Carroll as Leon Vance and Brian Dietzen as Jimmy Palmer in the 500th episode of NCIS.Robert Voets/CBS ©2026 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
"This wasn't one of those scenarios where I came to the network or I came to the producers and said, 'Hey, it's been a great run, but I think I want to move on,'" he added.
"Since I wrote my reply I was reading a couple more interviews and I kinda changed my mind," commented one such fan. "The way Carroll expressed the why’s and all of the significance of him leaving was actually pretty nice, 18 seasons is a looong time."
Besides, even Carroll knows that this isn't really goodbye. "As far as I know, I'll be back next season to direct episodes," he admitted. "We've already talked about bringing Vance back in flashbacks."
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