NCIS was never guaranteed 500 episodes. No TV show is. So to reach that milestone required memories and meaning.
That’s exactly what NCIS Season 23 Episode 13 brought, creating a heartbreaking, powerful experience.
It’s rare that I give out five stars, but that’s exactly what this one deserves.
A Slow Start To Develop the Story
I’m not the biggest fan of episodes that start with a major event and then jump back to the lead-up to it.
I’m even less of a fan of narration, but that’s how NCIS Season 23 Episode 13 started.
Yet, with this being the 500th episode, I was willing to let it slide, giving it the chance that it needed to deliver the hard-hitting moments later on.
It just meant that the start felt a little slow. Vance was arrested, and then we went back to NCIS being dismantled.
All I wanted to know was what the hell was going on with Vance.
Fortunately, the case of the week didn’t disappoint, especially as I found out where each team member ended up.
Of course, McGee and Knight were going to roll with the punches. They have the personalities to move on to the next position they’re given.
Torres was never going to want to go somewhere he didn’t quite choose.
Remember, he left undercover work because he liked the way Gibbs and the team worked. It was never a first choice, though!
Parker going into retirement and creating his own video podcast had me howling.
This is a man who could have easily worked his way back into the FBI if he wanted, and instead, he aligns with the younger generations and delivers true crime and tequila.
It’s just so absurd that it has to be believable. Did any of us question this arc?
Bringing in older clips of Gibbs to splice into the story was the magic touch for the 500th episode, and I genuinely thought that would be the big connection for such a milestone.
After all, Gibbs’ presence is still felt on NCIS, and considering he is the man who brought us all into this family, it made sense to think he would be the big focus of the signifcant hour.
Once the team got back together and started working on a case that was somewhat connected to Gibbs, the story finally felt like it was moving — and it moved fast!
In a way, the end result was expected. It always felt clear that the CID agent on the case was actually involved in the smuggling ring.
What I didn’t see coming was how it would play out.
NCIS Hits Where It Hurts to End 500 Episodes
Just as we got the old Vance back, we lost the character entirely.
This is a story trait that I often hate in TV shows. I want my beloved characters to go out with a bang and to be the good men they were all the way up to that point.
Why do I have to start disliking someone just before their death? It seems to cheapen the moment just a little.
However, Vance’s actions leading up to this all started making sense after NCIS Season 23 Episode 12, and they were understandable.
Getting that clarification prevented this death from feeling cheap and annoying. Instead, it added more heartbreak.
This is a man who tried his hardest to save his agency, and in the end, he died managing it.
I didn’t even see the death coming until he was trapped in the cage, disarming the bomb, and that comes from the power in the writing.
Of course, he had a vest, but my gut said there was something off. Throughout the hour, Rocky Carroll’s eyes had a redness to them, like the actor himself had been crying.
I’d put it down to Vance being heartbroken at his agency going up until he was shot.
Why would he have a vest on? There was no point in the story where anyone suspected the CID agent, so the vest didn’t make sense.
Slowly, everything started to fall into place.
The “clear” on the same floor over and over again was always there, and the fact that Vance was allowed to sit in his chair in the office he’d held for years all offered hints of things to come.
It was the gutpunch we probably didn’t need on a Tuesday night, but NCIS delivered in style.
The best part? Bringing Adam Campbell back — and props to NCIS for keeping this completely secret.
Of course, there was no way to bring David McCallum back, and I appreciate that NCIS didn’t even bother with CGI or AI to do so. It wouldn’t have worked in the way that using Campbell did.
Campbell holds a special place in our hearts as Young Ducky, both on NCIS and in that single episode on NCIS: Origins that made us all want a Young Ducky spinoff.
He was the only person who could help make Vance’s transfer to the other side meaningful and softer.
I managed to hold back the tears up to the point of all the flashbacks.
Seeing Vance’s life flash before him while he was left alone in the office brought back memories of NCIS that were easy to forget.
They were small clips that don’t often get talked about now, but they were important moments for Vance’s character.
Adding clips featuring Tony, Ziva, Abby, and Bishop, as well as the current members of the team, makes one thing clear: Vance held everyone together.
As I said, he fought to keep NCIS together, and his death made it possible.
Is it a worthy sacrifice? Considering he dreamed of building a legacy that would outlast him, I’d say definitely.
It was also worth the episode’s narration because this is his last story, and it ends on a hopeful note for the team’s future.
Nobody can sit in Vance’s chair and bring the same power, authority, and fatherly wisdom as him, and the show has given itself what seems like an impossible task.
This is an hour that will take days, if not weeks, to process and handle.
Good TV shows will always make us feel something, and that’s exactly what the 500th episode of NCIS has done.
This is where we turn to you!
It’s because of you that independent journalism can survive, so we’d love it if you left a comment to let us know what you thought! How are you holding up, NCIS fam?
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