Rocky Carroll didn't choose to leave NCIS, so why did it happen?
For 18 years, Rocky Carroll's Director Leon Vance was one of the few constants on NCIS — outlasting Gibbs, Tony, Ziva, and nearly everyone else who ever walked through the bullpen. Then the show's 500th episode aired on March 24, 2026, and by the end of the hour, Vance was gone for good.
Here's how that decision got made, and why it wasn't Carroll's.
The short answer
The producers killed off Vance to give the milestone 500th episode — "All Good Things," in season 23 — a genuine shock. Carroll has been open about the fact that leaving was not his choice: he told TVLine he "was not the catalyst for this happening," and said he only learned Vance was dying two episodes before it was shot, in late November 2025. Executive producer Steven D. Binder came to his trailer and pitched the story personally.
"I said, 'Repeat that last part again,'" Carroll told USA Today, describing the moment Binder revealed that Vance saves the agency — and dies doing it.
What happens in the episode
The plot delivers on the shock. NCIS is shut down by the Department of Defense and folded into the Army's Criminal Investigation Division, with a saboteur working behind the scenes. Vance uncovers the plot and defuses a bomb planted in the evidence garage — then corrupt Army CID agent Dolan Thompson (Matt Cook) shoots him.
As he dies, a young Ducky Mallard (Adam Campbell) appears in his mind to walk him into the light. It's the rare NCIS exit with no return ticket.
Carroll pushed back — at first
His initial reaction was exactly what fans were thinking. He reminded the producers that NCIS characters don't usually die: Gibbs went to Alaska, Tony and Ziva went to Paris, Bishop went undercover — gone, but never dead. The answer came back that a landmark episode demanded a landmark loss.
Once he heard the full storyline, Carroll came around, calling it a terrific story and, later, a great episode. He'd joined the show back in season 5, in 2008, as a wary assistant director nobody trusted — and left as its longest-serving authority figure, nearly 400 episodes later.
Is Vance really gone for good?
Dead, yes. Gone, maybe not. Carroll — who has also directed episodes of the series — told The Hollywood Reporter that "Vance might be more prevalent dead than he was when he was alive," pointing to the show's long habit of resurrecting characters through flashbacks and visions.