Who Did Late Soap Star Billy Miller Play On NCIS?
It's no secret that three-time Daytime Emmy Award winner Billy Miller added several impressive credits to his resume before tragically passing away in September. The actor was a powerhouse when it came to soap operas, appearing in over 1,300 episodes of notable titles within the genre, such as "All My Children," "General Hospital," and "The Young and the Restless." Outside the realm of soaps, Miller was known for his work on shows like "Ray Donovan," "Suits," and "Truth Be Told." He even made a few one-off appearances on popular procedurals, like "CSI," "CSI: New York," "Castle," "The Rookie," and the long-running military crime drama "NCIS."
In "NCIS" Season 20, Episode 3 ("Unearth"), the team receives an anonymous tip that leads them to a body filled with rocks. After analyzing the puzzling contents, the unit is able to link the mysterious stones to a long-lost treasure from Afghanistan that was illegally smuggled out of the country. They also learn the victim was one of the culprits involved in the scheme. The big reveal leads the investigation to discover the identity of the two killers, one of them being Billy Miller's character, a man named Ezra Moretti. In an effort to get back the gold artifacts he and his crew excavated, Moretti's nefarious plan involves kidnapping agent Nick Torres (Wilmer Valderrama), culminating with the villainous persona getting shot by Agent Alden Parker (Gary Cole) in a hospital.
While his time on "NCIS" was brief, Miller most certainly made an impact in the Season 20 episode, which overall seems to have viewers divided.
The NCIS entry Unearth has uncovered mixed reactions
With a narrative involving a rock-ridden corpse that ends with a surprise party for Dr. Donald Mallard (David McCallum), the only episode of "NCIS" that Billy Miller ever appeared in has garnered a mixed reaction from those who've watched it. In a review on TV Fanatic, Paul Dailly wrote, "'NCIS' Season 20 Episode 3 was a diamond in the rough because it utilized everyone and was a captivating subject matter." He added, "'Unearth' highlighted what NCIS can do with better cases."
Some fans also made it known how they felt about the entry, like u/Beebo_the_God_of_War, who wrote in a post on Reddit, "I enjoyed this one. It was a great character exploration of Torres. And it was fun to celebrate Ducky's birthday."
One individual praised Miller's performance but did admit the entry wasn't perfect. "Nothing wrong with the episode here, and glad to see Billy Miller pop on primetime as a villain, but there was also nothing overly exciting about this," user bobcobb301 wrote in a review on IMDb.
But others felt the entry was an example of the show's decline and were dissatisfied with the quality. In a Reddit thread about "Unearth," u/Agile_Opportunity_41 posted, "The writing this year is just not nearly as good as past years IMO."
On the episode's IMDb page, user jeffreycrippen-28446 wrote a review, saying, "This series was my favorite show for 18 years. Now I can barely get through an entire episode." While "Unearth" may not be the most hated or beloved chapter from the "NCIS" universe, it is impressive that fans are still digging up discussions about a military procedural that started in 2003.