NCIS Season 23 Reveals The Return Of A Beloved Former Series Regular

Contains spoilers for "NCIS" Season 23, Episode 9 — "Heaven and Nature"

Joy was delivered unto "NCIS" fans in "Heaven and Nature" — though it came with its complications. Jessica Knight (Katrina Law) is assigned her very first case as a member of the NCIS Elite — and her target is Eleanor "Ellie" Bishop (Emily Wickersham), who left the NCIS team five seasons ago. Jessica's visibly horrified that she's going to have to bring her friend in, but she doesn't know that Ellie seems to understand she's been targeted — and is watching Knight from a distance as she and the rest of the team gather at the grave of Alden Parker's (Gary Cole) mother (Mackenzie Firgens) for her reburial service.

Ellie's return is a total shock to fans who long assumed that Emily Wickersham held no interest in returning to the show. They last saw her in Episode 16 of Season 18, "Rule 91," named after one of Gibbs' many rules. In the outing, she departs the team to take a job with Odette Malone (Elayn J. Taylor), leaving behind her friends and a percolating relationship with Nick Torres (Wilmer Valderrama) — arguably one of the most heartbreaking Torres moments in "NCIS" history. 

The good news is that "NCIS" showrunner Steven D. Binder broke down Ellie's shocking fall finale return, saying that the storyline will play out across one more episode. That means Ellie will be back, and it's likely that the first new episode after the show's winter hiatus will feature her. That outing will air on February 24, 2026, and fans will have one big question to chew over while they wait.

The big lingering question looming over this storyline is a simple one, but one that will have far-reaching consequences for the team: did Ellie actually betray them? She was previously accused of such a crime when she left the NCIS organization, but the crew managed to figure out that Ellie wasn't actually guilty of leaking old intelligence information. Is it possible that she's now responsible for something far worse? The truth remains unclear.

It may seem impossible to fans who followed Ellie for seasons to believe that she might do something this heinous, but as Steven D. Binder explained to TV Line, a lot of things have happened to Ellie since she left the team. "She is not the same person that left the show," he said. "She's a very different person. A lot has happened to her, and that will go a long way to explain why we are looking for her in a way that suggests she's done something wrong." It's a harbinger of what could be one of the most dire cases of Knight's life — and one that could cost Ellie more than her freedom.