Emily Wickersham's NCIS Season 23 Return Explained: Will Ellie Bishop Stay?

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

Beloved former "NCIS" regular Ellie Bishop (Emily Wickersham) is back — but is she here to stay? Her appearance right at the end of the fall finale means she'll likely be involved straight away when the show returns, but don't expect to see her beyond that. "We have no official plans right now to continue that storyline, but we had a great time with Emily, and Emily had a great time here," showrunner Steven D. Binder told TVLine. "So she's sort of back on the roster, so to speak. But we've done some very long arc stories that have run out. This is not going to be one of them."

It looks like this'll be a twice-and-done affair for Emily Wickersham, whose Ellie Bishop exited "NCIS" during Season 18. Binder didn't state which episode Ellie would show up in, but it's safe to assume that she'll be at the forefront of Episode 10, with the showrunner keen to cut to the chase. "We're going to go right to what people want to see, and we're going to have some closure, although that may or may not be what people want to see," Binder added. Viewers will have to wait until "NCIS" returns after its winter break to find out all the details — Episode 10 will air on February 24, 2026.

We know that she's going to return for a short — and, hopefully, very satisfying — arc after the "NCIS" winter break, but will that be it for Emily Wickersham's Ellie Bishop? Is this going to be Elli's swansong? It does kind of feel that way: As revealed in "Heaven and Nature," Ellie is now the quarry of Katrina Law's Jessica Knight (who ironically replaced Ellie on the NCIS team). She's the subject of Jessica's first NCIS Elite assignment, which sets up a nice showdown between the two. Is it possible that Ellie won't make it out alive?

Rest easy, Ellie fans. While Binder didn't answer that question specifically, his comments made it clear that whatever he has in store for Ellie in Season 23, it won't be the end of her as a character — the showrunner revealed that the door would be open for Wickersham to return again in the future. "She had a great time. We had a great time. It's a fun story" Binder told TVLine, adding that Bishop "always was an interesting character. She's a way more interesting character now, because of the wear and tear on the psyche."