Character: Eleanor “Ellie” Bishop
When They Exited: Season 18, Episode 16
Whether They’ll Return: During an August 2024 episode of the “Off Duty: An NCIS Rewatch” podcast, Emily Wickersham hinted that her exit from the series is permanent. “I left the show, I found out I was pregnant a month later … So it was a combo of decompressing and trying to really relax and figure out how things were going to be without work,” she explained of when it hit her that her NCIS stint was over. “It’s all consuming. Your life is all NCIS when you’re on that show. It’s all day, every day, and you’re not really left with much time to do many things outside of that. So that was a real adjustment for me.”
Wickersham noted that after she left the show, she moved to New York City to be closer to her partner. “It was a weird moment in time. It was wonderful and weird,” she continued. “It’s strange to leave something that has been ingrained in you for so many years.”
The actress added, “I was ready to leave the show. It was time and I was ready to move on to something else, and I guess this was the something else I was meant to move on to. So it was good.”
In a surprising twist, Wickersham returned to NCIS during the season 23 fall finale in December 2025. During the episode, Special Agent Jessica Knight (Katrina Law) received her first NCIS: Elite assignment with her target being Wickersham’s Bishop. What Knight didn’t know is that Bishop was watching her from her car, hinting that her story is just beginning to unfold.
Wickersham made a guest starring appearance when season 23 returned in March 2026. During the episode, Bishop reunited with former flame and partner Nick Torress (Wilmer Valderrama) to help clear her name and protect her new team.
After solving the case, the exes shared a kiss, and Wickersham exclusively told Us she could be back in the future. “I think we left the door open. I leave it up to the writers,” Wickersham teased in March 2026. “I don’t know their plan, but I had such a great time. And I’m always down.”
