4 NCIS characters who need to return in season 21 (but probably won’t)

Over the course of its 20 seasons, NCIS has seen more than a few major cast exits.

Going back to the show’s early days, the show has made it clear it is not afraid to make bold choices which can sometimes involve writing off fan-favorite characters. However, not all of the show’s exits were the direct result of story direction from the writers. Just as many have been dictated by cast members’ desire to step away from the show for varying reasons.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing nor does it say anything about the show. When a show goes on for as many seasons as NCIS has, it’s expected that members of the cast ensemble will come and go. Just look at other long-running shows such as Law and Order, Law and Order: SVU, and Grey’s Anatomy which have all seen several cast shakeups across their extended runs as well.

Cast exits are a regular occurrence for most shows and NCIS has always managed to handle its casting changes flawlessly, finding ways to honor the characters on their way out while seamlessly helping new cast additions ease into the show.

Still, while the show has done a great job with handling cast changes and helping us to fall in love with the new characters who come in to essentially replace the departing character, that doesn’t mean there aren’t characters we’d give anything to see return again.

There are a lot of NCIS characters we’d love to see back, but we confess these particular characters are at the top of our list!