Emily Wickersham is officially back in the NCIS universe following her cameo on NCIS: Origins — but what are the chances that Bishop will reunite with Torres next?
Warning: Spoilers below from season 3, episode 4 of NCIS: Origins.
During the Tuesday, October 27, episode of NCIS: Origins, Wickersham’s Eleanor “Ellie” Bishop teamed up with her former boss, Leroy Jetho Gibbs (Mark Harmon), in an “off-the-books operation” to try and find out who shot Gibbs in modern times.
“They just have this built-in trust with each other. So even though they haven’t been working together on the day to day, they sink right back into it,” Wickersham, 42, exclusively told Us of Bishop and Gibbs’ teamwork. “It is kind of a father-daughter relationship. But also I think you know at this point, she comes back, and they’re on more of an even playing field.”
After showing up unannounced in Gibbs’ basement, Bishop insisted that Gibbs get the bullet out of his chest after he was shot in Alaska and left for dead during the Origins season premiere.
Gibbs, meanwhile, revealed that he thinks someone from his life in the ‘90s — when he was working for NCIS at Camp Pendleton in California — could be the next person on this assailant’s hit list.
Although Bishop will be busy for the foreseeable future helping Gibbs crack the case, Wickersham told Us her return to the NCIS universe could “maybe” open the door to a romantic reunion between Bishop and Nick Torres (Wilmer Valderrama) on the flagship series sooner rather than later.
“I love that story line. I love working with Wilmer, and I’m always curious, like, how or what someone would write that into,” the actress said. “I want to know what’s going to happen with them. I’m so curious.”
Wickersham confessed that she has the same questions as many viewers about Bishop and Torres’ love story.
“Are they going to work on something together? Are they going to, like, end up together? They’re questions I ask myself,” she shared.
Wickersham teased that the writers “left everything so open that you know there are so many different directions it could go,” so a reunion is not off the table.
NCIS fans witnessed a will-they, won’t-they relationship between Bishop and Torres before she left the Washington, D.C. office during season 18 in 2021 for an undercover assignment — and didn’t tell Torres.
During season 23 of the OG series, Bishop returned to her old stomping grounds to ask Torres and her old team to try and help her clear her name and figure out who on her current black ops team was trying to kill the rest of the group.
Once she was safe — and the case was solved — Bishop and Torres mended fences and shared a kiss on the tarmac, hinting that their feelings for one another weren’t gone, but merely just on hold.
“The connection between these two just doesn’t go away,” Wickersham exclusively told Us in March. “Their underlying connection is always there.”
Valderrama, 46, agreed, telling Us that although Torres chose to stay in D.C. with his team instead of joining Bishop on her next mission, their story isn’t done.
“I think he respects that we’re both on that dual track. Will that track intertwine again? I’d be surprised if they didn’t,” he teased.
NCIS airs on CBS Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET, while NCIS: Origins airs at 10 p.m. ET the same day.
