“NCIS” wraps up Season 23 next week by remembering a friend we’ve lost.
Naomi Grace returns as Leon Vance’s daughter Kayla in the Season 23 finale (airing next Tuesday, May 12 at 8 p.m. on CBS), and TVLine has an exclusive sneak peek at her emotional reunion with the NCIS team after Vance’s death. In the clip — which you can watch above — Jess gingerly brings up what happened to Vance, and Kayla admits she misses her dad… and the boxing workouts they used to do together. “But I haven’t been back to that gym since,” she adds.
Jess tries to tell her Vance would be proud of what Kayla has become, adding that her own dad was an NCIS agent, too: “Different office. Same shadow.” Having a larger-than-life dad like that always makes you question, Jess theorizes: “Are we honoring the legacy? Or trying to outrun it?”
In the Season 23 finale, “one year after a deadly coffee shop bombing, a new explosion proves the attack wasn’t the work of a lone wolf — a case that forces the team to confront legacy and loyalty,” per the official logline.
We’ve known Kayla since she was a kid
CBS
We first met Kayla Vance when she was just a girl, with her first “NCIS” appearance coming in Season 6 along with Vance’s wife Jackie and his son Jared. (Jackie was tragically killed in Season 10, which means that Kayla and Jared have now lost both of their parents.) Kayla had some stumbles along the way, getting arrested for shoplifting in Season 15. But she eventually followed in her father’s footsteps, becoming an NCIS agent and joining the team for an investigation in Season 19.
Rocky Carroll’s Leon Vance served as the NCIS director for nearly two decades, making his debut in Season 5. But he was gunned down in the line of duty earlier this season in the CBS drama’s landmark 500th episode. (Check out our post mortem interview with Carroll here.) “NCIS” later honored Vance with a solemn tribute from Parker and the team.
Press PLAY at the top to get a sneak peek at Kayla’s return, and let us know what you’re hoping to see in the finale in a comment below.
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