When Wilmer Valderrama joined NCIS in Season 14, he quickly became a fan favorite as Special Agent Torres. Casting the Fez as an NCIS agent might have been a humorous choice, but since then, he has become a series veteran and a critical part of the show. Unfortunately, it looks increasingly likely that Season 19 will be Valderrama’s last as Agent Torres. Here’s why the days are numbered for the long time cast member.
On December 14, Disney announced a live-action Zorro television series. Along with that announcement came the news that Wilmer Valderrama is tabbed to star as Don Diego de la Vega and his swashbuckling alter ego, Zorro. Valderrama will be an executive producer for the exciting reboot of the 1950s series.
Recently, the internet was abuzz with rumors of Valderrama leaving NCIS after CBS named him as an executive producer for its upcoming comedy called Mexican Beverly Hills. At that point, it was little more than mild speculation, but now, things don’t look good for fans of Agent Torres. While nothing has been reported from the NCIS side of things, there’s almost no way that Valderrama would be able to star in the Zorro series and NCIS at the same time. To make matters worse, NCIS has a notoriously rigorous filming schedule. That’s actually why Gibbs and Kate left the series.
Of course, no one can blame Valderrama for leaving NCIS to play one of his childhood heroes. He said in a press release, “Growing up, Zorro was the one character that made me, as a Latino, feel like I could be a hero. … To be a part of the legacy for other children to know they too can be the heroes of their own stories is a dream come true.” Undoubtedly, it’s an awesome opportunity for Valderrama, but that doesn’t make the news any less crushing for NCIS fans.
NCIS is in Season 19, but cast turnover has started to become a problem. In the last season, the show has lost Special Agents Sloan, Bishop and Gibbs. If Torres ends up leaving the team too, the series will have lost a majority of its cast. New pick-ups Gary Cole and Katrina Law have done an admirable job in Season 19, but the show has already lost its familiar vibe. In fact, some fans might feel justified in wondering if NCIS will even get a Season 20. If that’s the case, there won’t be any need to write Torres off anyway.
Assuming NCIS does get renewed, though, fans of NCIS will be eagle-eyed for the rest of this season as they look for clues about Torres leaving the team. He was devastated when Agent Bishop left to become a spy, so going in search of her is the easy way to write him off, but that’s been done before with Tony and Ziva. So, maybe a whole new storyline will emerge to pull Torres away from NCIS or kill him off.
To see what McGee, Torres and the rest of the team do next, watch CBS’ NCIS on Monday nights at 9 pm. ET. New episodes will resume in January.