NCIS Season 20: Brian Dietzen Speaks About Exit of Nick Torres, Wilmer Valderrama Reacts
NCIS star Brian Dietzen (Jimmy Palmer) worried fans after making a mysterious social media comment. Following the NCIS Season 20 premiere, Dietzen shared a behind-the-scenes photo to commemorate the return of a beloved cast member. At the same time, he hinted at the possible exit of another.
Brian Dietzen and his ‘NCIS’ co-stars welcomed a familiar face back to the set.
Dietzen took to Instagram ahead of episode 3 “Unearth” to welcome back David McCallum (Dr. Ducky Mallard). Ducky is now the agency’s historian, so McCallum, 89, has reduced his role on NCIS to part-time in recent years. As a result, he only appears on set a few times throughout the season.
Dietzen shared a set photo with McCallum and Gary Cole (Alden Parker), Sean Murray (Tim McGee), Katrina Law (Jessica Knight), Rocky Carroll (Leon Vance), and Diona Reasonover (Kasie Hines).
Everyone appeared to be drinking champagne and celebrating. The second photo Dietzen shared, however, told a different story. It starred Wilmer Valderrama as Nick Torres, who was trapped in a cage with his therapist, Dr. Grace Confalone (Laura San Giacomo). Dietzen then piqued fans’ interest with the caption.
He wrote on Instagram:
Damn that’s a good looking team!
Wait… where’s Torres? This looks like it’s gonna be a good one folks! (AND Ducky’s back!)
Brian Dietzen teases Nick Torres’ departure, and Wilmer Valderrama reacts.
Dietzen captioned his post, “Damn that’s a good looking team!” What happened to Torres? This looks like it’s going to be a good one, people! (AND DUCky has returned!) “New NCIS episode Monday 9/8c on CBS!”
Fans immediately began to speculate about Nick Torres’ departure. Dietzen’s remark sparked speculation that Valderrama would leave the series due to his numerous other commitments. Most notably, he has been cast in a new Disney series as Zorro.
“I have a bad feeling Torres will d1e,” one fan speculated. “Torres better stay alive in this next episode,” said another.
Valderrama himself joined in on the fun, posting his own reaction to Dietzen’s post. He simply posted a crying emoji, which elicited even more outrage from fans.
“what!!!!!!! “Your gone NoNoNo!!!!” wrote one fan. Another person inquired, “Why aren’t you in the picture?” “Are you leaving NCIS?” “You better stay alive in this next episode,” a third added. Another simply wrote, “noooo!!!!!!!!!!”
‘NCIS’ did not k1ll off Nick Torres
Dietzen’s post undoubtedly worried fans. However, when the episode ended, Torres was still alive and appeared to have made some progress in his therapy. The character was dealing with the departure of those closest to him, including his father, Bishop (Emily Wickersham), and Gibbs (Mark Harmon). Torres has finally stopped drinking, but it is clear that he is still struggling.
Dietzen’s mysterious remark, on the other hand, turned out to be Valderrama teasing him for being the only main cast member who didn’t appear in the scene with McCallum. Dietzen responded to Valderrama’s crying emoji with, “I swear we sent you an invite… This is awkward.?”
