Just when NCIS fans thought seeing Gibbs and Tony together again was enough of a surprise, CBS has brought another familiar face into the story.
Emily Wickersham is returning as Ellie Bishop, and this time she’ll be working directly with Mark Harmon’s Leroy Jethro Gibbs.
The actress will appear in multiple episodes of NCIS: Origins, beginning Tuesday, October 27. And there’s a good reason Bishop is the person Gibbs needs right now.
Tony DiNozzo Brings Bishop Into the Investigation
Gibbs has a problem. Someone tried to kill him in Alaska, and he still doesn’t know who was behind the attack.
The investigation has already brought him back into contact with Tony DiNozzo, played by Michael Weatherly. Now Tony, who has become the director of NCIS, is turning to Bishop for help.
As TVLine reported when CBS announced her return, Bishop is brought in to help Gibbs identify the people who shot him.
It makes sense when you remember how she left the original series.
Bishop didn’t simply resign and settle into an ordinary life. She left NCIS in 2021 to pursue undercover work, a decision that took her away from the team and left plenty of questions about what she would do next.
That experience now makes her particularly useful to Gibbs, who wants to keep his investigation away from official attention.
CBS has already released a preview of their reunion. In the scene, Gibbs is suspicious when Bishop appears unexpectedly, but her familiar dry humor quickly returns.
It’s the kind of reunion that should be interesting for fans who remember how much Bishop changed during her years on the original show.
Bishop Has Already Been Back to NCIS This Year
Although Wickersham left the regular cast in 2021, this isn’t her first return to the franchise.
She appeared again on the original NCIS during Season 23, including a March 2026 storyline involving Nick Torres.
In a TV Insider interview about that return, Wickersham discussed Bishop’s undercover life and her relationship with Torres.
Now the character is being brought into a different part of the franchise, with a mission connected directly to Gibbs.
That’s especially interesting because NCIS: Origins began as a show about Gibbs’ early career. It follows a younger version of the character, played by Austin Stowell, in the 1990s.
Season 3 has expanded that format by making present-day Gibbs part of an ongoing mystery. With Mark Harmon appearing on screen again, the series can reconnect characters from the original NCIS while continuing to tell the younger Gibbs’ story.
Gibbs Is Getting His Old Team Back, One Person at a Time
Bishop’s appearance comes immediately after the October 20 episode, “Return of the Mack,” which reunited Gibbs and DiNozzo.
For viewers who spent years watching that original team work together, it’s an unusual opportunity to see those relationships again.
But these aren’t exactly the same people they were when they worked under Gibbs.
Tony has moved into a leadership position. Bishop has spent years working undercover. And Gibbs, after leaving NCIS and retiring to Alaska, has been forced back into a dangerous investigation.
There’s something interesting about seeing him turn to people he once trained and trusted, especially now that their lives have gone in very different directions.
Whether Bishop’s involvement leads to more appearances by members of the old team remains to be seen. Her own return, however, is confirmed for more than one episode.
When Does Ellie Bishop Return?
Emily Wickersham’s first NCIS: Origins appearance is scheduled for Tuesday, October 27, 2026, in Season 3, Episode 4, titled “Shimmy Shimmy Ya.”
The episode airs at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CBS, with streaming availability on Paramount+.
The official CBS episode announcement confirms that present-day Gibbs returns to a location filled with memories and discovers he isn’t alone.
For longtime NCIS viewers, seeing Gibbs and Bishop together again may be just as interesting as the mystery they’re trying to solve.
And with her undercover experience, Bishop could be exactly the person Gibbs needs.
