Executive producer Gary Glasberg and his team have done it—Ziva’s replacement is a more permanent part of the show.
According to a press released on CBS.com, Emily Wickersham—who will play NSA Analyst Eleanor “Ellie” Bishop—has been promoted to a series regular and will make her debut on Nov. 19.
Wickersham is known for her roles in films such as “I am Number Four” and “Gone”. She was recently seen on the television shows “Gossip Girl” and “The Bridge”.
It was reported over the summer that Wickersham’s character would be coming on to permanently replace Cote de Pablo’s Ziva David. She was originally only signed on for a few episodes. Apparently, Glasberg and the rest of the team are ready for Wickersham to join Gibbs and the gang for the long haul.
“Emily Wickersham’s Ellie Bishop is proving to perfectly compliment the NCIS team,” said Executive Producer Gary Glasberg, according to the press release. “Her energy and enthusiasm is contagious. Great things are planned for Bishop and we couldn’t be more thrilled to have her on board.”
In the Nov. 19 episode, the NCIS team will eventually figure out that Secretary of the Navy Sarah Porter (Leslie Hope) was bugged while in a confidential briefing. Apparently, Bishop outlined the security breach as it happened in a threat analysis report two years ago. Gibbs and his group team up with Bishop to solve the mystery.
“What drew me to Bishop is how she views the world. She looks at things in a global way — and that’s true of personal lives as well as the work,” Glasberg said of the new addition to the show. “She will shed some light on everybody, on who our people are, as well on the way that politics and terrorism and crimes are handled. She possesses an interesting mind, an intellectual, smart way to approach doing what this team does — not with kicks and punches and knocking down doors but by really thinking. She’s very much a thinker.”
Are you excited or the Bishop era to begin? Share your thoughts in the comments below. Read the full press release here.
“NCIS” airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on CBS.
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