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The NCIS season 23 finale was not one to be missed, after the episode ended on a major cliffhanger involving Special Agent Torres and Special Agent McGee’s son, Mateo. Warning: spoilers ahead!

The episode, which aired on Tuesday night, saw Mateo tour the NCIS office with the intention of undertaking an internship there, before declaring that the work wasn’t for him after all. Torres (played by Wilmer Vanderrama) was then told by his colleague, Palmer (Brian Dietzen), that Mateo had used the NCIS computers to fill out an internship application, which rang alarm bells for the agent. 

After Torres failed to find Mateo’s application on the system, he confronted him in an alleyway, and the teenager revealed he was carrying a weapon.  

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Agent Torres confronted Mateo in the season 23 finale

“They could be watching,” Mateo said, before the camera panned away and a shot rang out. Viewers were left unclear about who was shot, who survived the confrontation, and what secrets Mateo was hiding from his father, McGee. 

“Someone was hit. I can confirm that,” said showrunner Steven D. Binder to TV Insider. He did, however, rule out any major character death, following the exit of longtime star Rocky Carroll, who portrayed NCIS director Leon Vance. 

“There’s not a lot of fun there. When someone’s dead, they’re dead. It’s much more interesting…when someone’s alive and been shot than when they’re dead. And by fun, I mean interesting,” he explained. 

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McGee’s son was involved in the shootout

Steven later told Parade that Mateo was “in over his head” and involved in some major trouble, which will be revealed in season 24. “We hope he’s in over his head; he certainly seems to be,” the showrunner explained.

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“You don’t want to think that he’s a mover and shaker of whatever malfeasance he’s involved in. He’s in over his head, and McGee is clueless about it, but Torres is not…it’s going to end badly, but we just don’t know exactly how badly it ends.”

As for what fans have to look forward to in the upcoming season, Steven told TV Insider that it was “too soon” to reveal his plans. 

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The showrunner revealed that someone was shot in the finale

“It’s still blue sky right now,” he said. “The only thing I could say is this last season, I think we went to some very interesting places with our characters, and we’re going to try and build on that and continue in a way that still also tells just some good week-to-week mysteries, balance those two things.”

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Kayla was left to grapple with her future at NCIS

The season 23 finale also saw Kayla Vance (played by Naomi Grace) deciding on whether she should stay with NCIS to honor her father, Leon Vance, or follow her instincts and continue investigating terrorist attacks. 

Naomi’s performance saw Kayla receiving a note from her late father that read: “Follow your own path”, leaving her to decide for herself. Rocky’s character, Leon, was killed off after 18 seasons on the show, leaving NCIS fans in a state of shock. Despite his exit from the show, Rocky will return to direct several episodes of season 24.