NCIS is back to business as usual in the Tuesday, April 7, episode.
The team hasn’t forgotten about Vance’s death.
Knight receives a nostalgic package from her mother.

It’s back to business as usual for NCIS two episodes after the shocking death of Director Leon Vance (Rocky Carroll) on Tuesday, April 7.

Still, Vance’s absence looms large and is recognized, and Carroll remains part of the opening credits. Warning: Spoilers for NCIS Season 23 Episode 15 ahead!

While discussing the case and the fact that their victim had no life outside the museum ship on which he worked, McGee (Sean Murray) notes that when they cleared out Vance’s office — as they’d talked about having to do in the previous episode — he at least had family photos. (Vance, however, did talk about not finding the right balance between work and family.) “You could tell what mattered,” Torres (Wilmer Valderrama) agreed, looking up in the direction of Vance’s office.

But that’s really the only mention of Vance in this episode. It’s not surprising, given that executive producer Steven D. Binder told TV Insider, “The team will be grieving, of course. But we felt it important that, at the end of Episode [500], the team is just as focused on Vance’s sacrifice as they are on their loss. Vance died to protect them all. And they are going to honor that by putting one foot in front of the other, and just continuing on their mission to protect and safeguard their country.”

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Elsewhere in the episode, Knight (Katrina Law) initially writes off a package from her mom as another one from her wellness kick with a meal subscription. But she does end up opening it, which turns out to be the smart move: Inside are her Sugar Sprout dolls from her childhood. Her uncle had confiscated them because she played with them at the dinner table, and she hadn’t seen them after that. But he died last year, and her mom went through his stuff. McGee recognizes the dolls, noting his sister liked them — we need to see Troian Bellisario back on NCIS, especially to see Sarah meet McGee’s twins and his newly-discovered 18-year-old son — and even offers up $50 cash for one that wasn’t sold in stores. “Don’t lowball me, McSugar Sprout,” Knight tells him.

She ends up putting them on eBay, where they’re up to $1500 by the end of the episode. Also in the package from her mom were her great-grandfather’s sunglasses, which she saw in photos her grandfather wore his entire life. Now, she’s going to wear them and keep that history going, in style.

What did you think of the latest NCIS episode? Let us know in the comments section below.

NCIS, Tuesdays, 8/7c, CBS