NCIS: Emily Wickersham And Wilmer Valderrama Tell All About Bishop And Torres' Reunion — Plus, Grade It!

Warning: This post contains spoilers for Tuesday's "NCIS."

Ellie Bishop was back working with the "NCIS" team this week... and she had some unfinished business with Nick Torres.

In Tuesday's winter premiere, Emily Wickersham returned to reprise her role as former team member Bishop, who's been deep undercover saving lives around the world. But she became a target for Jess and NCIS Elite after classified info was hacked by someone on Bishop's team. Bishop snuck back into Torres' life — and tied him up! — to recruit him to help prove her innocence... and to mend fences after her abrupt exit in Season 18. (We also saw a flashback of the two of them in bed together, confirming that they were more than just work buddies.)

Bishop was innocent, of course — her team member Patricia stole the top-secret info to sell to the highest bidder — and Bishop ended up going back undercover. She did ask Nick to come with her, but he decided to stay put, telling her, "For now, my place is here." ("And mine's out there," she replied.)

To help us unpack Bishop's big return, TVLine spoke with Wickersham and co-star Wilmer Valderrama (who plays Nick), and they explained how Bishop has changed since we last saw her, why Nick didn't say yes to her offer to join her — and whether that leaves the door open for him to possibly pair up with Jess.

TVLINE | Emily, it's been five years since you left the show. When did you start talking with the producers about coming back, and what made this the right time for Bishop to come back?
WICKERSHAM | I got a call over the summer that it was, like, bubbling in their brains. And I don't know how it came to be. That writers' room is, and has always been, a mystery to me, of how they come up with all of the episodes every year. It's amazing to me. But I was so excited. I kept in touch with everyone from the show, and it just kind of came out of nowhere. I have had two kids, and so I've been really focused on that, and I have not been acting as much. So I was like, "Yeah, it's the perfect job for me to do right now, to come back to a very familiar, wonderful place where I get to act with really talented people."

TVLINE | We got a little more background this week about why Bishop left and what she's been up to since. How much has she changed since she left? I mean, we know she still likes Klowny Kakes, at least.
WICKERSHAM | Yeah, she's still got that food thing going. But Bishop has changed a lot. I think that the last time we saw Bishop, she parted ways, and she was determined to take the next step, something she really had to do. So over these last several years, she's seen a lot. A lot of different stuff that she wouldn't have seen at NCIS. So I think that she's definitely come back a changed woman. But as everyone does, you change and you still are the same at your core, and you still have that rapport with people that you haven't seen in a while.

TVLINE | It seems like she and Nick definitely still have a rapport. She goes right to him because he's the one she trusts the most. But what is going through Nick's mind when he sees Bishop again after all these years?
VALDERRAMA | I think there's a flood of emotions. When you remember the way that it ended, the way that she left, I think there were so many questions about what their friendship was, what their loyalty to one another was. Because there was no real goodbye. He had to kind of almost track her down to say goodbye, and she was going to leave without saying goodbye. So that was a big deal for him. This whole time, I think he somehow realized that their friendship was not what he thought it was, and in this episode, it comes full circle. He realizes that there were some things he may or may not want to hear. I think for Torres, there is this hard shell to get through, and very few characters on the show have been able to crack it. And obviously, Bishop was definitely one of those characters that really opened up something else in Torres' mind of possibilities. Specifically, when it came to carrying the job, they both sacrifice so much to protect one another. So in that aspect, there was a trust, was a rapport. So we're not surprised that she might have reached out to Torres, but the "why" she reached out to Torres, and the purpose of that, I think it was definitely the curveball.

TVLINE | You call it a friendship, but it's a little bit more than a friendship, right? We see a flashback to them in bed together, so there's definitely a romantic element to this. But is he able to understand a little better why she left, once she explains it?
VALDERRAMA | I think that he understands it at levels that most people wouldn't. The reason why is because he himself has had to make these decisions on his own. He has had to kind of leave what he knew about his life before he became an agent. He's had to become the bad guy to get the bad guy many times before. So I think that when you think about the lone wolf that learned how to play with the family as he joined NCIS and then gave himself to really be devoted to what this team was about, when this happened, it was kind of a contradiction of what he thought this was all about. And I think getting those answers really kind of solidifies the fact that we do do a dangerous job, that we do have to sacrifice ourselves for the sake of not just justice, but the safety of others. I think he understands that soulfully. I think that we're able to close this open wound, you know. I think they were able to heal in the process, and I think that is what made it even more exciting, right? Like, it either closes a chapter, or it opens a new one. I mean, who knows where it goes from here?

TVLINE | Bishop also had a strong bond with Gibbs while she was on the team. Was there any discussion about her reaching out to Gibbs while she's back, even if it was just an off-camera mention?
WICKERSHAM | He always runs through Bishop's mind. I think the frontrunner here was Torres, but I'm sure that Gibbs was thought about, because he's always thought about in the NCIS world, and they have such history together. But especially now that Gibbs is not there, I think Torres was always the one that she knows has her back... But I imagine off-camera, there were conversations. There were private conversations.

TVLINE | At the end of the episode, Bishop goes back undercover, and she asks Nick to come with her, but he stays loyal to his NCIS team. I feel like he answered pretty quickly, too. Was there any part of him that you feel like actually considered following his heart and going with Bishop? 
WICKERSHAM | Yeah, I think that's always considered. I think the two of them have such a rapport, and they really have, like, a soul connection. But I think there's also such a mutual understanding of what they're doing in this moment in time. Bishop has such a great respect and understanding for where he's at right now in his life. I don't know. It was an interesting moment. Because I thought about it. I was like, "Is she upset?" I think it's more of a knowing that everything just works out as it will. They found each other, and they'll find each other again.

VALDERRAMA | One of the credits that I give this show is that they're very logical about these things. And no matter how romantic it could be about giving the audience exactly what they expect and how they wanted to end, what I love about "NCIS" is that they keep it pretty grounded and pretty realistic. Like, how realistic is it? I'm gonna jump on this plane with you right now and leave my team? I think we get to see that his wheels did turn, and perhaps maybe he did consider it. You talked about how quickly he answered, but I think he's been thinking about it since the moment he saw her. And I think that's why we played the efficiency of that conversation, because it's been an episode that, once they started trusting each other and started going for the same cause, we realized very quickly that that feeling of trust has come back. Therefore, that could have been a consideration halfway through the episode. And what is her life like? What do you need? And in a moment like that, you have to consider it. He was not blindsided by the fact that she was that forward about it. You could feel that they're great partners, and they could do a lot of good together as well, besides the emotional part of it. So I find that the answer was cryptic enough that it told Bishop how he was really feeling, and then also told her, "I still have a duty to perform out here." And that's something we both kind of respect about each other's characters.

TVLINE | I do have to ask: With Nick staying with NCIS and not going off with Bishop, does that leave the door open at all for a possible romance with Jess? Because that's been hinted at all season long.
VALDERRAMA | [Laughs] It would get too complicated. We don't know what that writers' room has got on that board. I think that if you watch the episode, you realize that there were energies in there that could be interpreted in different [ways], you know? But I will say that, with [Nick and Jess], if we do pull that lever, it's a lever you can't come back from, right? And I think that's kind of something to consider. We're not shy to pull levers. We actually shuffle the emotional blueprint that the show has. And by the way, this is a show that can actually pull that lever and work it out over time, because we get to have enough episodes to figure it out. But I will tell you they have a great shorthand. They do great work together, and there is a major understanding beyond the job for them, too. But we'll see, you know. I'm not in that conversation yet. [The writers] normally bring me in early into those. So I would say that's not in the kitchen yet.

TVLINE | This felt like a one-off appearance for Bishop, and she says all her goodbyes at the end. But is there a way we could maybe see Bishop coming back again in the future?
WICKERSHAM | I think it depends on if they want me back! But yeah, totally. I mean, I think it depends on what the writers have in mind for the character. But the door is definitely not closed.

The floor is yours, "NCIS" fans: Give the winter premiere a grade in our poll, and hit the comments to give us your thoughts on Bishop's return.