'NCIS' Season 18 Premiere Preview: Will Bishop and Torres finally be together after all the teasing?
This upcoming season of 'NCIS' is going to be heavily politically charged, or so teases star Wilmer Valderrama, but that won't compromise on the forever teased romance between his character Nick Torres, and fellow NCIS agent Eleanor Bishop (Emily Wickersham). Packed with political significance surrounding the ongoing social issues, specifically the BLM movement in America, Season 18 of NCIS will be unlike anything you've seen before. And as Jack Slone (Maria Bello) exits the show after three strong seasons, Torres will find himself quite lost because of the pedestal he held Sloane on. And that means ample emotional dependency — the healthy kind — on a romance that should have become canon a whole season ago.
In an interview with TV Insider, Valderrama opened up about how vulnerable Torres will be this season — teasing just the right segue for a partner that he can share his burdens and emotions with. "I will tell you that if that event [Sloane's exit] really does happen, it's going to be interesting for Torres," Valderrama told TV Insider, adding: "Because he's learned to lean on them [Sloane and Gibbs] for different things, and he's learned a lot from them. I think you're going to see a more vulnerable Torres, and he's not going to like it."
Speaking of Torres' vulnerability, towards the end of Season 17, we saw the character hospitalized from an accident on the job. Season 18 will greet him fresh out of the hospital, following that very emotional breakdown Bishop displayed when Torres was being carried inside. Bishop was by his side, laying down the foundation of their ever so teased romance brick by brick. So once out of danger, there's no reason Torres should hold back from reciprocating. Not only are the two agents the newest recruits in the team that we've seen for 18 years now, but the pair's chemistry is also pretty undeniable. Plus we were also teased what the two would look like as a couple in Episode 16: 'Ephemera' of the previous season.
Flirty and basking in the glory of each other's presence, the pair sure gave some prospective couple goals that make sense to finally watch it materialize on screen. When asked directly what's on the cards for Bishop and Torres, the actor first mentioned “It’s interesting because there’s so many things Season 18 has to talk about, a lot to reflect in this moment. Our national community has been fighting for justice and things that really are important.” That said, there's also going to be some intimate moments between Bishop and Torres — not necessarily the physical kind, but we don't mind otherwise either.
“The exploration of relationships within the characters and all that stuff, it’s something that’s always a mystery," he explained to the outlet, adding "I certainly don’t think that we will do something the show has seen before, and we’re definitely trying to work on doing something different.”