NCIS season 16: Should Maria Bello return as Jack Sloane?

Even before season 15 of NCIS started, there was some breaking news announced in Jennifer Esposito’s departure. Despite only being on the show for a single season, she was moving on and the CBS series had a role to fill in the cast. Eventually, they decided to bring Maria Bello in.

At the time that Bello’s casting was first announced, we don’t exactly think that it was hard to celebrate it. We’re talking here about a talented and extremely accomplished performer, someone who has done an incredible job in a wide array of different projects over the years. Sloane is also a different sort of character than who we’ve had on the show for some time: She studies and understands the human mind in a way that is different from most others. Those out there who enjoy the series when it’s a little bit more cognitive are going to have a lot to like watching her on the show; meanwhile, we also know that she’s more than capable of getting physical. We’ve seen some of the boxing montages.

Is Bello meshing well with the rest of the cast? To date, we think so. NCIS hasn’t rushed into telling her story or giving her a great deal of screen time, and we feel like by and large that’s been smart. They’ve made a conscious move to not force her into every single story right away and we feel like that’s helpful. There’s still an air of mystery about her, she’s got secrets from her past waiting to be unlocked, and of course there are questions surrounding her relationship with Gibbs. Could these two actually evolve into something more? We know that there are certainly some people out there who would be interested in seeing that.

Related – Could David McCallum return as Ducky on NCIS season 16?

We’re already losing Pauley Perrette, and if we also lost Maria it would mean that Emily Wickersham is the only female cast member coming back. Retention matters with a show like this, especially when you’ve got a show that really doesn’t have all that many permanent female characters.

Do you want to see Maria Bello back as Jack Sloane on NCIS season 16? Be sure to share some of your thoughts in the comments! The next new episode of NCIS, entitled “Family Ties,” is set to air on CBS Tuesday night.

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