NCIS season 18: Will there be a rush to replace Maria Bello, Sloane?

As we are preparing for NCIS season 18 to premiere, there are of course plenty of questions pertaining to Sloane. Take, for example, whether or not something more is happening with her and Gibbs … and then also how she is going to exit.

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For the sake of this article, though, let’s take a few minutes to look beyond Sloane. In particular, the question we’re wondering is simply this: How is the show going to replace her? Is there going to be a rush to throw someone else into this role, or will the writers be a little more willing to take their time? In speaking on this subject further in an interview with TVLine, here is some of what executive producer Steven D. Binder had to say:

There’s a core team, and I think it was a function of Maria that we were able to find so much to give her to do. If it’s not Maria [in the role], then I don’t know if we need to necessarily fill it right away.

We do fully agree with this, and wouldn’t be shocked if the part was left open relatively vacant until we get around to season 19. Remember that this season only 16 episodes as of right now, and Maria is going to be around for half of it. There’s not a lot of time otherwise to rush a new character into the mix.

Related News – Read our own interview with Binder and Frank Cardea, including teases on McGee and if Ziva could return

What do you most want to see when it comes to the end of the Sloane arc on NCIS?

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This article was written by Jessica Carter. Be sure to follow her on Twitter.