‘NCIS’ season 11 spoilers: ’24’ vet joins Cote de Pablo’s send-off

As you may remember from some of the press releases CBS sent out previously, we are going to see the last of Cote de Pablo’s Ziva David during an emotional “NCIS” that will air a week after the premiere on Tuesday, October 1. The story surrounding this exit is and will remain very close to the vest, largely because the last thing producers want to do is clue anyone in to how Cote is going to be saying goodbye to a show that she called home for years.

So for now, we’ll just have to settle for some casting news. TVLine is reporting that “24” actress Leslie Hope is going to appear in this episode as Sarah Porter, known for being a high-ranking Navy official, in the goodbye episode entitled “Past, Present, Future.” While there may not be much more in the way of concrete information about the character, executive producer Gary Glasberg did have the following to say according to the website:

“[This is] one that has tremendous importance in the NCIS world. I can’t think of anyone I’d rather have joining us at this pivotal time than Leslie. We’re thrilled to have her.”

This is not exactly what you have a tendency to hear when you are talking about actors who are sticking around for only an episode, and it may be best symbolic of just how much “NCIS” is valuing this episode in terms of their overall canon. For those of you who are desperate to see Cote given a worthy send-off, we cannot imagine how you would be anything other than thrilled by this news.

Are you down for having a little bit of Hope on this show? We’ve got plenty more on both “NCIS” and the future of Cote, and all you have to do to check it out is head on over to the link here.

Photo: CBS