10 NCIS Easter Eggs We Found In The 500th Episode

Warning: This post contains spoilers for Tuesday’s 500th episode of “NCIS.”

If you’ve been watching “NCIS” for the past two decades, this week’s installment wasn’t just another episode — it was a walk down memory lane.

The venerable CBS procedural aired its 500th episode on Tuesday, and the writers were definitely aware of the milestone, peppering in nods and references to years of “NCIS” history. Departed cast members were brought back… in one form or another. Long-closed cases were dusted off. And of course, Episode 500 also packed a heartbreaking twist, with Director Vance dying in the line of duty while saving the NCIS team from an abrupt shutdown. (Check out our interview with Rocky Carroll about Vance’s swan song.)

The 500th episode was a treasure trove for “NCIS” fans, so join us as we dig into the archives and unearth 10 Easter eggs we found in the episode. (And for any eagle-eyed investigators out there: If you caught any we missed, be sure to call them out in the comments below.)

In the episode’s opening moments, the NCIS office is abandoned, and young punks are defacing the walls with spray paint. One of the artists insists his creation is a dragon, but his pal thinks it looks more like a duck.

A duck, you say? That’s a bit of foreshadowing that beloved medical examiner Ducky, aka Donald Mallard, will be making an appearance later in the episode.

“NCIS” was clearly in a nostalgic mood this week, with Torres getting approached by a guy claiming that NCIS helped his family a long time ago. His name was Billy Fuentes, and sure enough, in Season 1’s second episode, “Hung Out to Dry,” Gibbs and the team investigated the mysterious death of a Marine sergeant whose parachute didn’t open during a training jump. Billy was that sergeant’s young son — and now he’s all grown up, and his Navy petty officer sister is being falsely accused of murder. (Bonus Easter egg: Actor Austin Marques, who played young Billy in the original episode, returned to play a grown-up Billy here.)

This week’s episode spelled out the connection with a flashback to that old episode — check out that crisp standard-def footage! — with Gibbs helping build a treehouse for the fatherless Billy. It was a nice full-circle moment for the series, catching up with Billy 23 years later, and we’re never going to complain about seeing more of Mark Harmon as Gibbs on our TVs.

When Torres was working undercover for the DEA as a cell phone salesman, there was a sign behind him offering a chance to win a trip to Naktok Bay, Alaska. That, of course, was where Gibbs escaped to in Mark Harmon’s final “NCIS” episode, Season 19’s “Great Wide Open.” (Hey, maybe you could stay at his cabin!)

Throughout the episode, Vance faced intense questioning from a mysterious interrogator played by “Rules of Engagement” alum Adhir Kalyan. The character wore a red patterned tie — which made sense when we later learned the interrogator was actually Young Ducky, who was wearing a bow tie with a similar red pattern.

We all know that before Kasie Hines joined the team, Abby Scuitto was NCIS’ resident lab rat: a hyperactive forensic scientist with a taste for all things Goth. This week, NCIS got shut down and was forced to clear out its offices, which led to Kasie stumbling upon racks of Abby’s old clothes, including a pair of platform boots Kasie instantly coveted. The discovery spurred a fond remembrance from Director Vance: “Abby Sciutto had a big brain, and an even bigger heart.”

Abby was played by Pauley Perrette, who was a “NCIS” fan favorite for years before departing the series in Season 15. (Abby left the team to start a homeless charity in honor of an MI6 agent who died saving her life.) So it was lovely to see Abby’s spirit represented in the milestone episode — and hilarious to see Kasie trying on Abby’s spiked collar and skeleton gloves.

Another piece of graffiti in Vance’s office is a giant frog, which calls to mind René Benoit, aka “La Grenouille” (or “The Frog,” in French), the murderous arms dealer played by Armand Assante. La Grenouille was one of the primary villains in the early seasons of “NCIS,” and his arc intersected with Vance’s introduction to the show, with the assassination of Jenny Shepard leading to Vance becoming NCIS director.

The 500th episode centered on the CID (Criminal Investigation Division) taking over for NCIS, and when CID agent Dolan Thompson ended up dead, several NCIS team members were implicated in his death. In flashbacks, we got to know Dolan as a nerdy pest who doubted NCIS every step of the way as they worked to prove Billy Fuentes’ sister was innocent. But one method they used to distract him brought up some old memories.

Dolan was having trouble finding a date, so to keep him occupied, they set him up with… Knight’s sister Robin, who Torres used to date. Dolan rejected her, though, complaining that she started “talking about getting engaged.” Kasie and Jimmy agreed that “that’s actually pretty normal for her.” When we first met Robin, played by Lilan Bowden, in Season 20, she was on her fifth fiancé already — and that fifth fiancé was a phony who only infiltrated Robin’s life in an attempt to murder Jess. Whew… at least Torres dodged that bullet.

Sadly, we learned near the end of the episode that Dolan shot Vance while trying to blow up the NCIS evidence locker. At first, we thought Vance was wearing a vest… but nope. He died of his wounds, and the mystery person who’d been questioning him all episode long turned out to be Ducky, played in his young version by Adam Campbell.

Ducky assured Vance, “You didn’t give up your life for nothing, dear boy. You saved your agency. Your legacy will live on.” He then led him to a doorway filled with blinding light where Vance entered the afterlife. It was a sweet nod to Ducky, aka Donald Mallard, the “NCIS” medical examiner played by David McCallum for 20 seasons before the actor’s death in 2023. (Campbell has played a younger Ducky in flashbacks in previous “NCIS” episodes.)

“Were David McCallum still with us, it would have been him,” Rocky Carroll, who played Vance, told TVLine of Ducky’s cameo. But he added that Ducky taking on a younger form in the spirit world “made perfect sense, because he embodied the past and the present.”

It was pure waterworks in the final moments of the 500th episode, as Vance took one last look around his office before entering the afterlife, triggering a montage of highlights from his two decades on the show. We saw Gibbs, we saw Abby, we saw Ducky… and most importantly, we saw Jackie, Vance’s late wife played by “CSI: Vegas” veteran Paula Newsome.

Jackie appeared in four “NCIS” episodes before being killed by a stray bullet during an assassination attempt in the Season 10 episode “Shabbot Shalom.” The couple had two children: daughter Kayla (who later trained to become an NCIS agent) and son Jared. It’s been more than a decade since Jackie passed away, and Vance has dated since, but it was heartwarming to see him walk into the pearly gates and hear a woman’s voice say, “Hey baby,” to which he replied: “Hey Jackie.”

As Vance walked out of his office for the last time, we noticed all the clocks behind him were pointing to the number 11. Yep, that’s another nod to Gibbs and his famous “rules.” Rule 11 is: “When the job is done, walk away.” And Vance did just that.