“NCIS” maintains a revolving door of main cast members. Some figures simply move to pursue other jobs; other “NCIS” characters are killed off the show. While simply leaving keeps the door open for future appearances, there’s something to be said of getting a juicy death scene, and Wilmer Valderrama knows precisely how he’d want Nick Torres to go out should his time ever come.
To be clear, Valderrama has confirmed there are no plans to get rid of Torres any time soon, but the actor was asked how he’d wish for his character to bite the dust at the 2024 Monte-Carlo Television Festival (via People). Valderrama explained, “Like Denzel Washington in ‘Training Day’ — just go out.” Detective Alonzo Harris (Washington) has an iconic death scene in the film where he’s gunned down by the Russian mafia in an incredibly violent scene. Of course, Torres is much more noble than Harris, so seeing him get gunned down repeatedly and violently may be a bit much for fans.
Valderrama seems to think Torres deserves a true hero’s death by “defending my family somehow, just in a storm of bullets, I just see a storm of bullets just washing over me, just dying heroically with violins in the background and the rain is pouring.” However, the actor does have his limits. When his co-star, Brian Dietzen brought up whether Torres’ death should include a flock of doves (in the vein of a John Woo movie), Valderrama said, “No, no doves. That’s a little too Nicolas Cage.”
Wilmer Valderrama will be back for NCIS Season 22
“Training Day” is the movie that finally got Denzel Washington his Oscar, so perhaps Wilmer Valderrama alluding to that film suggests he wants to get an Emmy for Nick Torres on “NCIS” at some point. For the time being, there are no indicators Torres is going to kick the bucket any time soon. Fans were already thrown for a loop once with the character when Season 20 ended with a cliffhanger insinuating Torres was about to kill a man. “NCIS” Season 21 resolved that cliffhanger by showing how Torres only beat up the man while someone else actually killed him. It’s a lot for any one character to go through, and fans should know that Valderrama will stick around for at least one more season.
“NCIS” has been renewed for an astonishing Season 22, and Valderrama shared on Instagram just how thrilled he was at being able to continue this journey. “We are beyond honored that you continue to invite us into your living rooms,” the actor wrote. “Season 22 officially a GO! And thanks to you all our incredible fans from around the WORLD!” Season 22 will mark Valderrama’s ninth season on “NCIS,” having joined back on Season 14.
There’s always a chance Valderrama will want to move onto something else at some point, or maybe the writers won’t know what to do with Torres any longer and simply get rid of him. If that happens, the question still becomes whether to kill him off permanently or just have him leave so that he can have a cameo later. Or Torres could pull a Ziva (Cote de Pablo) and “die” off-screen only to later reveal that he’s alive — best of both worlds.