Rocky Carroll has shined on the directorial front twice so far on NCIS Season 22, the latest being “Baker’s Man,” which aired last week on the 2025 TV schedule. However, when it comes to his character, NCIS Director Leon Vance, arguably the character’s biggest episodes so far this season has been “Foreign Bodies,” where we reunited with his sorta-girlfriend Lena Paulsen, played by Marem Hassler. By the end of that episode, Vance and Lena had entered into a more official romantic relationship, which left me hopeful that we’ll be seeing more of her. When that will happen is hard to say, but Carroll did share his thoughts with CinemaBlend about how he envisions this could happen.
During my recent conversation with Rocky Carroll, which also included him discussing where Vance stands with new NCIS Deputy Director Gabriel LaRoche, I asked the actor about if his character’s relationship with Lena would be explored more this season, and he started off by saying:
That's a good question because we did that really nice episode that Marco Schnabel wrote where we did leave the door open with her. I think if they can find a way to bring her in… what I love about these characters is that if a character recurs, they don't just recur to be, ‘Hey, look, my dinner date’s here.’ They're usually tied to some aspect of the story. And because Lena also worked in an agency and she was an operative, I think they're trying to find a way that they can bring her back, but still have a level of intrigue.
“Foreign Bodies” marked Lena’s second appearance in NCIS, having been introduced in the Season 20’s “Guardian” as an agent for the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), i.e. the Federal Intelligence Service (stream the episode with a Paramount+ subscription if you need a refresher). She and Vance had been in a casual, no-strings relationship whenever their paths crossed, and for most of her Season 22 reappearance, they continued to get along wonderfully. By the end of the episode, Vance realized he wanted something more out of her relationship with Lena, and she agreed, which she demonstrated by giving him a key to her new apartment in New York.
So now Leon Vance and Lena Paulsen are officially an item, though it’s more of a long-distance thing due to their respective careers. But as Rocky Carroll has been on NCIS for over a decade and a half, and he’s certain that for Lena to start recurring on the series, she’d need to be involved in a larger story rather than be around simply for romance’s sake. The actor continued:
Because what I loved about the storyline that we did with her was she didn't tell Vance exactly why she was back in his life. He had to find out this operative was reporting to her on this case. So there's still that level of everybody kind of sizing each other up and nobody really being completely transparent. So I think if they can find a way to bring her back and still keep that element, I think it'll work. Hopefully she'll be back. I don't know. We’re getting kind of towards the tail end of our season now. I love that they brought her back and I hope they bring her back again soon.
NCIS Season 22 only just resumed airing, but like Rocky Carroll said, the cast and crew are already in the midst of planning out the season’s final episodes. So unless Lena Paulsen is being written into one of those, it’s unlikely we’ll see her again in Season 22. That just gives extra incentive for CBS to renew NCIS for its 23rd season, and Carroll is looking forward to exploring more of Vance’s relationship with Lena, provided she’ll also be able to continue putting her skills as an agent to good use.
Fortunately for those of you who enjoy watching romance on NCIS, it was revealed in “Baker’s Man” that Nick Torres is dating Robin Knight, and with their relationship benefitting from the events of “For Better or Worse,” hopefully we’ll see more of this crazy kids together. Season 22 will also continue to explore Alden Parker’s Lily mystery and flesh out the “flight plan” for the Kansas City mob.
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