Spoilers ahead for the January 24 episode of NCIS.
NCIS has been putting Nick Torres through the emotional wringer since the end of Season 18 with the departure of Bishop and then the loss of Gibbs in early Season 19, and the latest episode just upped the ante by putting him through the physical wringer as well. As part of an investigation, Torres went undercover into a fighting ring where anything goes, and he took a serious pummeling before ultimately getting the better of his opponent. Now, actor Wilmer Valderrama has spoken out about the physical toll of the episode, and it actually hurt him too!
Torres – whose actions in this episode were so extreme that it seems like he may need to be benched soon – dropped some troubling comments on McGee in the middle of the fight, and he was a mess by the time he was able to leave the ring. On the day after the episode aired, the actor took to Instagram to shed some light on what went down:
Did you catch last night’s episode of NCIS? It hurt just watching it.. wait.. it actually did hurt ME shooting it[.] I wanna thank our stunt team, and coordinators... it was challenging and ambitious to do... but I am blessed of the heart that went into it... thank you for always being there and being great partners as we tell stories that elevate the narrative of every story!
Any viewers who caught the latest episode of NCIS may not be surprised to learn that Wilmer Valderrama felt a little bit of real-life pain in the process of filming Torres’ big fight! The episode managed to combine a seriously loaded exchange between Torres and McGee with a pretty epic brawl between Torres and a guy who was so big that none of the other agents would have blamed Torres for bowing out rather than going into the ring. All in all, it was a big episode both for the character and the actor.
And the actor definitely earned the appreciation of plenty of people on social media, with his post gaining nearly 11,000 likes at the time of writing and well over a hundred comments. One of the comments even came from the official NCIS account, and I’m guessing that plenty of fans will be able to relate to the sentiment:
We DEFINITELY were hurting for Torres!!
Wilmer Valderrama went on in his post to express “so much respect” for the athletes participating in MMA and cage-fighting, and stated that it “was an honor to humbly showcase” the sport. And honestly, on top of kudos to the actor, the stunt team, and the stunt coordinators, I have to give credit to the makeup team at NCIS for making Torres look so believably roughed up. Take a look:
All things considered, Torres got some time in the spotlight, even if it wasn’t the most enjoyable time for him. His delayed reaction to losing Gibbs drove him throughout the episode, and it couldn’t have helped that he lost Gibbs so soon after he lost Bishop. Considering how she left, the odds seem pretty good that she won’t be able to come back, although there’s always the possibility for Mark Harmon to pop back up on NCIS. And he did get a mention over on NCIS: Hawai’i directly after this week’s episode of NCIS.
Wilmer Valderrama will be heading over to NCIS: Hawai’i himself for the first-ever crossover event between the two shows, although fans will have to wait until March to see how Torres and Knight fit in with Tennant’s team over in the Aloha State. For now, you can find episodes of NCIS on Mondays at 9 p.m. ET on CBS in the 2022 TV schedule.
