NCIS Episode 500 Sneak Peek: Is NCIS Really Getting Shut Down?!

Next week, "NCIS" hits a big milestone... and the NCIS team may be hitting a big roadblock.

CBS has released a sneak peek at the hit procedural's landmark 500th episode, airing next Tuesday, March 24 at 8 p.m., and it looks like our friends on the Major Case Response Team might be looking for a new job soon. In the teaser — which you can watch above — a grim-faced Vance informs the team that "NCIS is being shut down." Cue the confused faces from McGee and Torres. (Viewers did get a heads-up about this at the end of this week's episode, when Vance told Parker that instead of CID being folded into NCIS, it'd be NCIS getting the axe.) 

The team is dumbfounded by the news, with Jimmy wondering, "What's it going to cost this country if we're gone?" But Vance declares he's not going down without a fight: "This is still my agency. I'm not gonna let it end this way."

Now fans don't really need to worry, of course: No matter what happens to the team in Episode 500, "NCIS" will continue on, with seven more episodes left in Season 23, wrapping up with a May 12 season finale. CBS also renewed "NCIS" for Season 24 in January.

Still, the 500th episode is billed in the teaser as "a can't-miss event that changes everything," and showrunner Steven D. Binder confirms to TVLine that they're swinging for the fences with this one: "We're going big. We're gonna have some really great twists and turns." He adds that the episode will "change everything about this show in some degree" and will contain "a lot of fun Easter eggs" for longtime "NCIS" fans.

The official logline for the episode reads: "When the son of a Marine that Gibbs once helped comes to NCIS in desperation, the fractured team reunites off the books. But chasing justice without a badge may cost them more than their careers."

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