NCIS Fans Say No to Unbearable Awkwardness of Ellie Bishop's 'Badass' Persona
After years as the nerdy but sexy analyst in NCIS, Ellie Bishop went all badass just before leaving the show – and fans struggled to get onboard with the idea.
Of course, it stands to reason there are going to be a few episodes or storylines in any long-running series that fail to land with the fanbase. But this particular character transformation was maybe just a bit too confusing.
It wasn't that Ellie had never been out in the field. Nor was she new to carrying a firearm.
It was just that the whole maverick "cover me" followed by the heroic shoot-slide-shoot in the warehouse, taking down martial artists and punching criminals in airports had never really been her thing.
Perhaps if she'd been backed into a corner and had to act at some point, it would have made a bit more sense. If she'd been surprised by her own actions and discovered a new Ellie, we might have seen some sense to it.
Because she just kind of started being intimidating and throwing her weight around out of nowhere. Take that warehouse scene for example.
Had she been backed into a corner, it would have been perfectly believable for her fight-or-flight sense to kick in.
But she made that decision to expose herself to the gunfire of her own volition. And she knew at the time that backup was on its way.
Which makes it the action of a badass nonconformist who plays by their own rules. And that's just not Ellie Bishop. Or at least, it hadn't been since way back when she was introduced as a "reclusive data nerd".
Quite why the showrunners made this decision is not clear. It could be that actor Emily Wickersham simply wanted a bit of action before leaving the show.
After all, although it wasn't broadcast at the time, she left to have a baby. So, there is always the potential for a return.
Now, if Ellie were to come back to the tea, because of some sort of complication in the op she left it for, this character arc might slide into the distance.
Ellie could easily return and continue in the same vein, gradually erasing our perception of her as 'just an analyst'.
However, there is also the risk that, were this to happen, fans would still view it as Wickersham simply playing two very different characters who happen to have the same name.
As it stands, no plans have been announced for a return to the show. So, for the time being, this Ellie Bishop character arc remains slightly confusing and broadly unpopular with fans.