NCIS season 17 is arriving this fall, and it marks the third season of the show featuring Maria Bello's character, Jack Sloane. The actress has become the fixture of the show over the past years, especially in terms of performance, as well as total vibe and personality.
In her recent interview, Bello talked about the importance of her character being on "equal footing" with Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Sloane is not just an ordinary agent working at the office, she's working with Gibbs, but he can't order her around.
The presence of the character in the show brings something different because even though the two has the same goal, their process sometimes clashes, which leads to conflict. Despite that, their relationship has evolved ever since they started working together.
In her recent interview with Digital Spy and other news outlets, Bello shared why she decided to join the hit crime drama in the first place. She said that she likes her character being on "equal footing" with Gibbs; she's not working for him, and he's not working for her.
What she meant about being "equal footing" with Gibbs, Bello explained she wanted to portray a character who's also in the position of "power" and "respect" - just like Mark Harmon's character. The actress said the two were more like of a colleague and that they respect each other a lot.
Bello also teased that fans will see the relationship of Sloane and Gibbs deepens and they will become better friends in the next few seasons. What's noticeable here is that she mentioned "next few seasons," meaning fans will be seeing more of the show after NCIS season 17 concluded.
Also, Bello's words likely hint she'll be sticking around following the current length of her contract. There were previous speculations the actress is allegedly planning to leave the show at the end of NCIS season 17, but there's no proof to that claim. Moreover, other reports claim some random NCIS cast member will be leaving the show, yet there's no actual evidence.
Meanwhile, NCIS season 17 will reportedly follow the happenings in season 16, which revealed that Ziva (Cote de Pablo) is still alive. The arrival of the character was kept as a secret, and in fact, the show made a different ending filmed by a skeleton crew. But there's no secret now, as the actress is reportedly coming back on the first episode of the new season.
