‘NCIS’ says goodbye to Maria Bello

NCIS said goodbye to Maria Bello (Jack Sloane). His last episode was full of suspense until the very end. This is how Jack did it NCIS exit.

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Episode 8 of NCIS Season 18.

Four girls are kidnapped in Afghanistan

NCIS Season 18, Episode 8 (titled “True Believer”) opens with two men driving on a road in Afghanistan. They stop when they see a school bus in the wrong direction. They get out of their car to investigate, and they see that the bus driver has been killed and that there are girls’ shoes and books left on the seats of the bus. One of the men looks up to see “Sloane NCIS” scrawled in one of the dusty windows of the bus.

Gibbs visits Sloane’s office and sees her working after hours. He sees that Sloane is still considering leaving NCIS when he picks up one of his Costa Rica travel books. Sloane tells Gibbs that she’s serious about moving on. “I’m serious,” Sloane says. “I am ready for the sun and the sand and I am not facing a new murder every day.” Sloane reveals that she is making an offer on a location near the beach in Costa Rica.

The NCIS team is on the case

Suddenly, Director Vance comes to Sloane’s office and tells him that she needs MTAC. Gibbs is invited to come too. Upon arrival, it is revealed that a school bus carrying four 10-year-old girls and their attendant was hijacked and the driver was shot and killed. They assume the girls were kidnapped by the Taliban. According to them, they wanted to prevent the girls from going to school.

Sloane is informed that Darya, a woman who was detained with her in Afghanistan years ago, is likely the person who left her the note on the bus window. Darya is the head of an organization called Safe Passage, which provides food and shelter for young girls. However, Darya also tried to help girls learn math and English.

Vance got permission from Sloane and Gibbs so they could help save Darya and the girls. Darya means a lot to Sloane because she brought him food and water when she was imprisoned. She also dressed her wounds after being tortured by her captor.

Gibbs and Sloane say goodbye

One thing the team is trying to figure out is who leaked the girls’ bus route to the Taliban. Later in the episode, Gibbs and Sloane are alerted to a commotion outside. When Sloane turns around, she sees it’s Darya. His body was thrown from a truck. She had a note attached to her that said, “Go home or there will be more blood.”

Sloane is shaken by Darya’s death. She then tells Gibbs that this is exactly why she wants to leave NCIS. She can’t stand such situations anymore and she has been insulted that Gibbs thinks Darya could have been in the plan to kidnap the girls.

“That’s why I want to go out,” Sloane says. “We hunt the bad guys. We put them aside. And nothing ever changes except us. Darya risked her life to help me, and we’re all so twisted that we couldn’t see this foundational act of humanity for what it was.

Gibbs and Sloane later find out that Darya’s partner at Safe Passage leaked the bus details to the Taliban. He was responsible for the kidnappings of the girls.

Now that the matter has been resolved and the girls have returned home safe and sound, Sloane decides what to do. Instead of moving to Costa Rica, Sloane decides to stay in Afghanistan and take Darya’s place at Safe Passage. She says she’ll say goodbye to the NCIS team when they’re ready. She then begins to tell Gibbs that he can visit her. Before she can finish her sentence, Gibbs and Sloane kiss.

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