“I was shocked”: NCIS star Roma Maffia shares her thoughts on her surprising return for the crossover event

The latest NCIS crossover episode will be counted among the best crossover events due to how the show solved a case that was first introduced 30 years ago in NCIS: Origins, Season 2, Episode 5, and concluded in NCIS, Season 23, Episode 5.

With a crossover event, the show also surprised viewers by bringing back fan-favorite character Vera Strickland to the screen in the crossover event to solve a reopened 30-year-old murder case. It wasn't just the viewers who were surprised. Actress Roma Maffia, who introduced Vera Strickland to the NCIS Universe, was also surprised, and while talking to TV Fanatic, she shared:

"I was shocked, and then I thought, what a compliment. How great is that?"

More on this in our story.

NCIS crossover episode: Roma Maffia shares her thoughts on returning as Vera Strickland

In Episode 3 of NCIS Season 11, Maffia first appeared as Vera Strickland and joined the team to solve a case. With her no-nonsense persona, Vera became a fan favorite character. Therefore, viewers were happy to see one of the beloved characters back for a crossover episode that connected the younger Vera and the older Vera's story perfectly.

In the crossover episode, Vera, played by Maffia, joins the team for their search for Tommy Mulligan, who confessed to killing Louis Burke in the 90s, but in reality was just taking the fall for Lainey, who killed Burke to take revenge on him for killing James Wallace's grandfather. However, in the latest episode of NCIS, Vera shared that Mulligan was innocent, which they knew back in the day as well, and later began their search for the man.

Maffia was surprised and also confused about how she would be returning to the beloved Universe. To add to her previous comment, she said:

"I got so confused. I was like, ‘Oh, is she younger in the past? Is she younger in the future?’ I couldn’t tell which way we were going."

Maffia further praised the spinoff series for bringing her character as a young Vera and also revealed it didn't take much time for her to decide to return to the role when she was asked and shared:

"They wrote it so beautifully and so completely with Vera in mind that it was easy. It felt seamless."

Furthermore, Maffia's return was not done for shock value, as the episode connected and added depth to her character further. After tracking down Mulligan and finding out he took the fall to protect his son, they rushed to James Wallace's campaign event, where Jason, Mulligan's son, was ready to take a shot and kill James, who is revealed to be the real killer of his own grandfather and not Burke.

It was Vera who convinced Jason to put the gun down after she told him about his father going to prison to protect him. With new DNA evidence, James is then arrested, and Mulligan is let go.

At the end, Vera thanked the team for letting her join them and solve the murder case. In the interview, when she was asked about returning, Maffia shared that she is open to challenging roles and quipped:

"Everything on me is crossed. So I say yes."

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Also Read: NCIS: Sydney Season 3 Episode 5 recap- A deadly spy case, Blue's comeback and Mackey's risky secret

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