Tobias Fornell has been a part of the NCIS cast for years. During the conclusion of Season 16, Fornell’s daughter was featured on NCIS again, forcing his friend, NCIS Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, to spring into action.
The season finale was called Daughters and it had some important undertones that also included the return of Cote de Pablo as Ziva David. The crux of the episode, though, delt with Fornell’s daughter suffering an overdose.
Emily Fornell is the daughter of former FBI agent Tobias Fornell and Diane Sterling. Diane had been married to Gibbs, but that relationship ended up not working. She wound up with Tobias, which created a lot of funny and interesting moments on the show over the years.
Diane would later die on the show, but Gibbs always kept a special place for Emily in his heart. He basically has served as a second father or uncle to her and it didn’t take much for Tobias to get his help with her.
So. Many. Feels. #NCIS @julietteangelo pic.twitter.com/qOd6J618Kk
— NCIS (@NCIS_CBS) May 11, 2016
What happened to Fornell’s daughter on NCIS?
Emily Fornell suffered an opioid overdose and there were moments during the NCIS Season 16 finale where it seemed like she wouldn’t survive. It made the case very personal for Gibbs, who had already been struggling to deal with some events in his life. That stress may have been what caused him to start having visions of Diane.
Emily survived Season 16 of NCIS and Fornell’s daughter could certainly return for future episodes of the show. If there is ever a series finale of the show, this is one character that fans should expect to at least make another cameo appearance.
Actress Payton Spencer played the younger version of Emily Fornell, but the role now belongs to Juliette Angelo. As for Tobias, he has been played by Joe Spano for years. There were hints during the new episode of NCIS that future plot points could bring Emily and Tobias back. Stay tuned.
NCIS airs Tuesday nights at 8/7c on CBS.
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