The 8 most shocking “NCIS” deaths and departures

Brianna ZiglerWed, October 28, 2026 at 10:00 PM UTC

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Sasha Alexander on ‘NCIS’; Mark Harmon on ‘NCIS’; Cote de Pablo on ‘NCIS: Tony & Ziva’Credit: Mitch Haddad/CBS/Paramount; Cliff Lipson/CBS; Marcell Piti/Paramount+

NCIS is old enough to be a member of Gen Z, so unsurprisingly, not every original cast member is still on the show.

The long-running military police procedural — which originated as a JAG spinoff —  has said goodbye to a number of characters over the years, but some exits have been more dramatic than others. Since 2003, the show has centered on the agents who investigate crimes involving government officials and military personnel. It recently kicked off its 24th season and has spawned a number of spinoffs, like NCIS: Los Angeles and the currently-airing NCIS: Origins.

There are some losses that we just can’t get over, like Caitlin Todd’s shocking demise in season 2 and long-hauler Mark Harmon’s exit in season 19 (at least, before his much-hyped return in Origins season 3). Between character deaths and standard cast departures, NCIS has learned to keep fans on their toes.

Keep reading for Entertainment Weekly’s list of the eight most impactful character exits that NCIS has ever seen — regardless of whether those characters ultimately ended up returning for a spinoff or two.

01 of 08

Sasha Alexander (Caitlin Todd)

Sasha Alexander on ‘NCIS’Credit: Mitch Haddad/CBS/Paramount

In the season 2 finale, Special Agent Caitlin “Kate” Todd was assassinated in what was, at the time, the series’ most shocking moment. After she and the team had cleared a warehouse housing a known terrorist cell, she was shot in the head by Ari Haswari (Rudolf Martin), the Mossad double agent who’d been taunting Gibbs (Harmon) since late season 1.

Actress Sasha Alexander reportedly departed voluntarily due to the grueling demands of making the show, per NCIS co-creator Donald P. Bellisario. “Sasha came in two days before I was to leave, and with tears in her eyes, she said, ‘I just can’t work this hard,’” he told The Chicago Tribune in 2005, adding that NCIS is “a hard show to make” with “very long hours.” While appearing on the rewatch podcast Off Duty in 2024, Alexander said, “I had done a few shows before NCIS, but none as challenging.”

Since leaving the procedural, she’s made a number of television appearances on shows such as Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Morning Show, and Law & Order. She also had recurring roles on The Lincoln Lawyer and Shameless, though her biggest post-NCIS project remains the TNT series Rizzoli & Isles, where she played the second half of the titular duo opposite Angie Harmon.

02 of 08

Lauren Holly (Jenny Shepard)

Lauren Holly on ‘NCIS’Credit: Gale M. Adler / CBS

NCIS director Jenny Shepard was killed off at the end of season 5, when a past case came back to haunt her. It culminated in a dramatic gunfight at an abandoned diner in California, with Jenny taking out a slew of assassins. However, she too was killed, and her death was made all the more emotional because of her history with Gibbs.

Actress Lauren Holly’s exit came after Bellisario was “forced out,” per her website. She also admitted that she’d become “bored” by her character. “Then the decision was made to kill me, and boy did they,” she penned, cheekily. “About five different ways!”

Holly has appeared in a number of projects since departing NCIS in 2008, such as The Blackcoat’s Daughter (2015) and Hot Frosty (2024). Elsewhere on television, she starred on the Canadian series Family Law and appeared in episodes of Designated Survivor, Lucifer, and Rookie Blue.

03 of 08

Cote de Pablo (Ziva David)

Cote de Pablo on ‘NCIS’Credit: CBS

The exit of Cote de Pablo’s Ziva David came as a big surprise to fans, since there was little indication she’d be going anywhere prior to her early season 11 departure. Initially, it was reported that de Pablo had chosen to leave for undisclosed reasons, though she later said at a Q&A in 2016 (via Vanity Fair) that she felt “that the character was not being treated with the respect that she deserved.” In-universe, Ziva opted to stay in Israel after facing a crisis of confidence following the death of her father. She was then “killed” off screen in season 13, only to make a surprise reappearance — very much alive — three seasons later.

Following her resurrection, de Pablo went on to star in the Paramount+ spinoff NCIS: Tony & Ziva, alongside Michael Weatherly as Ziva’s longtime almost-lover Tony DiNozzo. Though well-received, it was unfortunately axed after only one season. Aside from that, she starred in the 2015 miniseries The Dovekeepers and the movies The Last Rites of Ransom Pride (2010) and The 33 (2015).

04 of 08

Michael Weatherly (Tony DiNozzo)

Michael Weatherly on ‘NCIS’Credit: Sonja Flemming/CBS

From the series’ very first episode, Michael Weatherly played Tony DiNozzo, the wisecracking senior agent on the Major Case Response Team. He stayed on for 13 seasons before leaving — the first original cast member since Alexander to do so. Following Ziva’s “death,” Tony learned they shared a daughter, and he decided to resign from NCIS to raise her. The real reason Weatherly departed, though, was to star in the new CBS legal drama Bull, which he did from 2016 until the show’s conclusion in 2022.

After Bull came to a close, Weatherly returned to the NCIS-verse via the rewatch podcast Off Duty, which he co-hosted with de Pablo, and the Tony & Ziva spinoff. These projects ultimately seemed to be just a warm-up: Following the cancellation of Tony & Ziva, Weatherly returned to NCIS full-time for season 24, with DiNozzo now serving as the new director.

In addition to his main stint on NCIS, he also appeared as DiNozzo on the spinoff shows NCIS: Los Angeles and NCIS: New Orleans.

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05 of 08

Pauley Perrette (Abby Sciuto)

Pauley Perrette on ‘NCIS’Credit: Cliff Lipson/CBS

Forensic scientist Abby Sciuto was a fan favorite on NCIS, and actress Pauley Perrette subsequently became the most popular actor on primetime television in 2011. Thus, fans were crestfallen when Perrette departed the show in season 15, her character opting to resign following the death of her good friend Clayton Reeves (Duane Henry). It was a very uncomplicated exit by NCIS’ usual standards.

However, behind the scenes, Perrette’s departure was a little more contentious. According to The Hollywood Reporter’s NCIS oral history, Perrette left in large part because she felt unsafe around Mark Harmon’s dog.

“The dog was Harmon’s, and apparently the dog bit someone,” explained executive producer Charles Floyd Johnson. “Pauley was a huge, huge SPCA [Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals] animal person. And then the dog kept coming with Harmon, and she felt it wasn’t safe for the show. By the end of that year, she just felt like it wasn’t working for her anymore, and it was time to move on.”

Perrette herself had addressed the situation on X in 2019. “NO I AM NOT COMING BACK! EVER! (Please stop asking?),” she wrote, seemingly not in response to anything in particular other than unspecified calls to return to the show from fans. “I am terrified of Harmon and him attacking me. I have nightmares about it. I have a new show that is SAFE AND HAPPY! You’ll love it!”

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The “new show” Perrette referenced at the time was the CBS sitcom Broke, though it was sadly canceled after one season, and she retired from acting shortly thereafter.

06 of 08

Emily Wickersham (Ellie Bishop)

Emily Wickersham on ‘NCIS’Credit: Cliff Lipson/CBS via Getty

Former NSA analyst-turned-NCIS special agent Eleanor “Ellie” Bishop resigned from her post in season 18 after admitting to leaking state secrets. However, this story was a cover so that Bishop could leave and become an undercover agent for a top-secret mission alongside Odette Malone (Elayn J. Taylor). Since leaving the show, actress Emily Wickersham appeared in a guest capacity during season 23, and is currently recurring on NCIS: Origins alongside Harmon.

As for why she left, Wickersham told the Off Duty podcast in 2024 that it was simply time for a new chapter in her career. “I was ready to leave the show. ... It was time and I was ready to move on,” she said. NCIS: Origins is Wickersham’s most recent project, but she also popped up on episodes of Bored to Death and Gossip Girl, and had a recurring role on The Sopranos during season 6.

07 of 08

Mark Harmon (Leroy Jethro Gibbs)

Mark Harmon on ‘NCIS’Credit: CBS

After anchoring NCIS as Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs for nearly 20 years (having been the series’ original protagonist), Mark Harmon took his bow the start of season 19. Still grappling with the deaths of his first wife and daughter, as well as all the years spent as an agent, Gibbs ended up finding peace while on assignment in Alaska, and decided to remain there indefinitely.

“What has always drawn me [to NCIS] is the character I play and to keep that fresh and to keep it challenging,” Harmon said of his decision to leave the show (via Entertainment Tonight). “Plot-wise, this character has taken the path that it did. I thought it was honest and okay.”

Though Harmon has not returned to the flagship since his 2021 departure, he has joined the main cast of NCIS: Origins (which explores his character’s backstory) for its current season. Though Origins is Harmon’s most recent gig, he also reprised his role as Ryan for the 2025 Freaky Friday sequel, Freakier Friday.

08 of 08

Rocky Carroll (Leon Vance)

Rocky Carroll on ‘NCIS: Los Angeles’Credit: CBS

It had been a while since NCIS had killed off a major character, so the show decided to keep fans on their toes by offing Leon Vance, played by Rocky Caroll since 2008. Director Vance died in action during season 23’s 13th episode — the series’ 500th overall — after being shot several times while not wearing a bulletproof vest.

But the decision to kill him off wasn’t Carroll’s. “This wasn’t one of those scenarios where I came to the network or I came to the producers and said, ‘Hey, it’s been a great run, but I think I want to move on,’” the actor told PEOPLE in March 2026.

In the end, Carroll is grateful for the time he got on the show. “I’ve been a series regular on NCIS for 18 seasons, and if this had happened in my third season as a cast member, I’d be devastated,” he elaborated, regarding the creative decision to kill off his character. “But 18 seasons, to me, that’s the equivalent of living to be 105. I said jokingly to my friends, ‘You go to a memorial service for somebody who lived to be 105, you’re kind of betwixt, in between, because you’re like, ‘Yeah, it’s sad that he’s gone, but geez, he lived to be 105!’”

Carroll’s most recent acting project, other than his final moments on NCIS, was appearing as Vance in a guest spot on NCIS: Hawai’i in 2022. However, he’s continued to direct episodes of the flagship.

on Entertainment Weekly

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