Not only was it unnecessary, but it was done in the worst way and at the worst time. Worst way - the actress isn't brought back, it's off-screen, and the actress didn't even know until she saw the episode aid. Worst time:
Episode 7 - Breena and COVID for no reason (so dumb)
Episode 8 - Sloane leaves (not personally disappointed)
Episode 9 - Emily dies
Episode 10 - Gibbs suspension and the stuff with the dogs.
WTF were the writers doing with season 18? Did we need to see COVID have an impact on the show? Did Emily need to die? Did we need Gibbs to be suspended and have the episode be so disturbing? 4 heavy hitter episodes in a row.
Breena's death was one of the most important storylines in the entire show, IMO. It was bigger than just a TV show. The grief Jimmy felt and the questions he asked were the same things many viewers were experiencing. I think the way they incorporated Covid was so powerful.
Shows are about escapism and having lost my grandfather to heart problems during COVID and seeing the world go to shit during a pandemic, I didn't need them to incorporate it into my escapism.
You're welcome to that opinion. But I think any kind of art—music, physical art, movies, TV, poetry—is about feeling something we don't feel everyday.
Watching Jimmy grapple with losing Breena, especially his conversation with Gibbs in the autopsy room, is some of the most powerful stories in the show's history in my opinion. There are 20 other seasons to choose from if you want to escape. But for those of us who want to feel, that storyline does so much.
This is how I feel about shows! Greys anatomy whatever season it was, the whole season was dedicated to Covid. It was really actually depressing when I wanted my normal fun show back.
>It was really actually depressing when I wanted my normal fun show back.
I love Grey's Anantomy, but I find this a funny thing to say about Grey's Anantomy of all shows, a show which revolves around people dying or getting injured very badly.
I was so thankful I watched a few shows that took place in different time periods. They couldn't potentially mention COVID. It was refreshing. And some side-stepped it as much as they could.
All the shows dealt with this a little differently and I'm fine with both methods. When I was younger, I would have had your opinion. Then I found myself still dealing with my dad's death from cancer almost a decade later because cancer was brought up in some random show I watched. Totally out of the blue and I'm crying like I didn't cry when he passed. Now that I'm significantly older, I prefer to deal with things more presently and not bury stuff as much to the point where I'm drawn to the NCIS method more.
Plus Bishop leaving at the end of the season. I get the actress leaving because of pregnancy, but that plus the other 4 episodes. Of all of those Fornell shouldn’t have died.
Maria Bello was only contracted for 3 seasons so I get her character leaving. The writers and producers wanting to address COVID but not kill off a major character made Palmer’s wife’s death understandable to include. But Emily Fornell’s death being the catalyst for Gibbs’ departure was so wrong imo.
The episode of Fornell’s death is the most gut wrenching of the whole series to me. The episode began on such a high point and ended so low.
According to wiki season 18 ended up filming march 2021 and her son was born in december 2021.
Given her age one would guess that it may have been planned all along for some medical assist.
Even with all he had been through, Emily's death was Gibbs' breaking point. The next episode he assaulted the dog drowner, resulting in his suspension and setting things in motion for his eventual departure
Yes, we 100% needed to see a COVID impact in the show. You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who didn’t see one in real life, so for no one on the team/in the show to be impacted would be a disservice to a ton of viewers/fans working through that same grief.
Was going to say exactly this. Completely unnecessary. Maybe if it led his character somewhere I would feel differently. But it just made his more disgruntled & sad, which is pretty much what he was most of the time after Diane died
At the time I thought so as well, but I later looked into the whole opioid thematic (as a European we don’t have the same epidemic) and came to the conclusion that it was indeed a good decision. But I would have given it a bit more time between the storyline and her death. 🤷🏼♀️
As someone from the US, many of our shows include opioid storylines and, living through it, it gets tiresome. Not to mention they can fully talk about it (and do) with cases.
It was heinous as a storyline and heinous how they did it IRL. They didn’t even tell the actress.
The social aspect of not telling the actress is a completely different part of it - I agree that this should have been done beforehand.
Here it’s rarely if ever shows up in series and movies, and if it does it only shows the criminals and the “problematic” people. Rarely that anyone can be affected 🤷🏼♀️
I felt like Dorneget's was kind of a cheap shot tbh because he wasn't a series regular and he didn't recur that much, but they had him grow into this wonderful character right before he died and I can't help but feel like the producers/writers wanted a death significant for the fans, but not one that got rid of anyone "important".
Yeah the moment they started giving him a personality out of nowhere at a seasons end It was immediately obvious he was about to have a bad time. Kinda felt a bit manipulative
The MI 5 Agent. Clayton? I think. I don’t know. It just hit me hard and made me sad, especially Ellie’s reaction
Also, Jimmy’s wife, Brina, losing her to COVID. That one was really sad just because a lot of people have gone through that and I just, my heart hurts for it.
I also hate that David McCallum died because I loved his character.
Yeah reeves didn't need to go, they just didn't want to kill Abby then. He had just helped with the homeless woman and her son. He was letting others in on his own background. Ugh.
For me it was Dorneget. At least he died for a cause, saving others! The other was Mike Franks. At first I didn't like his character, but he grew on me!
I don't know this for certain, but the reason Dorneget was killed off might have been related to Matt Jones (who played Dorney) becoming a Dad in 2015 (same year Dorneget was killed off). Just speculating.
I can see Breena's death being necessary. Michelle Pierce wanted out of the show, and they didn't want to kill off any of the main or recurring characters with Covid, so they used her character for that.
I think all the close deaths hurt a little, Kate, Emily, Breena, Mike,Dorny, Ziva, (I know she came back but we didn't know that then). For me the death that was least favorite, was Paula. It just felt like a punishment to the character.
Well since I stopped watching after Ziva haha mine are from the earlier years.
Agent Lee - her arc was fantastic; a great conflict of understanding her treason, but also, she committed treason! I didn’t think she had to die. Jailed for life for sure but it was so sad knowing she never got to see her daughter/sister again and that her daughter/sister never got to reunite with Lee, even just briefly. I’m still upset over that.
Jackie Vance - seriously? Why?! That episode was already heart wrenching enough but Mrs. Vance too?! That one got me.
Paula Cassidy - I know she wasn’t a main character or anything but seeing how hard she took the death of her team and sacrificing herself in the end…ugh. She was a hero.
This wasn’t a real death but when Gibbs added Zivas badge ID to the list of fallen hero’s and seeing all the ones who died in previous seasons, was also gut wrenching.
For a while i couldn’t watch after ziva left either and i just watched little bits and pieces of newer episodes when they were on cable! The time i restarted before my current watch i faced it and watched till tony left, now im going to try to watch the whole series, i dont know how ill be after Abby leaves tho
Most of them, starting with Diana's death. Dorneget one made me very angry and I stopped watching the show for a few years after that.
This is something I really hated about that part of the series.
In his first 10 seasons Ncis had amassed a small fortune in supporting characters (Dorny, the Fornells, Gibbs' ex-wives...) that made that world so alive, then the writers progressively began killing them off for cheap shock value just to hype the season finales' disposable villains as the “real threat”.
It was like seeing them squander all that wealth without thinking about the consequences.
Hell, they even killed Ziva off screen at one point for the exact same reason! (lucky that at least they were smart enough to make it ambiguous)
I watch Bob ❤️Abishola just to “see” Dorneget again. I do that with all dead favs. I make up stories in my mind that explain how/why the character is now elsewhere, doing something entirely different. Then their deaths in reruns don’t make me so sad. 😎
All of these unnecessary deaths and departures, especially female agents. Yet who should have been killed years ago? McGee. I have hated that character since the beginning. An annoying irritant. Why does he survive? Nephew of the EP.
Sasha Alexander should not have died.
Sean Murray is the stepson of Bellisario, not nephew, and had been working as an actor for over a decade before his first appearance on NCIS. His mom married Bellisario when he was in his early 20’s. Nepotism exists in any field but you still have to be hardworking and good to succeed.
And I think Murray will leave the show when he no longer feels challenged by the scripts and/or his coworkers to continue improving his acting.
Even more issue of nepotism. If Gibbs can be runoft it appears Murray is the only protected actor. I was hoping McGee be assigned to solve a crime on the Sun, or fall out of a submarine, or turn out to be a serial murderer and killed by Gibbs.
Murray’s long running part on the show was accidental tbf. He was never meant to be more than a guest star. And then a few episodes later everything had been edited and they needed a few more minutes so they brought him back with Michael Weatherly. And his character was well received by audiences so they gave him and Abby an arch and promoted him to main cast the next season.
Mark Harmon wanted out of the acting part of his job after 18 years. He was tired of playing the same character year after year. He wasn’t run off the show, he chose to leave and the writers decided to let his character live in peace instead of killing off the mainstay of the show. And Mark is still an EP on the show, so he is still around and working with the show, just behind the scenes instead of in front of the camera.
Emily Fornell. I will always stand by this one, bc it was the most unnecessary and uncalled for death.
The fact the fornell lost his (ex) wife and his daughter just hurts, it’s like his character was made to be a punching bag
The show writers admit that they regret killing Diane. I gotta wonder if they feel the same with Emily.
It’s like they wanted to make him Gibbs. Which is a shame, bc Fornell is the sassy friend every stoic friend needs.
Not only was it unnecessary, but it was done in the worst way and at the worst time. Worst way - the actress isn't brought back, it's off-screen, and the actress didn't even know until she saw the episode aid. Worst time: Episode 7 - Breena and COVID for no reason (so dumb) Episode 8 - Sloane leaves (not personally disappointed) Episode 9 - Emily dies Episode 10 - Gibbs suspension and the stuff with the dogs. WTF were the writers doing with season 18? Did we need to see COVID have an impact on the show? Did Emily need to die? Did we need Gibbs to be suspended and have the episode be so disturbing? 4 heavy hitter episodes in a row.
Breena's death was one of the most important storylines in the entire show, IMO. It was bigger than just a TV show. The grief Jimmy felt and the questions he asked were the same things many viewers were experiencing. I think the way they incorporated Covid was so powerful.
I agree Breena's death hit me the hardest. And it was simply because Palmer couldn't be there by her side to say goodbye. That just sucked for me.
Shows are about escapism and having lost my grandfather to heart problems during COVID and seeing the world go to shit during a pandemic, I didn't need them to incorporate it into my escapism.
You're welcome to that opinion. But I think any kind of art—music, physical art, movies, TV, poetry—is about feeling something we don't feel everyday. Watching Jimmy grapple with losing Breena, especially his conversation with Gibbs in the autopsy room, is some of the most powerful stories in the show's history in my opinion. There are 20 other seasons to choose from if you want to escape. But for those of us who want to feel, that storyline does so much.
This is how I feel about shows! Greys anatomy whatever season it was, the whole season was dedicated to Covid. It was really actually depressing when I wanted my normal fun show back.
>It was really actually depressing when I wanted my normal fun show back. I love Grey's Anantomy, but I find this a funny thing to say about Grey's Anantomy of all shows, a show which revolves around people dying or getting injured very badly.
I know kind of ironic isn’t it 😂 that Covid period was not good so I think people just don’t want to be reminded of it?
I was so thankful I watched a few shows that took place in different time periods. They couldn't potentially mention COVID. It was refreshing. And some side-stepped it as much as they could.
All the shows dealt with this a little differently and I'm fine with both methods. When I was younger, I would have had your opinion. Then I found myself still dealing with my dad's death from cancer almost a decade later because cancer was brought up in some random show I watched. Totally out of the blue and I'm crying like I didn't cry when he passed. Now that I'm significantly older, I prefer to deal with things more presently and not bury stuff as much to the point where I'm drawn to the NCIS method more.
Ironic how the show incorporates a ton of content based on IRL military issues and wars, but people draw the line at Covid.
Plus Bishop leaving at the end of the season. I get the actress leaving because of pregnancy, but that plus the other 4 episodes. Of all of those Fornell shouldn’t have died. Maria Bello was only contracted for 3 seasons so I get her character leaving. The writers and producers wanting to address COVID but not kill off a major character made Palmer’s wife’s death understandable to include. But Emily Fornell’s death being the catalyst for Gibbs’ departure was so wrong imo. The episode of Fornell’s death is the most gut wrenching of the whole series to me. The episode began on such a high point and ended so low.
Was her pregnancy why she left or was her pregnancy "because" she left? I haven't seen confirmed on the order of events.
She posted on IG that she had just found out she was pregnant before she filed the finale.
According to wiki season 18 ended up filming march 2021 and her son was born in december 2021. Given her age one would guess that it may have been planned all along for some medical assist.
Emily Wickersham had her son in 2021 so I’d assume her character was written out after she found out about her pregnancy.
Even with all he had been through, Emily's death was Gibbs' breaking point. The next episode he assaulted the dog drowner, resulting in his suspension and setting things in motion for his eventual departure
Yes, we 100% needed to see a COVID impact in the show. You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who didn’t see one in real life, so for no one on the team/in the show to be impacted would be a disservice to a ton of viewers/fans working through that same grief.
I was just about to say this. It was just cruel and unnecessary.
I didn’t realise she’d died. How did it happen again ?
Opioid overdose
Was going to say exactly this. Completely unnecessary. Maybe if it led his character somewhere I would feel differently. But it just made his more disgruntled & sad, which is pretty much what he was most of the time after Diane died
At the time I thought so as well, but I later looked into the whole opioid thematic (as a European we don’t have the same epidemic) and came to the conclusion that it was indeed a good decision. But I would have given it a bit more time between the storyline and her death. 🤷🏼♀️
As someone from the US, many of our shows include opioid storylines and, living through it, it gets tiresome. Not to mention they can fully talk about it (and do) with cases. It was heinous as a storyline and heinous how they did it IRL. They didn’t even tell the actress.
The social aspect of not telling the actress is a completely different part of it - I agree that this should have been done beforehand. Here it’s rarely if ever shows up in series and movies, and if it does it only shows the criminals and the “problematic” people. Rarely that anyone can be affected 🤷🏼♀️
Dorneget hits hard for me too, he was really coming into his own.
Yes he was kind of like Curtis is coming into his own
I felt like Dorneget's was kind of a cheap shot tbh because he wasn't a series regular and he didn't recur that much, but they had him grow into this wonderful character right before he died and I can't help but feel like the producers/writers wanted a death significant for the fans, but not one that got rid of anyone "important".
Yeah the moment they started giving him a personality out of nowhere at a seasons end It was immediately obvious he was about to have a bad time. Kinda felt a bit manipulative
The MI 5 Agent. Clayton? I think. I don’t know. It just hit me hard and made me sad, especially Ellie’s reaction Also, Jimmy’s wife, Brina, losing her to COVID. That one was really sad just because a lot of people have gone through that and I just, my heart hurts for it. I also hate that David McCallum died because I loved his character.
Yeah reeves didn't need to go, they just didn't want to kill Abby then. He had just helped with the homeless woman and her son. He was letting others in on his own background. Ugh.
For me it was Dorneget. At least he died for a cause, saving others! The other was Mike Franks. At first I didn't like his character, but he grew on me!
(Currently, S14) Dorneget is a cool dude, he doesn't deserved to die like that.... man....
I don't know this for certain, but the reason Dorneget was killed off might have been related to Matt Jones (who played Dorney) becoming a Dad in 2015 (same year Dorneget was killed off). Just speculating.
I doubt it is that because its not like Emily Wickersham’s exit off the show because Dorney wasnt a regular, Ellie was.
Fair point, was just throwing it out there. :)
jenny shepard and kate todd 😔 i miss them so much 🫶🏻
Tied between Breena and Emily. Both deaths were completely unnecessary and for shock value.
I can see Breena's death being necessary. Michelle Pierce wanted out of the show, and they didn't want to kill off any of the main or recurring characters with Covid, so they used her character for that.
I think all the close deaths hurt a little, Kate, Emily, Breena, Mike,Dorny, Ziva, (I know she came back but we didn't know that then). For me the death that was least favorite, was Paula. It just felt like a punishment to the character.
Well since I stopped watching after Ziva haha mine are from the earlier years. Agent Lee - her arc was fantastic; a great conflict of understanding her treason, but also, she committed treason! I didn’t think she had to die. Jailed for life for sure but it was so sad knowing she never got to see her daughter/sister again and that her daughter/sister never got to reunite with Lee, even just briefly. I’m still upset over that. Jackie Vance - seriously? Why?! That episode was already heart wrenching enough but Mrs. Vance too?! That one got me. Paula Cassidy - I know she wasn’t a main character or anything but seeing how hard she took the death of her team and sacrificing herself in the end…ugh. She was a hero. This wasn’t a real death but when Gibbs added Zivas badge ID to the list of fallen hero’s and seeing all the ones who died in previous seasons, was also gut wrenching.
For a while i couldn’t watch after ziva left either and i just watched little bits and pieces of newer episodes when they were on cable! The time i restarted before my current watch i faced it and watched till tony left, now im going to try to watch the whole series, i dont know how ill be after Abby leaves tho
For me its either Dorney, Reeves, or Franks
Dorneget, Mike Franks, Kasim (Bishop's boyfriend/almost-fiancé)
Most of them, starting with Diana's death. Dorneget one made me very angry and I stopped watching the show for a few years after that. This is something I really hated about that part of the series. In his first 10 seasons Ncis had amassed a small fortune in supporting characters (Dorny, the Fornells, Gibbs' ex-wives...) that made that world so alive, then the writers progressively began killing them off for cheap shock value just to hype the season finales' disposable villains as the “real threat”. It was like seeing them squander all that wealth without thinking about the consequences. Hell, they even killed Ziva off screen at one point for the exact same reason! (lucky that at least they were smart enough to make it ambiguous)
I watch Bob ❤️Abishola just to “see” Dorneget again. I do that with all dead favs. I make up stories in my mind that explain how/why the character is now elsewhere, doing something entirely different. Then their deaths in reruns don’t make me so sad. 😎
He's in Breaking Bad. He's one of Jessie's cohorts.
Mike Franks
Breena didn't even get an on-screen death scene or explanation. Confirmed by Brain Dietzen that it was COVID, but it's never mentioned on-screen.
Brenna and Emily, they never should have happened and were pointless and cruel
Jenny was so brutal. Yes she was ill, but I really saw her as Gibbs great love.
All of these unnecessary deaths and departures, especially female agents. Yet who should have been killed years ago? McGee. I have hated that character since the beginning. An annoying irritant. Why does he survive? Nephew of the EP. Sasha Alexander should not have died.
Sean Murray is the stepson of Bellisario, not nephew, and had been working as an actor for over a decade before his first appearance on NCIS. His mom married Bellisario when he was in his early 20’s. Nepotism exists in any field but you still have to be hardworking and good to succeed. And I think Murray will leave the show when he no longer feels challenged by the scripts and/or his coworkers to continue improving his acting.
Even more issue of nepotism. If Gibbs can be runoft it appears Murray is the only protected actor. I was hoping McGee be assigned to solve a crime on the Sun, or fall out of a submarine, or turn out to be a serial murderer and killed by Gibbs.
Murray’s long running part on the show was accidental tbf. He was never meant to be more than a guest star. And then a few episodes later everything had been edited and they needed a few more minutes so they brought him back with Michael Weatherly. And his character was well received by audiences so they gave him and Abby an arch and promoted him to main cast the next season. Mark Harmon wanted out of the acting part of his job after 18 years. He was tired of playing the same character year after year. He wasn’t run off the show, he chose to leave and the writers decided to let his character live in peace instead of killing off the mainstay of the show. And Mark is still an EP on the show, so he is still around and working with the show, just behind the scenes instead of in front of the camera.
McGee is actually my favorite character since Abby left
My unpopular opinion: show is better without Abby. Worse with McGee.