NCIS: How Did Pauley Perrette’s Abby Exit Series? Plus, Co-Star Describes Heroic Death as ‘A Dream Come True’
The following contains major spoilers from this Tuesday’s episode of CBS‘ NCIS.
This week on NCIS, with the antepenultimate episode of Season 15, the CBS drama said a bittersweet farewell to original cast member Pauley Perrette, who since Day 1 has played forensics whiz Abby Sciuto.
Setting the stage for Abby’s send-off was a seemingly random street mugging at the close of the May 1 episode, in which the assailant, we learned, put multiple bullets into MI6 agent Clayton Reeves and critically wounding Abby in the process. Reeves’ injuries were immediately fatal, while a hospitalized Abby clung to life for a chunk of the episode, as the team juggled sitting bedside and tracking down the shooter. But as a most fitting testament to all she deduced over the years, Abby would regain consciousness and weeks later proceed to help close the case on her own shooting, which tied back to a Season 6 case.
“For Abby’s farewell, it was not only important that we pay tribute to this wonderful character, but that we give her a very special departure,” co-showrunners Frank Cardea and George Schenck had told TVLine. “Not only are there heartfelt and nostalgic moments, we have a very special reveal for the fans” — in the form of our first-ever look at her majestic, legit-closeted apartment (and infamous coffin)!
At episode’s end, having learned that Reeves’ died a hero in the course of protecting her, Abby committed herself to following in his footsteps by shepherding a charity for homeless women. She accompanied Reeves’ body back to his London home before embarking on this new chapter in her life — though after heartfelt good-byes to everyone on the team, including a handwritten note, followed by an ASL farewell, to Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs.
Grade the episode below, then read our Q&A with Duane Henry, who joined NCIS as Clayton Reeves at the end of Season 13.
TVLINE | When did you learn of Clayton’s fate?
DUANE HENRY| Well, it’s, it’s sort of a weird one, you know what I mean? I love the show and I love being a part of it — it was a life changer, a game changer for me, and something I’ll take with me forever and ever. But I have idle thumbs, and toward the end of last year I looked around a lot and started questioning things…. My brain starts to go to other places.
Obviously there are a lot of characters in a lot of the stories [so] you have to have a lot of patience with this type of gig, and I felt like I wanted to be doing way more. I want to be out there hitting it, like every young actor does. I guess the universe sort of got wind of that.
So toward the start of the year… I sat down with the producers, and we were just talking about the character. [Former showrunner] Gary [Glasberg] was obviously “my guy” — from my first audition, he and [director] Jimmy Whitmore did that point-and-click and “You’re going to be a star, kid.” Clayton was Gary’s brainchild, he created this character. So when Gary passed [at the start of Season 14], I was feeling a bit of panic in people’s faces. I could tell that they were not really sure [what the future held]. I kind of got my bearings together and thought, “What’s going to happen now with the character?” I live in a world called You Never Know, so I’m always prepared for everything.
I lost a girlfriend who I was with over 10 years, and they let me fly home for a few days to bury her and whatever else…. I’ll have an emotional attachment to this show forever and ever and ever, so it’s always going to be a win-win situation, always.
TVLINE | Were you glad to see Clayton go out the way he did?
Oh, my gosh, are you crazy? This is TV history at its finest. I have had the best exit, I think, for a show in America for somebody who’s not from here. You can’t ask for a better exit. Like, come on, man. And obviously Pauley Perrette, she’s my angel, you know. I was homeless, and she took me in before I found anywhere to live. She got wind I was “couch surfing” so she’s the one who reached out, took me in and put me in one of her houses. So to be wrapping up with her was incredible, a dream come true for anyone.
TVLINE | Did you have a favorite dynamic to play between Clayton and any of the other characters?
Can I say two? Because obviously there’s my relationship with Emily [Wickersham]’s character, Bishop, we developed a really cool friendship. There was a real bond behind it. And obviously when Torres came along, he had his macho, egotistic thing, but he was always friendly. There was always that fine line where we’d have a joke and laugh but know that we’ve got each other’s back. I’m a rogue with a tie on and he’s a rogue with boots on, so we found common ground and we rolled with it.
Wilmer’s just a legend anyway. A superstar, man. He took me under his wing, showed me and told me a lot about living in L.A., Hollywood. He’s been in the game for 20 years or something, so I learned a lot from him. He took me, my mom and my sisters to his house for Christmas one day with his family — our moms share the same birthday – so we got a dope-fast bond, man, and I’m so grateful to be a part of his life forever. He’s just given me the tools to go forward and to start making some noise out there!
Want more scoop on NCIS, or for any other show? Email [email protected] and your question may be answered via Matt’s Inside Line.
Killing off Clayton Reeves while obvious it was going to happen in the last 20 minutes of last week’s episode still seemed unnecessary.
I agree. I really liked Reeves.
I agree as well. I didn’t see the necessity of eliminating Reeves’ character to send off Abby Sciuto…didn’t like this decision at all!!!
Ps…I hate to bring this up, however, I’m going to…I also didn’t like that the show’s only second African-American starring character in 15 seasons was eliminated. I really liked Reeves’ character and was hoping to see more of his back story develop…really disappointing.
African-American? He’s British, both the character and the actor.
…my bad…not African-American…but person of color…I stand by my comment…
Disagree. His presence there always struck an off note. Why would they have a Brit on permanent assignment particularly since it’s Navy not FBI or CIA?
Would Wilmer count as a person of color?
Milo, what about Ziva? She stuck around a while as a Mossad liaison.
@Milo: Storywise, Reeves was brought into the NCIS team in a similar way to Ziva — as a liaision/exchange with another country’s agency, made possible in part because both were misfits within their own agencies and Gibbs likes to adopt misfits into the team.
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I think that a large part of the problem that the show had in writing for Reeves is that they forgot to promote him to being a full member of the team, with a desk in Gibbs’s aisle. By contrast, Ziva took Kate’s desk almost immediately (as did Bishop after her) and even Quinn got her own little cubby-hole behind Torres’s DiNozzo Memorial Desk. While they brought in Reeves shortly before DiNozzo left, introducing two additional characters (Torres and Qunn) at the top of the next season didn’t really help. Torres rightly got the majority of the character development because he clicked most quickly, leaving Quinn and Reeves to ompete for story time that would have been better spent on developing one character or the other. And then, when Jennifer Esposito wisely left the show — I liked Quinn, but I think Esposito rightly sensed that they had one too many characters on the team and decided to bow out when she realized that she wasn’t 100% committed to that little an amount of screen time — they forgot to devote more time to elevating Reeves to being a full member of the team. I think that this was in large part because Torres so clicked that it allowed the writers to almost unconsciously fall back into the four-person lead team that they’d had between McGee joining the squad and DiNozzo’s departure from it. It’s quite possible that with Maria Bello now on the show as Jack, they don’t need to replace Reeves because they already have her, but I’m not 100% convinced that they’ve really made much more space for Jack as they did for Reeves. As it is, I hope that the only addition they make to the team is, say, bringing in Ducky’s editorial assistant, Casey, as their new Whatever Abby Does, seeing as how she idolized Abby, is clearly qualified to run her lab, is high-strung-lovable in her own way, and does not otherwise copy Abby in any way other than profession.
The Director of NCIS is African American and he’s been the longest serving Director
How do you know it wasn’t the actor that’s wanted to be killed off. Kate did
Read Q&A later/tomorrow.
Even if it turns out to be the actor’s choice, killing him was, just wrong. Let him get hurt, and decide to leave to finally do something else. We’ve never seen an NCIS agent get hurt and have to leave due to a disability, why not that? But kill him in order to inspire Abby? It just doesn’t feel right.
he wasn’t an NCIS agent….He was MI6 and to be honest what’s the point of him leaving that way…gives no real story or motive for Abby to leave in the end. Or even adding to the cast emotions. I am so tired of you guys whining when someone gets killed off a cop show….I don’t see you crying about the cops and federal agents who get killed in real life.
I saw this coming, and I thought it was going to be to help struggling Navy/military families reclaim their lives. That would have made sense, and a great way to use her tech skills to the umpth degree, fitting the series’ focus. They needed to hire me for the writing (or some other fan who has paid attention to the series for the past 14 years.) For the record: not happy about killing off Reeves.
Abby could choose to do anything. She didn’t need someone to die to make that decision.The shooting itself could have been an inciting incident without a death. Clayton was more than an agent to them, he was family. Even if he was permanently injured, he could have chosen a pension through MI6.
“.I don’t see you crying about the cops and federal agents who get killed in real life.” – oh good grief that is the most idiotic thing I’ve seen in ages.
It seems to me that it was the actor’s choice because he saw that they didn’t know what to do with the character, which is a shame–I liked Reeves more than “Jack” and Torres.
Like others, I’m disappointed that Abby and Gibbs had no real goodbye, thanks to whatever happened between the actors…The Good Wife nonsense all over again. I won ‘t stop watching the show, but I know I won’t be enjoying it as much.
@suzi, yeah, I’m most saddened that the show’s been “Good Wifed,” and I never thought there would be an issue between Mark and Pauley that couldn’t somehow be resolved (at least in the short-term for the sake of filming a few scenes). The lengths to which the characters were separated—she was on a ventilator, he wasn’t in the lab with the others for her good-bye, she wrote him a note, she stood across the street from his house? Ir became exceedingly ridiculous because it was very obvious what was being done. The ASL good-bye was sweet, but it merely tried to hide what many viewers were seeing. By the way, someone on another board noticed that there was a barking dog when Gibbs opened the door to get the note. I replayed the episode, and you definitely hear a dog barking. Seems like a wink and a nod to viewers from someone in post-production.
@Ansrea: If I recall from past discussions, there’s always a dog barking in the background. People have commented on it. So I don’t think there was anything to that.
NCIS will never be the same without Abby
I agree whole-heartedly……….should have been handled better, I think.
Hopefully it will explain why the actors couldn’t be adult enough to give their fans ONE scene together. Will miss Abby, but interested to see what happens now.
Agreed. Should have kept him and got rid of Bishop.
why do you always come on here and be nasty about the bishop character…it’s getting old and ridiculous. I mean seriously get over your attitude about her and being nasty about it.
Bless you.
Some people can’t help but be a pain in the ass.
I agree…..
Naw Bishop my baby. Leave her alone
I think it was necessary. Abby would never leave NCIS unless something like this happened. I loved Reeves, but creatively, I think it will push the story forward. If it was a death used simply for shock value, that would be a different story.
I think there are so many new people on screen. I think the MI6 aspect was great. To many people to make tight group like the core of Gibbs team. Tony, Kate/Todd, Probe and Ducky unforgettable Abby. I wish she and McGee got together she could’ve left b/c co-workers and taught. This season just didn’t have the tight group dynamics of past seasons.
I forgot Ziva i put Kate And her last name.
What a shame, I really liked him, actually one of the better additions to the cast over the years.
but do people have to die in these dramas? I also really see no need.
A bit disappointed. Interesting no real interaction between she and Harmon. At least they did not kill her.
It’s awful they couldn’t put the schism behind them to give the fans one last moment together. As an executive producer and the leader of the cast, you’d hope that Harmon tried make accommodations to try to get what the fans wanted to see despite the obvious breakdown.
I’d rather read an interview about that, frankly, than one about the death of the series’ 10th lead
If they didn’t do it on Good Wife, they’d never do it here.
The Abby-Gibbs friendship lasted twice as long as the one in The Good Wife
The point is, if those actors aren’t going to do it, these actors won’t either.
I am a Harmon fan from way back, but he is star and executive producer, and the shameful result of no scenes together her entire final season has to rest with him. His job to fix it, whatever their problem was. Very disappointing. Toss up if I watch next year– maybe for Ducky, but he isn’t around much.
Bingo.
Have you ever thought that maybe he tried but Pauley wasn’t as accomodating? Just because he’s got the EP title & is the lead doesn’t mean it’s his sole responsibility to sort stuff like this out. It takes two to tango. We won’t know for sure what happened and whether anything has been done to try to fix it.
Yes I know Ducky is off ‘writing a book’ but why is he on air less and less?
David McCallum is going to be 85 in September. I am guessing that concessions are being made to allow for his age. I would rather see less of Ducky than none of him at all.
Amen to that brother. Poor decision on Harmon’s part!! I’m done.
Why no scenes together between Abbey and Gibbs?? Is it because of Mark Harmon’s dog biting a crew member?? Thoughts??
I think it’s selfishly inconsiderate of Harmon to continue bringing his dog to the set when the dog already bit a crew member. That makes me think less of him. Pauley refused to be on set when the dog was there, but the dog is always there when Harmon is.
As far as I’m aware, he doesn’t bring his dog around much anymore and it was Pauley who refused to work with him. What was Harmon to do? Take a gun and force her to film a scene with him? Also, did you notice how cold Abby was in every single regard to Gibbs in her final episode? The voice over was so cold and the lack of Emotion was there, too. So why are you blaming Harmon when Pauley was simply not professional enough?
Bringing a dog that is a known to biter to a workplace continually isn’t just selfishly inconsiderate, it’s also dangerously irresponsible. If it was just one occasion I’m sure that it wouldn’t have been that big of a deal, but it clearly wasn’t just a one-time thing. Yes, something on set may have scared the dog on those occasions, which means that you keep it at home or doggie day care. He was bringing an ill-trained and poorly socialized dog on set,which was dangerous for everyone.
It seemed like a clear easter egg to her departure that the sound of dogs barking was playing over Gibbs picking up her note.
Sad that Reeves has gone though, he added a different dynamic to the cast. I’ve never liked Torres, he’s just a bad DiNozzo copy. I know that I will spark a war with this, but I much prefer Bishop to Ziva, who I always hated as a character.
I will agree with you on the Bishop/Ziva thing. I really like Bishop and I never liked Ziva. I have also never liked Torres but thought Reeves was great. I thought when Tony left that Reeves was going to replace him but they never really developed his character.
I’m split here. Never liked Ziva, love Bishop and really like Torres. Don’t care for Jack who gives off a Sharon Stone/Faye Dunaway vibe [can’t stand them]. Truth to tell, I found Abby’s quirkiness a bit cliche’, as is Garcia’s on Criminal minds. Middle aged adolescents are tedious.
When Jack was introduced my first thought was I didn’t like your character when it was introduced in S9 and played by Jamie Lee Curtis with almost exactly the same interplay with both Gibbs and Abby. She’s gradually become less annoying but I really hate the focus on psychology in so many shows.
I was disappointed in that as well but I think I would rather they had written in her death than have her leave her beloved life of science for charity work. It made no sense. Abby was involved with giving of herself to causes outside the lab throughout the seasons. I don’t feel like her leaving her family and her life’s work was true to character. I feel the same way about the lack of a proper farewell with Gibbs. Not true to the characters or the seasons of episodes we have watched that highlighted their father/daughter bond.
From what I’ve heard it was PP putting them in an untenable position and they did the best they could under the circumstances.
If they had killed Abby off, the show would be dead in about two years. Abby fans would never forgive the show and they’d have created a controversy regarding the high death rate of female leads on the show — every female lead on the show (ie: every woman in the opening credits) was killed off before Quinn and Quinn wasn’t on the show long enough to make much of an impression. Quinn would have been an asterisk that proved the rule of NCIS having a subtle misogynistic streak. As it is, they should still be wary of killing off Bishop (thus creating the Kate Curse, whoever sits at Kate’s desk dies) or Jack as either would further the trend of most female leads on the show being killed off.
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Also, I don’t think that it would be out of character for Abby to decide that she owed a blood debt to Reeves for giving his life for her. She’s a very passionate character and personal honor and integrity mean a lot more to her than her “Happy Goth” persona might otherwise imply. On the other hand, I don’t think that the writers properly built any growing interest in charity work into Abby’s character over the year since Perrette’s department, so I can see how the episode might have been either anticlimactic or left-field for some Abby fans.
I knew it would be Reeves that died and not Abby. There was no way they would ever kill her. Not if they didn’t want people to rage quit the show.
I’ve always felt that Abby was the “heart” of the team. To me, there are too many characters now – it’s hard to provide a story for everyone. But I was just getting to know and like Reeves and they kill him. And Abby leaves. I’ve made it through other character exits, but for some reason, the Reeves and Abby one really bothers me. Maybe I’ve just had enough. I appreciate the work of the NCIS crew and cast, but I think I will not be watching next season.
You are not a true NCIS fan if you will not watch next season. Yes I will miss Abby so much, and I cried everytime they either metnioned clay being dead, or Jenny, Kate, Ziva.
I can still be a fan and watch old episodes from time to time. But I’m not required to agree with everything they do creatively. The women on this show seem to go through hell…let’s see Kate, Ziva, Jenny, Vance’s wife Jackie, Diane..all dead. And then Abbey goes on an outing with Reeves where he’s killed and she gets shot. I’m tired of the killing and Abby’s leaving and the way it was handled — including the godawful hospital room promos – was just it for me.
Seriously it’s a cop show….what do you expect…cops die in the line of duty and federal agents all the time….as for women so do men…or have you forgotten mike franks, levine, cade, dorneget, chris pattachi, tom morrow, jackson gibbs (even though Ralph waite died they could have had him still alive ..seen that happen on other shows) while other females left the show like quinn and even ziva left show fine not killed while on the show…I don’t count them killing her off when she was no longer on the show period. other recurring females left the show without dieing such as hollis man, Dr. Ryan, Kate’s sister, that lawyer chick from season 7, ….so really it’s funny you state the killing them off when cops die all the time. Plus there is no real happy ending in life.People die….this isn’t about living in fairytales like Disney movies.
it’s still a form of entertainment that we choose to allow into our homes and lives each week…it’s a form of escapism from the chaos and stress of everyday life…….these people become identified as friends and extended family members….it sucks the way we the public are jacked around by the producers and TV networks….case in point NCIS and Lethal Weapon…..neither one will I ever watch again
Ziva didn’t die in the line of duty and she was retired from active duty, Diane and Vance’s wife weren’t in law enforcement. Mike Franks was also retired from active duty and Jenny wasn’t on duty either. The only one who truly died in the line of duty was Kate.
Don’t forget McGee’s wife. You are right the women get jerked around.
I was a true NCIS fan from the beginning but to me, the show lost its spark when Tony left. Haven’t watched it since. Doesn’t mean I’m not a fan. Stop being so smarmy
I agree. When Tony left it ran out of steam
Dude, stop it. One is a true fan if and only if they are a fan. I may stop next season to after tonight, and I’ve seen every episode prior to this season and Tony’s last ones numerous times. I have a few freaking memorized for all intents and purposes. I have every episode on disc or drive. Every TV guide cover that’s come out since 2008 when I started watching and got sucked in.
I’m such a big fan I may be leaving because I dont like what the showrunners are doing now, especially after tonight (and Mark is all over that particular aspect). I dont hate it, aim just over being letdown like this. I will continue to love the vast majority of this shows run, but this? For some of us it’s a bridge to far.
And a true fan of anything would respect that in fellow fans.
Well, your complaint about there being too many characters is now rectified.
I thought the 2 parter was good. Reeves leaving the show was no surprise as he was barely in it.
Abby was an iconic character and it will be hard for NCIS to keep losing fan favorites and keep going. All in All I give Abby’s Farewell a B+.
Totally agree Steve
I was prepared, so to speak, at Abby’s departure, but not at the twist of killing Clay. I really liked his character. The tears flowed when Abby sat and talked to Clay. All in all, a satisfying departure for one of the originals,but I still wish they didn’t kill Clay. BTW, Abby’s apartment WOW
Love Love Loved Abby’s apartment. Finally got to see it, Thank You!! I watched with tears all the way through this one. I had no idea they were going to kill Clay. So glad they didn’t kill Abby. I am still crushed about it all.
I’m still crying,, Good luck on your life beyond NCIS,,, wish you the best on your new chapter! God Bless you Pauly!
I LOVED the title of this recap, “Going, Going, Goth.” I laughed out loud when I read it. Very Abby and quite perfect. Well done!
I just started watching it, like 5 minutes in, but I see they have killed off Reeves- that’s just wrong. I still really like the show but the last several years they have been making some Really BAD decisions on the cast. Quinn was far better than Torres but they booted her and kept him. I wasn’t keen on Reeves at first but he grew on me. Still do not like Bishop as a field agent, she’s just all wrong for that part.
I hope they start to improve casting as they move forward or it will eventually be their downfall
FYI: They didn’t boot Quinn. She left on her own. Totally her decision.
Unfortunately I found this final episode a bit disappointing. To me it did not stand up to last weeks precursor episode. I also felt that knowing the volume of viewers this episode was going to have, the network exploited that with what seemed to be an excessive number of commercials. In comparison to the content in last weeks episode, this did not stand up to it in the least bit. Of course this is all my opinion, I was just left feeling Abby’s character deserved more after 15 seasons.
I agree. I thought the farewell was really not befitting for Abbey. I give it a C. I will miss her. Didn’t think Clay should have been killed off.
Not gonna lie; I was kind of disappointed. I felt like she deserved more after so many years creating such a unique lovable character. NCIS will never be the same. I think I’ll stick with reruns. I wish her luck, and am looking forward to her next project.
Great 15 yrs Abbs. Thank you paulette and best wishes and future endeavors
Thank you for your extra charities you do too. Bye Abbs you rock!!!!
P.s. i think bishop will be in the lab with cliff notes she left and reeves had no future storylines to continue him. He was alright and thank you to him and best wishes also. And where is all this hoopla abt gibbs/abby twist. All videos and stories i see show her decision not over a dog ….aftr 15 yrs really to those who think that
Why kill Reeves? I was disappointed in this episode. I was expecting something epic for Abby’s exit.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and predict that season 16 will be the last NCIS. I’m hearing from too many people who will stop watching now that Abbey is gone. She was too integral a character. The series won’t survive without her.
Threatening to quit watching NCIS is one thing, but actually quitting is entirely another. I doubt more than a small percentage would follow through on such a threat. Still, I agree with the prediction from your limb and feel it’s likely NCIS’s 16th season will be its last.
If you’re talking about TV Line, it’s mostly a lot of white noise here. Every show that gets canceled is the greatest crime in human history, every time a character is killed off people say they’re going to stop watching. It’s just a whole lot of nothing.
What I liked: we finally saw Abby’s place and the infamous coffin. I loved how Palmer stayed with Ducky for Reeves autopsy.
The negatives: When Abby told the killer that fir every bad guy they bring down another pops up… reminded me of Ziva’s speech to Tony as to why she couldn’t go back to NCIS. And the elephant in the room- the missing interaction between Harmon and Perrette. To go from a father daughter relationship to no relationship with no explanation is a disappointment.
In an episode where Magee had a stalker, we were in Abby’s place. Not the first time nor the same space.
Magee? Abby was staying with McGee and then the nuns at the convent.
That was abby old boyfriend. Csi clean up guy and told my mom same thing. Was mcgees apartment. He went back to hers for her toothbrush
Why did Clay have to die?
His character was redundant.
To you. Other people here seemed to have liked him a lot.
Terrible eppy! They sacrificed the token black guy n no real flashbacks. It was all about the team finding the shooter. Tony’s final eppy was so much better. He actually got to act in it. Abby was non-existent except for the hospital bed. I have watched this since the beginning but I am done. Terrible
Well, there’s still Leon Vance.
The token black guy? Racist much? Abby only tracked down the murderer and then leaves to do Clay’s work. What a tool you are.
Will really miss Abby AND Reeves
Disappointing doesn’t even begin to describe this episode. For a farewell episode for such a beloved character, we got relatively little of her. The first half had her unconscious in a hospital bed, which is apparently the only way Mark Harmon will be in a scene with her. The second half had Abby, but she didn’t have the most screen time.
Going to miss Abby. But, really, in the past few years her screen time declined markedly and we lost the relationship between Abby and Gibbs, which had been one of the highlights of the show. So it was probably time for her to move on.
Hope Pauley Perrette shows up in another something soon
Her performance was awesome.
But we were dissapointed in the script.
Very classy, very appropriate, very sentimental
Bring Tony and Ziva back as a married couple
I wish they would do that as well, or do a spin off with them. There is still a chance for Ziva. When they declared her dead all they said was that a woman’s body had been found. Ziva was smart and would have had her hear to the ground. She could have left her daughter with the nanny and gone into hiding or after some bad person, when the fire happened and the woman’s body could have been the nanny, not Ziva.
Bull is renewed so recast Tony?
I cried like a baby. I am so glad they didn’t kill her like they did Ziva.
So hold on is Gibbs leaving too