Deadline reported in 2017 that after starring in just one season of NCIS, Jennifer Esposito would be leaving the long-running CBS series. The actress was already well-known to genre fans from her popular role in another CBS crime drama, the family-oriented Blue Bloods, where she played Detective Jackie Curatola. However, she’d also left that series early before being cast in NCIS as Special Agent Alex Quinn.
So why did Esposito bow out of another popular show — and why do it so quickly? How was Alex Quinn’s story resolved when it ended fairly soon after it started? Here’s what fans need to know about the character of Quinn and the circumstances behind Esposito’s departure from the show when she seemed like a great fit for NCIS.
Who Was Alex Quinn on NCIS?
Special Agent Alexandra “Alex” Quinn was introduced in the NCIS season 14 premiere “Rogue.” She had left the field to become a trainer at the Law Enforcement Training Center, but was brought back into the fold by Mark Harmon’s Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, in another example of his legacy of caring about others. Gibbs convinced Quinn to join his team and she was involved in numerous Season 24 storylines, with a big emphasis on the character’s tragic backstory.
In Season 14, Episode 5, “Philly,” it was revealed that Quinn’s former partner was killed in action on a stakeout in Philadelphia, and that this resulted in her stepping back from field operations. Quinn felt guilt over her partner’s death for many years, since he only left the car during the stakeout to give her some privacy while she was on the phone to her fiancé. Whilst on another case in Philadelphia, she visited his widow and now 13-year old son to try and make amends.
During the Season 14 finale “Rendezvous,” Quinn got a phone call from her mother Marie, although the audience wasn’t privy to what the call was about. However, Quinn is gone by the Season 15 premiere, and it’s explained that she left to go and care for her mother, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s.
Why Jennifer Esposito Left NCIS
The Deadline report claimed that Jennifer Esposito’s departure was the producers’ decision, saying that “the show plans to go in a new creative direction” that didn’t involve Alex Quinn. Esposito verified this in a subsequent tweet that clarified Quinn was never intended as a long-term character: “Was not meant to be there long but happy I was,” she tweeted. “Met some great new friends!”
Like any long-running series, NCIS has said goodbye to several cast members and characters, including Harmon’s Gibbs, who finally exited the series during the current Season 19 and was replaced by Gary Cole as Special Agent Alden Parker. But Esposito’s story is notable because of her character’s short tenure — she’s the only series regular to leave after just one season — and the relative lack of explanation or fanfare over her departure. Though she wasn’t around for long, Esposito was a great addition to the series, and it’s a shame that she couldn’t have been utilized longer or at least gotten a full exit episode. Hopefully the NCIS writers won’t take the same approach when Wilmer Valderrama is likely to leave at the end of Season 19.
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