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‘NCIS’ Cast Rumors: Jennifer Esposito Quits ‘NCIS’ After Just One Season

By Ryan DeVault
Published on: 13:04 PST, Jun 9, 2017

NCIS cast rumors have confirmed that Jennifer Esposito quit the show. Esposito joined the NCIS cast last season, playing the role of Alex Quinn on the hit CBS drama. A report by Yahoo! TV just relayed the news, bringing an end to her run on another successful CBS program. Before Esposito joined the NCIS cast as a replacement for Michael Weatherly (who is now on Bull), she was one of the main characters on Blue Bloods.

A statement was given by Esposito, who spoke well of her time on the show. It could leave open the possibility of Esposito returning to the show at a future date, but that’s not typically how a drama like this one works. Alex Quinn will likely get written out, possibly even in a tragic end similar to how some of the other actors and actresses who have left the program were dealt with in the script.

“It was a great experience. I could not have asked for a better opportunity than to work with the NCIS cast and producers.”

Fans may not be pleased to hear that Jennifer Esposito quit NCIS, as her character was involved in some tense storylines during the season 14 finale. That episode can still be watched On Demand as well as online, showing how the character of Alex Quinn left viewers with a cliffhanger. As fans who watched the episode will recall, she received two phone calls from her mother in the season finale, but the other half of the conversation was never heard out loud.

A report by USA Today stated that Jennifer Esposito also quit Blue Bloods over a disagreement with the network. Esposito had been suffering from the effects of Celiac disease and was looking for a reduced schedule on the show. When she stated that the network wasn’t accommodating that request, she decided that it was time to move on. At the time, it came as a shock when the news broke that she was leaving Blue Bloods.

To start off season 14 of NCIS, the character of Alex Quinn debuted alongside new members of the team. Actors Wilmer Valderrama (Nicholas Torres) and Duane Henry (Clayton Reeves) became series regulars as the writers tried to find a way to replace the character played by Michael Weatherley (Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo). NCIS executive producer Gary Glasberg spoke in a statement to USA Today about Esposito joining the cast.

“We couldn’t be happier to have Jennifer Esposito joining us for season 14. She embodies everything that we hoped for in the character of Quinn and we can’t wait to have her come be a part of our team.”

CBS and show producers haven’t revealed what they are going to do with the character of Alex Quinn just yet, but they likely have some time to figure out how to write it into the script before filming the season premiere. The departure of Jennifer Esposito from the NCIS cast will also likely force producers to bring on another leading actor or actress to fill the void that will be left on the team. Many significant characters have come and gone during the first 14 years of the CBS drama, so dealing with an exit like this one should come easy for the staff.

The NCIS season 15 premiere has more questions to deal with than just the fate of Alex Quinn. The season 14 finale saw the characters of Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) and Timothy McGee (Sean Murray) left in peril after the helicopter they were supposed to use to get out of Paraguay took off without them. Cliffhangers are nothing new to the writers, so dealing with Jennifer Esposito quitting the NCIS cast should also be no problem.

[Featured Image by Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images]

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