5 NCIS Characters We Wish Never Died

We've written about every "NCIS" death before — after all, across 22 seasons, there are plenty of characters who've come and gone, with many meeting their untimely end on screen. Many deaths can make sense narratively, and some, even if lamentable, are understandable to audiences who know that an action show like "NCIS" is at its best when life hangs in the balance. But then there are times when it just seems like the writers of the show are playing with the audience's feelings, making us all fall in love with a character just to pull the rug out from under us and have them killed in shocking fashion.

Sure, a well-written, major death can create loads of drama in a series. But sometimes, those deaths can feel meaningless, or worse, unnecessary. And those are the deaths we're here to talk about; the ones that left us not just with our jaws on the floor, but with questions for the show's writers and producers. Because these are some deaths that just don't add up — characters who deserved more screen time, characters that fans loved and wanted to see more of, or worse, characters that plainly didn't deserve to die. So saddle up, lock and load. This is a list of five NCIS characters we wish never died.

There are many reasons a fan of "NCIS" might lament the death of a character. They might have been someone's favorite character, sure, or they might have felt that the character met a bad fate they didn't deserve. Well, many fans of NCIS Special Agent Dorneget were devastated to lose him and didn't feel like he deserved to be killed off. But they also lament the fact that the character never even got the chance to reach his full potential. 

Dorneget was introduced in the Season 9 episode "Sins of the Father" in 2011, and fans probably recognized actor Matt L. Jones, who was well-known for his role as drug-addled dimwit Badger in "Breaking Bad." Unfortunately, after a handful of guest appearances across the next three seasons, Dorneget was shockingly killed off in the episode "The Lost Boys" in Season 12. All told, he appeared in just half a dozen episodes, and many fans felt there was so much more that could have been done with the character.

Known for his dry, deadpan sense of humor, Dorneget was a fresh-faced young agent just getting the hang of the job when he is unceremoniously killed off, the victim of a devastating explosion in Cairo. Sorely underused and never given the opportunity to grow further, "NCIS" didn't off him just for fun, but because the actor wanted to move on to other projects. But because of the fact that Dorneget was also a rare LGBTQ+ character, especially on "NCIS," his death also raised alarm bells, making it feel like a step backward for the show.

Like Agent Dorneget, NCIS Special Agent Paula Cassidy was another recurring guest character, but in her case, she was part of the show from the very beginning. She appeared in a trio of episodes in the show's first season, and it seemed like she might eventually get more action or even become a bigger cast member — something some fans were asking for. But in the following three seasons, she shows up just three more times, is transferred out of the unit, and is ultimately killed off in the Season 4 installment, "Grace Period."

Admittedly, "Grace Period" is a phenomenal episode, and even Cassidy's death is a riveting and truly shocking moment that absolutely works. She gives her own life to save fellow agents Gibbs (Mark Harmon), DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly), and Ziva David (Cote de Pablo) after a terrorist plot leaves her no other options. It's a stunning twist and a jaw-dropping conclusion to the story, but like Dorneget, Cassidy is another character that had loads of potential. Cassidy was a fan-favorite, even from just a handful of appearances, really could have become a mainstay on the series had she been given more screen time to develop. 

Unlike actor Matt Jones, however, Cassidy's loss wasn't because the actress, Jessica Steen, had any interest in leaving the series. It seems the character's death was just for dramatic purposes. At least they didn't recast the role, something that happened to Steen when she was on "Stargate SG-1" — which arguably made the TV show better.

Actress Paula Newsome got even fewer episodes to impress than Agent Dorneget and Agent Cassidy, as she only appeared in four episodes of "NCIS." There she played Jackie Vance, the wife of Leon Vance (Rocky Carroll), one of the show's main cast for nearly two decades of the series' impressive run. Newsome makes her debut the same season as Carroll, Season 6, appearing in one episode, returning for one episode each in Seasons 7, 9, and 10. But that final year, she meets her end in an eye-popping death that, to many fans of the show, just felt unnecessary.

Like any big, shocking death on a hit show, questions are immediately asked, as fans wondered why she had to go. After all, Leon — a main cast member — was happily married, and wasn't the kind of character showrunners like to put through the ringer. But according to producers, the real reason they killed off Vance's wife was precisely because Leon was happy at home. Creators were looking to shake up the character and the show. But that hasn't assuaged the hurt feelings of fans, who thought Jackie was a fine character and could have even played a bigger role on the series, given the chance. And the fact that it was coupled with the death of Mossad director Eli David (Michael Nouri) — in the Season 10 episode "Shabbat Shalom" — made it a double gut punch for viewers, and even more traumatic.

If you want to rock audiences with a stunning death, the best bet is killing off a main character, but if you want to tear at their heartstrings, you go for their closest loved one. To maximize those tears even further, a series may kill off the child of a main character. And that's exactly what producers of "NCIS" did in the Season 18 episode "Winter Chill," saying goodbye to Special Agent Emily Fornell, daughter of Tobias Fornell and his ex-wife Diane Sterling. She began the series as a child, portrayed initially by Peyton Spencer, before actress Juliette Angelo stepped into the role when she was just a young teen.

Viewers got to watch Angelo — and Emily — grow up on screen, eventually becoming a Special Agent of NCIS herself. But she also had a troubled youth, experimented with drugs, and got into plenty of trouble. And in "Winter Chill," the show doubles down on the tragedy by having Fornell relapse, ultimately losing her life to a drug overdose. A big, dramatic moment in a big, dramatic episode? You bet. But if you ask most "NCIS" fans, the entire ordeal was a waste and completely unnecessary. "She could have lived and nothing in that story arc would have suffered," one viewer wrote in the NCIS forum on Reddit. And many fans agreed, frequently citing Fornell as one of the most unnecessary deaths in the series and questioning the real reason Juliette Angelo left – but it seems the writers achieved exactly what they set out to do.

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Another frequent name that pops up in "NCIS" forums when discussing unnecessary character deaths is British MI6 Agent Clayton Reeves. And once again, you'll hear a familiar refrain, that Reeves was a character with a ton of dramatic potential. Unfortunately, he is fridged (slang for a TV trope with some seriously gross origins) in the Season 15 episode "Two Steps Back." He's first introduced in "Dead Letter" in the show's 13th Season, where he arrives to help assist the team at NCIS, and becomes a regular liaison between the two agencies, ultimately being promoted from guest star to main cast member in Season 14, appearing in nearly 50 episodes overall. 

Reeves is an especially unique case for a regrettable death, however. Because the real reason actor Duane Henry left "NCIS" had nothing to do with a dramatic moment or the actor's desire to star in another show or movie. Instead, it eventually came out that Reeves had been the brainchild of a writer who passed away after Season 15. And in the aftermath, the surviving writers on the show simply had no idea what to do with the character, deciding it was simply best to kill him off. Some fans have called it lazy, others may have felt it was a betrayal, especially after he'd just become a main cast member a season or two earlier. But most fans just flat-out loved the character and wanted to see more of him. Alas, it wasn't meant to be, and we'll never know what could have been had he not been given the axe.