‘NCIS’ viewers were shocked by Sasha Alexander’s abrupt departure in season 2. Here’s why she departed the show and the reason the writers of “NCIS” chose to end her character’s story. Early in the life of the program, one of the most breathtaking moments in NCIS history occurred. Agent Caitlin Todd, played by Sasha Alexander, was abruptly killed off in the season 2 finale. Ari Haswari (Rudolf Martin), a renegade Mossad agent, shot the guy in the head.
The shock death of a major character left NCIS fans reeling – and wondering why the show’s writers would kill off Agent Todd. In the past, Alexander has said that her departure was due to the show’s grueling workload. Once the show’s writers knew she wanted to leave, they decided to give her the most dramatic exit possible, insiders explained to The Hollywood Reporter in a recent oral history of the show.
Sasha Alexander explained why she quit ‘NCIS’
Alexander was a member of the first cast of NCIS. She came on board following the two-episode pilot, taking over for Robyn Lively’s character. She realized, however, that the show wasn’t a long-term fit for her after just two seasons.
People tend to forget that producing 24 episodes of a network show annually entails working 17 hours a day for 10½ months. In an interview with TV Guide in 2012, she described it as “hardcore.”
Starring in Rizzoli & Isles at the time, Alexander claimed she had no regrets about quitting NCIS.
“I really firmly believe in my heart that I would not be where I am today — happily married, with two kids, doing things creatively that I want — if I had stayed,” she said. “I didn’t want to wake up and be in my 40s and go, ‘Oh, my gosh!’ But people don’t understand.”
Sasha Alexander’s ‘NCIS’ exit ‘left a gaping hole in the show’
Once Alexander decided to move on from NCIS, it was up to the show’s team to figure out how to write her character off the show. Doing so was a challenge, former CBS head of casting Peter Golden told The Hollywood Reporter.
“We were only able to make a deal with Sasha for two seasons,” he said. “She decided she wanted to move on to other things, and that left a gaping hole because she was an important part of the show.”
While insiders said that Alexander may have been open to taking a smaller role in the show, the NCIS writers decided to go big with her exit.
“In year two, Sasha went to [NCIS co-creator Don Bellisario] and said, ‘I love this show, but I just can’t work this hard.’ We were doing long hours. I don’t think she wanted to leave the show — she just wanted a lighter workload,” executive producer Charles Floyd Johnson recalled.
“Bellisario was always a writer who went for the cataclysmic,” Johnson continued. “He went, ‘Well, what if we kill her off?’ Everybody goes, ‘What?’ And he went to her and told her, ‘Good news — your workload is going to be lighter. But you’re going to die.’ It was the very last minute or two of the show — the shot through the head.”
‘NCIS’ creator wanted to do something no one would expect
For Bellasario, Alexander’s decision to leave the show ended up presenting a creative opportunity.
“I wanted to do a shocker, so that’s what I did, and people didn’t expect that at all. It came out of nowhere,” he said.
Caitlin Todd’s death was kept a secret from all but a few people until the episode aired.
Executive producer Mark Horowitz stated, “We’ve had a number of situations over the years where we’ve had to keep a secret from the audience, and that was the very first one.” She was shot on just one script sheet, which was printed, read out in person, and always returned. The footage was cut off from the remainder of the day’s filming. We did, in fact, film a different conclusion. Not even my wife knew.