Summary

  • Jennifer Esposito left NCIS after just one season, marking the shortest tenure of any series regular on the long-running police procedural.
  • Esposito's character, Special Agent Alex Quinn, was written out of the series as NCIS took on a new creative direction for Season 15.
  • Jennifer Esposito has appeared in several exciting projects since departing NCIS, including The Boys and a long-awaited return to Blue Bloods.

After starring in just one season of NCIS, Jennifer Esposito departed the long-running CBS series. The actor was already well-known for her fan-favorite role in another CBS crime drama, Blue Bloods, in which she played Detective Jackie Curatola. However, she also left that series early (until her return in Season 13), 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? Fans were concerned that Quinn's story wouldn't be resolved since her tenure was so short. But NCIS actually managed to wrap up her plot as best it could. Here's what fans need to know about NCIS' Agent Quinn, and the circumstances behind Esposito's surprising departure when she seemed like a great fit for the consistently popular procedural.

What Happened To Quinn On NCIS?

Quinn (played by Jennifer Esposito) and McGee (played by Sean Murray) walk down a street in NCIS
Related
Why Lucas Black’s Christopher LaSalle Left NCIS: New Orleans
NCIS: New Orleans fan-favorite Lucas Black left the NCIS spinoff during Season 6. Why was his character Christopher LaSalle written out?

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 Federal Law Enforcement Training Center but was brought back into the fold by Mark Harmon's character Leroy Jethro Gibbs — in another example of Gibbs' true NCIS legacy of repurposing careers of washed-out agents. He convinced Quinn to join his team, and she was later involved in numerous Season 14 storylines, many of which emphasized the character's tragic backstory.

  • Jennifer Esposito appears in 24 episodes of NCIS
  • Special Agent Alex Quinn makes her first appearance in Season 14, Episode 1: "Rogue"
  • Alex Quinn makes her final appearance in Season 14, Episode 24: "Rendezvous"

In Season 14, Episode 5 of the long-running police procedural, entitled "Philly," it is revealed that Quinn's former partner was killed on a stakeout in Philadelphia, and that resulted in her stepping back from field operations. Quinn felt guilt over her partner's death for many years, because he only left the car during the stakeout to give her privacy while she was on the phone to her fiancé. While 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, Quinn received a phone call from her mother Marie, although the audience wasn't privy to what the call was about. And by NCIS' Season 15 premiere, Quinn was gone. The only explanation provided was that she left to care for her mother, who was suffering from Alzheimer's. This proved to be a sudden and surprising exit from a character who had only been around for one season. Even Sasha Alexander's character Kate Todd had a longer run on the show than Quinn.

Why Did Quinn Leave NCIS?

Quinn (played by Jennifer Esposito) gives Gibbs (Mark Harmon) a skeptical look in NCIS.
Related
NCIS: Hawai'i Should Avoid a Jane Tennant and Sam Hanna Romance
NCIS: LA's Sam Hanna is headed to NCIS: Hawai'i. His role hasn't been determined, but the series should avoid a romance between him and Tennant.

According to Deadline, NCIS producers were behind Jennifer Esposito's exit from the series, contending that "the show [planned] to go in a new creative direction" that didn't involve Alex Quinn. Esposito confirmed that in a subsequent tweet, stating that 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!"

  • NCIS has lost many series regulars over the years, including Mark Harmon's Leroy Jethro Gibbs, Michael Weatherly's Anthony DiNozzo, Pauley Perrette's Abby Scuito, Cote de Pablo's Ziva David, and many more.
  • The first series regular to depart NCIS was Sasha Alexander's Caitlin Todd, who was killed at the end of Season 2.
  • David McCallum is the only character to be credited as a series regular for 20 seasons of NCIS, though the actor's recent death means that he will not appear in Season 21.

Like any long-running series, NCIS has said goodbye to several main characters, including Gibbs, who was replaced by Alden Parker. However, 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. The series has long since moved on from her character's storyline, making it seem unlikely that she will ever return in future seasons. Nevertheless, characters like Ziva David have returned to NCIS after extended hiatuses. As such, viewers should never fully rule out Jennifer Esposito's return to the series.

What Has Jennifer Esposito Done Since Leaving NCIS?

Related
Why Did Sasha Alexander Leave NCIS?
Sasha Alexander played Special Agent Caitlin Todd on NCIS, but it was her decision to leave the show after Season 2. Here's why she wanted out.

Jennifer Esposito's departure from NCIS didn't hamper her career in any way, as the actress has continued to have a prolific career in recent years. Known for her work in popular police procedurals, one of Esposito's most exciting career moves since departing NCIS was her return to Blue Bloods. The actress portrayed Detective Jackie Curatola in the first three seasons of the Tom Selleck-led series before departing in 2012. Over a decade later, Curatola finally returned in the Season 13 finale, "Forgive Us Our Trespassers," where it was revealed that she had become the Chief of Police in Suffolk County. Curatola's return helped give her character a more satisfying ending than the one she received in Season 3. However, it remains unclear whether or not Esposito will reprise her iconic role in Blue Blood's upcoming fourteenth and final season.

  • Jennifer Esposito's highest-rated project on Rotten Tomatoes is 2022's Somewhere in Queens, with a 90% Freshness rating. She portrays Pamela Carmelo in the film.
  • Jennifer Esposito's lowest-rated project on Rotten Tomatoes is 2018's Speed Kills, with a 0% Freshness rating. She portrays Kathy Aronoff in the film.
  • Jennifer Esposito has 68 acting credits from her work in television and movies, according to the International Movie Database.

Esposito's post-NCIS career has not been relegated to arcs in police procedurals, however, though she has made recent appearances in similar series like Law and Order: SVU and Blindspot. One of the actress's more prominent television roles since leaving NCIS was that of Susan Raynor in Amazon Prime Video's hit superhero series The Boys. The ill-fated ally of Billy Butcher appeared in six episodes of the series, wherein she attempted to help bring down the villainous company Vought International and its league of superheroes known as The Seven. However, she was horrifically murdered by Victoria Neuman, who used her superpowers to make Susan's head explode while she was speaking with Butcher. The actress also had a recurring role as Brenda in Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens and as Nina Solloway in The Affair.

More recently, Jennifer Esposito teamed up with Everybody Loves Raymond star Ray Romano for the 2022 comedy Somewhere in Queens. The film follows an Italian-American family living in New York as they work through the possibility of their son attaining a coveted college basketball scholarship. In the film, Esposito portrays Pamela Carmelo, a woman whom Ray Romano's character begins to find himself attracted to. The film received largely positive reviews from critics and audiences, becoming one of the highest-rated projects in Esposito's long career. Other recent film projects, including 2018's Speed Kills and 2019's Mob Town, received far less critical acclaim, though they afforded the actress the opportunity to work with big-name stars like John Travolta and David Arquette.

Although Jennifer Esposito's departure from NCIS may have been disappointing, the split seems to have been amicable. The series has managed to survive in her absence, introducing multiple new characters that have helped keep storylines feeling fresh and new. Likewise, Esposito has continued to enjoy a profitable career, making herself known in both film and television projects.

NCIS TV Show Poster
NCIS

The cases of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service Washington, D.C. Major Case Response Team.

Created by
Donald P. Bellisario
First TV Show
NCIS
Latest TV Show
NCIS: Hawaii
First Episode Air Date
September 23, 2003
Cast
david mccallum , sean murray , Mark Harmon , Brian Dietzen , Pauley Perrette , Rocky Carroll