Summary

• Sasha Alexander's character Kate Todd left NCIS after only two seasons due to the grueling schedule and commitment required by the show.
• Many actors have left NCIS over the years, though many have returned for special appearances, including Sasha Alexander.
• Sasha Alexander's most well-known role after NCIS is as Maura Isles in Rizzoli & Isles, where she starred alongside Angie Harmon.

As of Season 20 of NCIS, only one character — Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum) — remains from the procedural’s original cast. However, McCallum has had a minimal role since Season 19, and another original cast member, Mark Harmon, left the show that season. Harmon's exit wasn't the first to shake up the series, though; Sasha Alexander departed NCIS after only 49 episodes as Special Agent Caitlin "Kate" Todd.

As one of the longest-running television shows of all time, it makes sense that NCIS has seen its share of cast turnover. However, the trend started early, because Alexander was the first original cast member to exit the show after just two seasons. Here’s who she played and why Kate Todd left NCIS.

Updated by Jordan Iacobucci on February 16, 2024: With the recent death of David McCallum, the last vestiges of the original main cast of NCIS have been replaced. With the upcoming tribute episode for Dr. Mallard set for NCIS's 21st Season, many original cast members are returning one more time, including Mark Harmon's Leroy Jethro Gibbs and Michael Weatherly's Tony DiNozzo. Not among the returning cast members is Sasha Alexander, whose character, Caitlin Todd, was killed at the end of Season 2.

Who Was Caitlin 'Kate' Todd on NCIS?

Caitlin Todd was one of the core characters in the long-running procedural series. Played by Sasha Alexander, NCIS's Agent Caitlin "Kate" Todd was introduced during the first episode, “Yankee White,” when she was still a member of the President’s Secret Service detail. During the episode, the Naval officer tasked with carrying the “nuclear football” mysteriously died while aboard Air Force One. Although some people thought the death was from natural causes, Leroy Jethro Gibbs and Tony DiNozzo found otherwise. They enlisted the help of Caitlin Todd and uncovered a plot to assassinate the President.

Gibbs liked what he saw from Kate and offered her a job before the episode was over. It wasn’t long after that Kate quit her job after disobeying fraternization rules and joined NCIS. She became the junior member of Gibbs’ team and a popular part of the series. Kate's more conservative attitude contrasted with Tony’s often-forthcoming personality, which made for a nice comedic effect. However, they easily found common ground when picking on the new “probie," Timothy McGee. When Kate was killed by Ari Haswari in the finale of Season 2, it hit everyone hard because they had become quite attached to her character.

Why Did Sasha Alexander Leave NCIS?

NCIS didn't kill off Kate because the writers wanted her gone, nor was it because fans disliked her. It was actually actor Sasha Alexander’s decision to leave the show on her own terms, because of the grueling commitment that NCIS demanded. In a 2012 interview with TV Guide, Alexander explained her reasoning. “People don’t realize that on a network show, you make 24 episodes a year -- that’s 10 and a half months a year, 17 hours a day. It’s hardcore,” she shared. This has been a frequent reason listed for actors leaving television shows after only a few seasons, with Ruby Rose leaving Batwoman and Katherine Hiegel leaving Grey's Anatomy for similar reasons.

Grueling 24-episode seasons would be difficult for anyone to deal with, and even Mark Harmon spoke about the taxing schedule the show has to keep. In a 2017 interview with The Talk, Harmon said that the “first day [of filming] was 21 hours.” The schedule has been slimmed down since then, but it’s still difficult — explaining why Harmon also eventually left the series and Gibbs was replaced by Gary Cole's Alden Parker.

Sasha Alexander simply got off the train before Harmon did, and she doesn’t regret her decision to leave the show. In the same TV Guide interview, she said, “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.” So while it was difficult to see Kate killed off in such a dramatic way, it seems like Alexander made the best decision for herself.

Alexander is far from the only popular character to leave NCIS over the years. After replacing Alexander in Season 3, Cote de Pablo's Ziva David left NCIS in Season 11, followed by many more departures over the years. Even so, many actors have returned to NCIS over the years for special episodes. Kate Todd made a posthumous appearance for the 200th episode of NCIS in its ninth season, proving that there are no hard feelings between her and the showrunners.

What Has Sasha Alexander Done Since Leaving NCIS?

Since leaving NCIS, Sasha Alexander has continued to enjoy a fruitful career. She has starred in several notable films over the years, including a relatively minor cameo in Mission: Impossible III as Melissa, a relative of Ethan Hunt's new wife. However, the vast majority of Alexander's post-NCIS career has been in television. The actor has dabbled in various guest roles on multiple popular television series, including Friends, House, Shameless, and The Morning Show. Alexander has even returned to the crime procedural genre in shows like FBI and Law & Order.

Sasha Alexander's most well-known role by far is that of medical examiner Maura Isles in Rizzoli & Isles. The long-running procedural teamed Alexander up with Angie Harmon, who plays Detective Jane Rizzoli. The two made a terrific pair, carrying the procedural over the course of seven seasons. The series ended its celebrated run in 2016 and remains a favorite of many crime procedural fans.

Though Sasha Alexander left NCIS far sooner than many fans would have preferred, her impact on the series cannot be understated. The actor still makes frequent appearances in television procedurals, even outshining her role on NCIS with a bigger part in Rizzoli & Isles.