NCIS Abandoned Its Best Pauley Perrette Comeback in 8 Years

CBS missed the perfect opportunity to bring back Pauley Perrette’s fan-favorite NCIS character, Abby Sciuto, with its Edna story in NCIS Season 23. Perrette played the NCIS forensic scientist on the flagship series from Seasons 1 to 15, debuting with the rest of the team in NCIS’s backdoor pilot on CBS’s Navy procedural, JAG, from NCIS creator Donald P. Bellisario.

Abby was a part of Gibbs’ (Mark Harmon) dream team, often working alongside Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard (David McCallum) during what fans consider the golden era of NCIS, when Gibbs ran MCRT and Tony (Michael Weatherly) and Ziva (Cote de Pablo) were in the bullpen. That said, most of the characters have celebrated recent comebacks, except for Perrette’s Abby Sciuto.

NCIS Season 23 Misses Abby Sciuto’s Perfect Comeback

©CBS / Courtesy MovieStillsDB

NCIS Season 23 puts its new forensic scientist, Kasie Hines (Diona Reasonover), in the spotlight. Kasie has recently completed developing a computer program called Edna, designed to use a DNA database to more quickly narrow down criminal suspects based on genetic markers. However, Kasie’s technology is stolen in Episode 17, and she is subsequently framed for murder.

NCIS Season 23, Episode 18, is the second half of the two-episode comeback from LL Cool J’s Sam Hanna, with his return quietly launching his new spinoff, NCIS: New York, featuring Hawaii Five-0 actor Scott Caan. Therefore, Sam is at Kasie’s side throughout her situation, helping her evade law enforcement and recover her old notebook to rebuild her computer program.

Timothy McGee (Sean Murray) ultimately has to step up and rebuild Edna after Kasie is officially arrested. That said, McGee rebuilds Kasie’s computer program from scratch in what seems like a matter of hours. Therefore, the plot requires viewers to extend their disbelief that McGee could replicate 14 years of Kasie’s work in an afternoon, using just her college notebook.

It would have been more believable that McGee rebuilt Kasie’s program from scratch if he had help from Abby, and it would have been the perfect high-stakes reason to bring Perrette’s fan-favorite character back to the series. Tim is one of the remaining characters from Abby’s NCIS days, and he is the most important person for her to connect with.

McGee still has help in NCIS Season 23, Episode 18, with Kasie’s assistant, a “tech troll,” helping Tim rebuild Edna’s code. Tim is ultimately successful in his efforts, which is no surprise considering McGee holds a degree from MIT and has a comprehensive tech background like Abby. Still, Abby’s return was arguably a necessary addition to the high-stakes NCIS episode.

Will Pauley Perrette Return To NCIS In The Franchise’s Comeback Era?

Unfortunately for longtime NCIS fans, Perrette has no interest in returning to the role of Abby Sciuto. That said, the other fan-favorite members of Gibbs’s team, including the Special Agent-in-Charge himself, are having major comebacks, making Perrette’s continual absence from the franchise an exception in an era of fan-favorite character returns, with CBS securing historic achievements in its upcoming schedule.

For instance, NCIS: Origins has confirmed that Harmon will appear on-screen as Leroy Jethro Gibbs in every episode of Season 3. Harmon’s older version of Gibbs will be involved in a season-long mystery tied to the present day, with Harmon’s commitment to NCIS: Origins Season 3 marking his most significant franchise presence since his exit from NCIS in Season 19.

Weatherly is also returning as Tony for a season-long story arc in NCIS Season 24, continuing the trend of bringing back old characters after Eleanor Bishop’s (Emily Wickersham) return in NCIS Season 23. Weatherly previously returned to NCIS alongside his co-star for NCIS: Tony & Ziva, and while the spinoff was canceled after Season 1, NCIS will incorporate its events.

However, Perrette has definitively said that she will not return as the NCIS forensic scientist. Abby officially left the agency in NCIS Season 15, and, unofficially, Perrette and Harmon were navigating off-screen conflicts that led to her exit. Perrette tweeted, “NO I AM NOT COMING BACK! EVER!” a year after her departure, seemingly shutting the door for good.

Perrette elaborated on why she’s retired from acting in a 2024 interview, saying, “At this point in my life, I have this deep need to find authenticity in everything, and being an actor, especially at certain points in my life, was a great escape; it’s like a drug because I didn’t have to be me, I could be somebody else.