“The Shocking Truth Revealed: Why Lauren Holly Departed from the Beloved NCIS Show – Prepare to Be Astonished!”

Lauren Holly’s departure from NCIS during its fifth season can be attributed to several factors. NCIS, which had its origins in an episode of JAG, emerged as a standalone series in 2003. While it had a slow start in terms of viewership, it eventually became one of the most popular television series. The show continued to thrive, with NCIS Season 18 receiving the green light in May 2020.

NCIS expanded into its own franchise, including the spinoff NCIS: Los Angeles in 2009, featuring LL Cool J and Chris O’Donnell. This spinoff also found success and is set to return for its twelfth season. NCIS: New Orleans, led by the character Dwayne Cassius Pride, was introduced during an episode of NCIS and subsequently launched in 2014, running for seven seasons and counting.

Given its nearly 20-year run, it’s no surprise that NCIS has seen various major characters come and go. Notable departures include Pauley Perrette’s Abby and Cote de Pablo’s Ziva, although Ziva made a brief return for a significant storyline in season 17. However, one of the most shocking exits occurred in season 5 when Lauren Holly’s character, NCIS Director Jennifer Shepard, was killed in an off-screen gunfight.

Jennifer Shepard, also known as Jenny, joined NCIS in season 3 and was revealed to be a former love interest of Agent Gibbs (Mark Harmon). While she and Gibbs often butted heads during her tenure as director, she commanded respect from Gibbs and the team. Lauren Holly’s addition to the cast was well-received, but various factors led to her departure. The actress herself admitted that she was initially hesitant to sign on for the role and found it somewhat uninteresting toward the end of her run. The decision to kill off the character appears to have been made independently. In the show, Shepard was diagnosed with a terminal illness during season 5 and was subsequently killed in an offscreen gunfight in the season finale.

Jenny Shepard’s death was a surprising and impactful moment for NCIS fans. It served as a reminder, following the death of Caitlin Todd in season 2, that even main characters were not safe, a theme that would become more prominent in later seasons. In recent years, Lauren Holly has appeared in the indie horror film “The Blackcoat’s Daughter,” had a recurring role in “Designated Survivor,” and is set to be seen in the upcoming ballet drama “Tiny Pretty Things” on Netflix.