Why Jennifer Esposito Left NCIS After Just One Season

NCIS has gone through plenty of changes across its two-decade run. Some exits were emotional. Some were abrupt. But few were as quietly puzzling as Jennifer Esposito’s one-season stint as Special Agent Alexandra Quinn. Unlike most of the show's major characters, Quinn didn’t get a dramatic sendoff. In fact, she barely got one at all.

There was no dramatic farewell. No emotional goodbye. Just a brief mention that Quinn had taken a leave of absence—and fans were left wondering what happened.

Now, with NCIS continuing into Season 23, Quinn’s departure remains one of the show’s more quietly unresolved storylines. And as it turns out, her exit had more to do with behind-the-scenes shifts than anything that played out on screen.

Esposito Says Quinn Was Never Meant to Stay

Esposito later explained on social media that Quinn wasn’t created as a long-term character. She had joined NCIS for a limited run, and that’s exactly how it played out. In an interview with Deadline, she said she was thankful for the experience but kept the details private.

Not long after, she appeared in Speed Kills with John Travolta, signaling a shift toward film. Still, fan speculation took off—ranging from health rumors to creative differences. The most persistent theory, that she was let go due to her celiac disease, had no basis in fact.

What’s more likely is that the character’s creator, Gary Glasberg, passed away unexpectedly in 2016. Glasberg had shaped Quinn’s role in the team, and after his death, the show’s direction changed. Without his vision, the writers may not have known how to continue Quinn’s arc—and chose instead to phase her out quietly.

How NCIS Wrote Quinn Off the Show

Quinn’s final episode was understated. In the Season 14 finale, she gets a few off-screen calls from her mother. By the start of Season 15, Torres explains that she’s taken a leave to care for her mom, who’s struggling with Alzheimer’s.

It was a soft goodbye. No flashback. No final scene. Just an absence.

But earlier episodes had already hinted at what was coming. In Season 14, Episode 20, we meet Quinn’s mother Marie (played by Mercedes Ruehl), who is shown to be forgetting major life events—including the death of her husband. Her memory lapses are severe, and Quinn is visibly shaken.

By the end of the episode, she decides to move in with her mother, determined to care for her rather than place her in a facility. It’s a hard choice—but a very human one. And it quietly sets the stage for her departure without fanfare.

Life After NCIS: Where Esposito Went

Esposito didn’t disappear after NCIS—but she didn’t exactly step into blockbuster stardom either.

Her first role post-NCIS, Speed Kills, bombed with critics and audiences. It brought little recognition, and her presence in the film was barely promoted. But she kept working. In TV, she landed recurring roles in The Boys, Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens, and Law & Order: SVU.

She also took a creative leap behind the camera, writing and directing Fresh Kills, an indie film that premiered in 2023. While the movie didn’t make waves commercially, it earned her some respect as a filmmaker willing to take risks.

Off-screen, Esposito continued advocating for health awareness through her books. Jennifer’s Way, her memoir about living with celiac disease, became a bestseller. She followed it with a companion cookbook, Jennifer’s Way Kitchen, both of which continue to receive strong reviews from readers.

Could Quinn Return to NCIS?

There’s no on-screen death, no burned bridges, and no dramatic falling out. Quinn is still alive, and the character’s absence was written as temporary. That makes her one of the few former agents who could realistically return at any time.

There’s nothing stopping Quinn from returning to NCIS—at least in theory. The show never killed her off. She left to care for her mother, and that kind of exit leaves the door wide open.

She still has ties to the current team, especially McGee and Torres. A scene where she reconnects with them—perhaps after her mother’s passing—would feel grounded and emotionally real. It could also offer a chance to finally give her character the kind of closure she didn’t get before.

And from a timing standpoint, it could work. As of early 2025, Esposito hasn’t announced any major new roles. She’s free. And if the NCIS writers wanted to circle back to one of their quieter exits, now might be the time.

Even a single-episode return would mean something. Not just for fans who liked Alex Quinn—but for the show’s long-running habit of honoring its past while still moving forward.