‘NCIS’ season 11 spoilers: Don’t expect a finale cliffhanger

After everything that has happened on “NCIS” this season in between Cote de Pablo leaving, Emily Wickersham joining, the birth of a possible spin-off show set in New Orleans, and a finale designed as a tribute to Ralph Waite, apparently the higher-ups decided that this was enough going on that there didn’t need to be an epic cliffhanger stacked on top of everything else.

Speaking about this subject to TVLine, showrunner Gary Glasberg confirmed that the decision to not force fans into three-four months of agony was largely due to their own desire to have an ending that didn’t end up throwing anyone through loops:

“Because the season was as complicated as it was, we just didn’t feel like we needed to do a traditional cliffhanger. We wanted to ground everything and get things back to ‘normal.’”

With some shows, we feel like cliffhangers are necessary to keep people talking. Sometimes, “NCIS” needs that since there aren’t too many headlines that it typically draws in comparison to the number of viewers have. This case is a little bit different, though. It feels like making the ending all about Jackson Gibbs’ death is the right way to go, and an emotional note for his son to try to deal with. Adding some sort of jaw-dropping moment on top of that may have only cheapened what could be a very nice moment.

“NCIS” still has some other stories, as well, to look ahead to, including next week’s “Shooter” (which features the team dealing with the issue of homeless veterans), and also a trip by Tony to France in a story that was originally going to be a part of the finale.

We will have more news soon on the finale, so be on the lookout for that. If you want the convenience of TV scoop via email, sign up for our CarterMatt Newsletter.

Photo: CBS