Finale Forecast: How NCIS season 15 should handle Abby’s exit, possible cliffhangers

In today’s edition of our ongoing Finale Forecast series we are touching on NCIS, a show that as a whole has probably more responsibility with its final episode for the season than it has over the past couple of years. Just like the season 13 finale raised questions as to how to write out Michael Weatherly and his character of Tony, the series is now facing a similar problem when it comes to Abby. She is another series staple and a character beloved by millions of people — if you write her out the wrong way you could face a lot of anger; given that to date NCIS has an uneven track record when it comes to writing out characters we more than understand some of the fears fans may have.

While there are some other things that CarterMatt wants to see in the finale beyond just the departure of Pauley Perrette, it’s hard to argue against this being the right starting-off point for discussion because of her overall impact on the show.

1. Celebrate Abby – We don’t want to see her fired or killed — this is a show that is about heroism and optimism, and we’d like to see her run end with a story that allows her a chance to be the hero, save the day, and then move on to greener pastures. We’re starting to get a sense as to who her possible replacement could be (we saw her last week), but we don’t want to accelerate that story too much to the point where we somehow overlook the character who has been here from the beginning.

2. Give her goodbyes with many different characters – Abby has built a relationship with many different people over time and it would be nice to see that emphasized before she is gone. Our dream would be to get some sort of Michael Weatherly cameo, but for the time being that doesn’t feel altogether likely since he films Bull on the other side of the country. (Maybe Tony could Skype in?).

3. Build this episode around a challenging case – NCIS is still a mystery show, and we don’t want to see that aspect of it completely minimized just because this is the final episode of a cast member. Integrate Abby as the hero, but then also create some fantastic action sequences for the likes of Wilmer Valderrama and Maria Bello to work with. Go high-octane at moments in a way that we haven’t seen this season.

4. Create a small cliffhanger – We don’t want it to take away from Abby’s exit, but we do think that some sort of cliffhanger, whether it be a continuation of a case or a character in jeopardy, is a good way to tease what could be coming in an eventual season 16. (It hasn’t been renewed yet, but signs point towards it happening.)

Related – Want to preview the next new episode of NCIS?

What do you want to see on the NCIS season 15 finale, and how do you want Abby to be written out? Share below!

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