NCIS season 16 debate: Why the lack of Abby mentions?

As of late, NCIS has found itself in somewhat of a nostalgic mood. The recent episode “She” brought back memories of Ziva for the first time since Michael Weatherly exited the show. Meanwhile, we’ve also seen a return from Robert Wagner as Anthony DiNozzo Sr. and also Ducky making his way back into the lab. (Whether or not we get to see him for too much longer is another story all together though).

For the sake of this article, we’re talking about something that still has many question-marks going off in our head — Abby, or to be more specific the glaring lack of Abby this season. It’s been less than a year since Pauley Perrette first left the show, and considering some of the circumstances of Abby’s exit why no mention of her at all? The character did not die, nor did she leave in such a way where nobody would be in touch with her. With how saddened everyone was with her leaving the lab it’s clear that she had/has great relationships with a number of team members, so would no one have been in touch to see how things are going?

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So why not mention Abby more? Why not reference what she’s up to from someone like McGee who we feel would still be talking with her on the regular. It’s a strange position that NCIS has put itself in as we understand that it would want to move forward and not bring up the past too much, but it’s also weird to see everyone forget about a major character entirely.

Much of it could be allowing Diona Reasonover to shine as Kasie (which, for the record, she’s done a great job at). She’s brought a lot of heart and passion to this part in a way that’s very different from Abby and we don’t think it benefits the Kasie character to have to face almost-constant comparisons to someone else who is clearly very much beloved.

Yet, we’re at the point now where Kasie has established herself in the lab and with the team. She’s obviously not another Abby and it would benefit NCIS to at least offer an update on her here and there. Is it so bad for them to mention what she’s been up to since leaving the team, or let us know if she’s at least happy with her choice? We’re not sure a return for Perrette is in the cards — she has a new CBS pilot, and we think that we got most of Abby’s story we needed over 15 years — but there is still a history here and friendships that extend outside of the office. It was one of those friendships that led to her and Clayton Reeves spending time together at the time of his death.

We hope that there are at the very least a few little Abby updates the remainder of the season. Even if that’s all we get, it’s another reminder that she is still a part of people’s lives since we have a really hard time believing that she doesn’t speak to anyone there.

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Do you wish NCIS was using Abby more than they are? Be sure to share right now in the comments. (Photo: CBS.)