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NCIS: When does Caitlin ‘Kate’ Todd die? Which episode?

By Danilo Castro

SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 08: Actress Sasha Alexander attends the Montecito Award Ceremony Honoring Penélope Cruz during the 2022 Santa Barbara International at The Arlington Theatre on March 08, 2022 in Santa Barbara, California. (Photo by Chelsea Guglielmino/Getty Images)
SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 08: Actress Sasha Alexander attends the Montecito Award Ceremony Honoring Penélope Cruz during the 2022 Santa Barbara International at The Arlington Theatre on March 08, 2022 in Santa Barbara, California. (Photo by Chelsea Guglielmino/Getty Images) /
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Nobody expect the main character of a show to die. It’s happened before, sure, but the notion of someone that we’ve spent years following suddenly kicking the bucket is devastating, and NCIS did just that with the character of Caitlin ‘Kate’ Todd (Sasha Alexander).

Kate was the co-lead of the procedural drama, alongside Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon), during its first two seasons. She spearheaded each episode’s investigation, and a lot of screen time was dedicated to fleshing out her personal life. Then, just like that, she was gone.

Why did Sasha Alexander leave NCIS?

Kate died in the season 2 finale, titled “Twilight”. She was killed by a rogue Mossad agent named Ari Haswari after successfully clearing a warehouse housing a terrorist cell. She was shot in the head by the aforementioned Haswari, and died as a result of her injuries soon thereafter. In the episode “Kill Ari”, it’s revealed that Kate was targeted because it was determined that her death would cause Gibbs the most pain.

At Gibbs’ insistence, Kate is posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Kate went on to make uncredited vocal appearances in NCIS seasons 3 and 8, but her memory still lingers as a reminder of what can happen on the job.

The reason the writing team decided to kill off Kate was because the actress who played her, Sasha Alexander, wanted to leave the show and appear in other projects. She elaborated on the desire during a 2012 interview with TV Guide.

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“People don’t realize that on a network show, you make 24 episodes a year — that’s 10½ months a year, 17 hours a day. It’s hardcore”, the actress explained. “Plus, people really loved the character, and the way they did it was really shocking…it was a bullet to the head, you know?”

The decision proved to be the right one. Alexander assured fans that she has no regrets about leaving NCIS, or having her character be killed off in shocking fashion. “I really firmly believe in my heart that I would not be where I am today — happily married, with two kids, doing things creatively that I want — if I had stayed.” How can you argue with that?

Next. NCIS star pays tribute to David McCallum. dark

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