NCIS writer admits not wanting to kill off this beloved franchise character

NCIS has been around for two decades, so naturally, there have been a few tragic deaths over the years. Every long-running show has to contend with cast turnover, and NCIS is a procedural in which characters put their life on the line on a weekly basis. It doesn't always go according to plan.

We as fans are always going to be shocked by a show's decision to kill a beloved character, but there was a rare instance in which an NCIS writer was equally shocked! Jesse Stern, a former NCIS scribe, recently went on the podcast Off Duty: An NCIS Rewatch and admitted that he was completely taken aback when he was told to write a death scene for Special Agent Mike Franks (Muse Watson).

Former NCIS showrunner wanted Franks killed

NCIS showrunner Gary Glasberg informed the writer that Franks had to be given the boot in the season 8 episode "Pyramid." Franks had yet to appear in an episode that season, and Stern didn't really want to be the guy responsible for killing such an admired recurring character.

"I was just like, 'Are you kidding? We're going to bring the guy in just to kill him off,'" Stern recalled. "I'm like, 'Everyone's going to see it coming. It's not the way to do it.' I tried to talk him out of the decision." The writer claimed that Glasberg, who died in 2016, was determined to write Mike Franks off, so he eventually agreed.

"Pyramid" was Jesse Stern's last NCIS episode

"Pyramid" wound up being Stern's last NCIS script. The writer decided that Franks' swan song would also be is, and he poured his attention into an episode that killed the character in an unexpected and satisfying way. He also wanted to leave a little bit of wiggle room for the character to return to NCIS if the writers/producers so chose.

"I'm going to do it in a way you don't see coming and I'm going to do it in a way where the actor can come back," he told the Off Duty hosts. Stern got his wish, as Franks would return as "Ghost Mike" (NCIS Wiki's name, not ours), a spiritual manifestation, in several other NCIS episodes.

If that wasn't enough, Franks is also a main character on NCIS: Origins. The show recounts the early days of Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Austin Stowell), and the close friendship he forms with Franks (played by Kyle Schmid). Franks remains as vital to the franchise as ever these days, and thanks to Stern, he was given a worthy sendoff.