‘NCIS’ Kills off Clayton Reeves and Social Media Absolutely Hates It

NCIS fans expected a major character death on Tuesday’s episode, but they didn’t see this coming. The popular crime drama killed off killing off Clayton Reeves in the opening scenes, leaving fans shocked and appalled.

The episode is the final appearance of Abby Sciuto (Pauley Perrette.) The eccentric forensic scientist has been on NCIS since the very beginning, and last week’s cliffhanger made it look like she could die in the end of her run.

Instead, the episode began with the death of Clayton Reeves, the MI6 agent who was accompanying Abby when they were accosted by a mugger.

Fans were incensed at the bait and switch. They took to Twitter to lash out at the writers and producers.

“NCIS_CBS you people are killing me,” one fan wrote. “Reeves too? Damn you.”

“Screw NCIS,” wrote another. “They didn’t have to kill off Reeves.”

“ARE YOU EFFIN KIDDING ME THEY KILLED OFF REEVES?” wrote a third. “He was supposed to end up with Ellie or Abby, what am I supposed to do now? Ya done flipped my cranky switch @NCIS_CBS”.

“Stunned! Agent Reeves. Why!?!?!?! Abby you have to survive! #NCIS”.

While they were upset, many fans seemed to take a grim comfort in Reeves’ passing, figuring that this made it less likely that Abby herself would die on the episode. In the midst of the story, she even woke up and left the hospital, helping the rest of the department work on the case.

Perrette announced her departure from the show in October of 2017 through a post on Twitter.

“So, it is true that I am leaving NCIS after this season. There has been all kinds of false stories as to why (NO I DON’T HAVE A SKIN CARE LINE AND NO MY NETWORK AND SHOW ARE NOT MAD AT ME!),” she wrote frankly. “It was a decision made last year. I hope everyone will love and enjoy EVERYTHING ABBY not only for the rest of this season but for everything she has given all of us for 16 years. All the love, all the laughter, all the inspiration… I love her as much as you do.”

Perrette did not offer much more detail as to why she was making this massive transition in her life, though she did tell TV Guide that it was a soul-searching decision.

“I believe in God and the universe so firmly, and it just suddenly became blindingly apparent that now was the time,” she said. “After a lot of thought, I decided to announce it myself on Twitter because I didn’t want it to be turned into anything ‘shocking.’ Abby leaving is more than a cheap TV ploy.”