Pauley Perrette’s NCIS exit had apparently been in the works before her announcement went public, which allowed for NCIS’ creative team to steer things in ways that would allow for Abby to make a graceful departure.
The core NCIS characters actually originated on Jag, where Abby first rocked her goth garb, so it’ll be interesting to see if that very first appearance gets a callback.
And apparently that process opened up a creative bypass in the actress’ memory banks, inspiring her to reach back into Abby’s onscreen history to wink and nod at viewers who have been enjoying the show since its 2003 premiere.