Centered around a team of agents working for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the CBS crime procedural “NCIS” has been extremely successful. The show is going into its 20th season this fall, having premiered all the way back in 2003. As the story of “NCIS” focuses on tracking down dangerous criminals, including murderers and terrorists, the series can get a little dangerous for its characters. From very early on, “NCIS” made it clear that it isn’t afraid to kill off even the show’s main characters, with Agent Kate Todd (Sasha Alexander) dying in the Season 2 finale after being shot in an act ordered by Ari Haswari (Rudolf Martin).
Over the years, the “NCIS” team has changed a lot, with many different members coming and going from the core group of agents. But the ones who leave do not always go voluntarily, and Agent Gibbs (Mark Harmon) and the others lose quite a few close friends and talented agents over the seasons. Sometimes, it’s the smaller, side character deaths that feel the most monumental. In just Season 18, “NCIS” sees the death of Breena Palmer (Michelle Pierce), the wife of Medical Examiner Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen), the accidental drug overdose of Emily Fornell (Juliette Angelo), and the killing of an entire team of agents in an explosion.
But what is the most painful minor character death from all 19 seasons?
Fans declare Ned Dorneget’s death the hardest to bear
A fan of “NCIS” took to Reddit to find out “Which of these deaths hurt the most?” The thread includes a poll that featured a few of the minor character deaths that occur in later seasons of the CBS show, with a total of 72 fans adding their vote or voicing their opinion in the comments. Based on the results, the one death that affected “NCIS” fans the most is that of Ned “Dorney” Dorgenet,” played by Matt Jones, who is killed in action in Season 12, episode 23, “The Lost Boys.”
Dorney dies from injuries sustained by the blast of explosions set off by terrorist Daniel Budd (Giles Matthey), the leader of the Calling organization. Many fans like Dorney because he is sweet and kind, and in the end he sacrifices himself to make sure all of the other people in a location in Cairo, Egypt are evacuated before the explosives go off. After his death, the “NCIS” team attend his funeral ceremony, during which Gibbs sees visions of many other important agents who have died over the years, including Kate and Jennifer Shepard (Lauren Holly).
Other notable characters whose death fans voted for or mentioned in the Reddit poll as some of the most heart-wrenching include Gibbs’s ex-wife Diane Sterling (Melinda McGraw), who is killed by a bullet to the head, Qasim Naasir (Rafi Silver), an NCIS translator in a relationship with Agent Eleanor Bishop (Emily Wickersham) who is murdered, and Agent Paula Cassidy (Jessica Steen), who dies in action in Season 4 but is also seen at Dorney’s funeral by Gibbs.
