What Happened To Pauley Perrette's Abby Sciuto On NCIS?

One of the more striking characters to emerge from the expansive "NCIS" universe was Abby (Pauley Perrette), the quirky Goth forensics expert. Unlike the stern military types that surrounded her, Abby was a free spirit, smiling and offering a fresh social perspective to her older colleagues. Abby appeared on the first 15 seasons of "NCIS" (it's currently on its 22nd), ultimately leaving her job — and the show — after a traumatic incident. 

Abby was sometimes a high-strung character, expressing a great deal of stress when one of her NCIS colleagues was injured. In the episode "One Step Forward" (May 1, 2018), an MI6 agent named Reeves (Duane Henry) was killed trying to protect Abby from an assassin. Abby tracked down the assassin and fooled him into a confession using a ploy involving a coffee cup full of poison. She did manage to get a confession, and the assassin was apprehended, but Reeves' death was too much for her to handle, and she quit being a forensics expert. 

Behind the scenes, however, Perrette was having other issues. In 2014, she had a severe allergic reaction to her character's black hair dye, an allergy that landed her in the hospital. In 2018, she said on social media that she was subjected to bullying on set by one of her co-stars. Perrette declared firmly that no, she was never coming back to "NCIS" after her exit, saying she was "terrified of Harmon and him attacking me. I have nightmares about it." 

Harmon is, of course, Mark Harmon, the lead actor of "NCIS" who played the tech-phobic Gibbs. The "and him" referred to Harmon's dog that he brought to the set for a visit. The dog bit a crew member, who needed 15 stitches (per The Wrap). Needless to say, Perrette and Harmon fell out after that.

Perrette has stayed true to her word, and hasn't been involved with "NCIS" or any of its many, many spinoffs since 2018. Harmon left the series in 2021, however, which might lead some to speculate that Perrette would return now that her offending co-star is no longer involved in any on-set actions (Harmon remains a credited executive producer on "NCIS" and its spinoffs "NCIS: New Orleans" and "NCIS: Origins"). If Perrette and Harmon are still not speaking, then there's little chance that the actress will return. She has, however, been adamant about staying away.

Within the show's canon, Abby moved to England when she accompanied Reeves' corpse to its final resting place. The charity she began in his honor was made to help the homeless. Although Abby seemingly had no interest in working in the NCIS offices any longer, there's every reason to believe she would change her mind and return because she missed the fast pace, and the constant drama, of her old gig. Abby had her life together, though; she wasn't one to make major life decisions rashly. Indeed, Perrette said of the character (in a 2007 interview with Buddy TV) "With Abby, ['NCIS' creator Don Bellisario] wanted to take an alternative-style person with tattoos and make her someone who is happy, totally put together and successful. All the script said about her was: black hair, caffeinated and smart."

Abby, however, was seemingly aware of what was still going on in the NCIS offices after her departure. In the episode "The Stories We Leave Behind" (February 19, 2024) the long-running character of Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard died (due to actor David McCallum passing), and his NCIS characters gathered to mourn. At his memorial, one could spy an all-black, skull-emblazoned Goth wreath with a "Love You Ducky" banner on it. Kasie (Diona Reasonover) says to a friend about the wreath, "Bet you can guess who it's from."