What happened to Breena on NCIS? Michelle Pierce's exit revisited

The popular CBS military procedural show NCIS premiered in 2003 and has since been one of the beloved shows on the network. The series depicts the lives of special agents working for the NCIS. Over the years, the show has depicted various types of stories proving that, apart from the action, the show also has heart. Therefore, whenever a character exited the show, it left a powerful impact on the remaining characters and viewers of the show.

The same thing happened when beloved character, Jimmy Palmer's (Brian Dietzen) wife, Breena (Michelle Pierce), bid farewell to the series in Season 18 in December 2020. The death was more heartwrenching because Breena was revealed to have died due to COVID-19 complications, making it a crucial moment as the real world was also experiencing the same grief as Jimmy was experiencing.

More on this in our story.

NCIS: Breena died in Season 18 due to COVID-19

In Episode 7, titled The First Day, of NCIS Season 18, it was first revealed that Jimmy Palmer had lost his beloved wife due to COVID-19. The medical examiner's wife, Breena, played by Michelle Pierce, first appeared in Season 7 and had been a fan-favorite recurring character, as everyone loved Jimmy and Breena's relationship.

Therefore, it was a shock for many in Season 18 when Breena was revealed to have passed away off-screen due to COVID complications. In the episode, Jimmy was shown to be grieving after he lost his wife to the deadly virus. He was heartbroken as he couldn't even be with her in her last moments due to the restrictions to contain the spread of the virus.

This storyline resonated with numerous people in the real world, as many were grappling with the impact and loss of loved ones due to the pandemic, experiencing similar grief to Jimmy as they were also not able to be with their loved ones in the final moments.

Pierce's character was a fan-favorite in the NCIS franchise, and her exit was used to depict one of the heartbreaking realities that the world was grappling with in 2020. Through Breena's untimely death and Jimmy's grief over it, the procedural series featured another episode that didn't just showcase the show's theme of action and police procedural but also narrated a story filled with heart and emotions, and resonated with many of its viewers.

Dietzen also later revealed that the storyline was written to show that the characters were also going through the same challenges that the whole world was facing at the time, but also did not want to lose a core team member of the show. While talking to PEOPLE, he stated:

"The producers let me know that we want the advent of COVID to hit our team. And yet, we don't want to lose a team member."

Pierce returned in Episode 13 of NCIS Season 19, as a hallucination of Jimmy as he was fighting for his life after being exposed to a biotoxin. She encouraged him to live on for the sake of his daughter. That was the last time Michelle Pierce was seen on the popular show.

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Also Read: NCIS Season 23 Episode 5: Release date news, time, streaming details, cast, and more

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