Why did Julian McMahon's Jesse 'Jess' LaCroix leave 'FBI: Most Wanted'?
TV producer Dick Wolf started the ‘FBI’ franchise in 2018 and expanded with two other spin-offs that aired in 2020 and 2022 respectively. The first spin-off from the drama ‘FBI’, titled ‘FBI: Most Wanted’, premiered on CBS in January 2020 and focused on the work of the FBI’s Fugitive Task Force which relentlessly tracks and captures the notorious and dangerous criminals on the Bureau’s most wanted list.
The team is overseen by Jesse “Jess” LaCroix (Julian McMahon), a seasoned agent who uses his skills to apprehend some of the most dangerous criminals in the nation. For the first three seasons, Jess was undoubtedly the strongest pillar of the team and was always there for everyone. However, viewers got a shock of a lifetime when McMahon announced that he is leaving the series. Fans were really surprised by McMahon’s decision and urged him to stay, but he had made it clear that he won’t be returning to the show.
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With Season 4 just around the corner, fans hope to see their favorite character back on the show. But why did Julian McMahon leave the show? Take a look.
Why did Julian McMahon’s Jesse leave the show?
In January 2022, Julian McMahon shared a statement with Deadline and said that he has decided to leave ‘FBI: Most Wanted’ in order to pursue more creative roles. In his statement, McMahon also revealed that he discussed the issue with the makers and it has given them an opportunity to “orchestrate a seamless and productive way for me to leave the show.”
If you are a fan of the show, you must have felt really sad after learning that McMahon won’t be a part of the show. However, actors tend to leave long-running shows in order to explore and take their acting careers to a whole new level. Sometimes they succeed and sometimes they don’t, but it happens all the time.
But, how Julian McMahon’s character was written off from the show? So, the episode that aired on March 8, 2022, saw Jesse dying while trying to catch a criminal. In the episode, the ‘Most Wanted’ team was assigned to track down an abusive man who was stalking his ex-girlfriend. However, the cast started becoming more and more intense when the team found out that the man was killing any person who was in contact with his ex-girlfriend. In the final moments of the episode, Jesse reached a parking lot where he saw the man’s ex-girlfriend and tried to save her.
While trying to do so, the culprit suddenly entered the parking lot and shot Jesse in the neck. Even though the culprit was killed by the other members of ‘Most Wanted’, Jesse bled out from the wound and died in the parking lot. In the end, it was a heroic end because fans know how personal this case was for him. His girlfriend, Sarah, was also a victim of abuse and knew how important it was for him to save the girl.
The character has been killed off by the makers, meaning that Jesse won’t be returning to the show.