NCIS fans haven’t seen Abby Sciuto in the CBS drama for a few years, but season 20 has shown that her legacy lives on.
Abby Sciuto (Pauley Perrette) bid farewell to Gibbs (Mark Harmon), McGee (Sean Murray), and the rest of the NCIS team at the end of the show’s 15th season. Rumours and calls for a potential comeback continue to circulate among NCIS fans, though Perrette herself appeared to put an end to them in 2020 by announcing her retirement from acting. Nonetheless, fans are free to fantasize, and with a recent nod from Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen) in the show’s 20th season, Abby’s popularity is as strong as ever.
Abby references have been scarce in the four years since she left NCIS, but season 20 has delivered not one, but two.
Fans had already been treated to a cryptic tribute six episodes in, thanks to the reintroduction of Abby’s favorite drink, Caf-Pow.
However, in the sixth episode, Palmer addressed Abby by name, fueling further speculation about her return and bringing the fan favorite to the forefront of viewers’ minds.
The Good Fighter, episode six of Season 20, focused primarily on Kasie Hines (Diona Reasonover) completing an undercover mission, but the moment caught fans’ attention.
With Kasie gone, Palmer entered the lab where she and Abby had been working to process evidence for the case the team was working on.
Palmer reached for the hand-written Abby’s Lab for Dummies manual, clearly not as knowledgeable as Abby or his current NCIS colleague.
This nod would have been enough to pique interest, but NCIS executives added another sweet nod to ensure Abby’s presence was felt.
As Palmer flipped through the manual, the score changed to a techno/punk soundtrack reminiscent of the scenes Abby used to appear in.
Palmer, on the other hand, clearly lacks Abby’s talent, as he soon causes the lab’s computers to malfunction.
But, as is typical on NCIS, everything worked out in the end, with Kasie emerging as the hero as a result of her rare involvement in the field.
Kasie even got into a fistfight with an armed assailant, which was a nod to Abby’s own physical altercation in season three’s Bloodbath.
Fans naturally expressed their delight at the abundance of Abby content online, with Twitter user @THEMaggiewarren writing, “No but imagine Abby and Kasie working together and being besties!!!”
“Loved the reference back to Abby!” said Katy elsewhere. “I’ve always liked Abby’s lab for dummies (with McGeek on the cover!)”
“Jimmy reading Abby’s lab for dummies shows how much we all miss Abby in the lab NCIS,” Kevin N said.
“Abby’s Lab for Dummies, that’s a throwback ‘NCIS’ ‘TheGoodFighter’,” @elongatedbean added.
“ABBY’S LAB FOR DUMMIES????” said @littleriolu. NCIS, IT’S BEEN SO LONG.”
And Bud Kinches added to the excitement, saying, “Did I just hear Abby’s name? It’s been a long time, NCIS.”
Unfortunately, there is no concrete evidence that Abby will be returning to NCIS anytime soon.
And Perrette has yet to publicly address the reference to her character.
She did, however, take to Twitter on Monday to pay tribute to Will and Grace star Leslie Jordan, who d1ed at the age of 67.
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