Most Wanted’ Boss Breaks Down Julian McMahon’s Series Departure – Deadline

SPOILER ALERT: The following story reveals plot points from Tuesday’s episode of CBS’ FBI: Most Wanted.

Julian McMahon said goodbye to his FBI: Most Wanted character Jess LaCroix in Tuesday night’s episode of the CBS series, and it was heartbreaking to watch for a multitude of reasons.

In the episode, titled “Shattered,” Jess and the team are tackling a complicated domestic violence case and are on the trail of the perpetrator, Harley Ross (Toby Hemingway), and the victim, his longtime girlfriend Lucy Carver (Kelly Swint).

Unraveling this particular case was intensive, as the team races against the clock to beat Harley— who is killing anyone who potentially has information on Lucy’s whereabouts— from finding her first.

Lucy ran away from Harley with the help of an underground network that uses an elaborate website scheme to save victims of domestic abuse. It’s worth noting, Harley is a known drug abuser and cannot be reasoned with.

This case was particularly important to Jess, as his girlfriend Sarah (Jen Landon) was also abused by her former husband.

Amid their search, a new clue blows the whole thing wide open: Lucy had given birth to Harley’s daughter and never told him of her existence. Harley learns their daughter Mia exists and is battling cancer, and within seconds of Harley meeting her at the hospital, Jess and Sheryll Barnes (Roxy Sternberg) interrupt the reunion guns blazing.

Cornered, Harley runs away and Jess follows him to the parking lot. Jess finds a distressed Lucy hiding between cars begging for help. Harley emerges through the darkness and fatally shoots Jess, who is shielding Lucy. Barnes and Ivan Ortiz (Miguel Gomez) bring Harley down, but they are too late. Jess is dead.

In the final beats of the episode, a heartbroken Sarah travels with Jess’ father Byron (Terry O’Quinn) to give Tali (YaYa Gosselin) the heartbreaking news.

Executive producer David Hudgins breaks down McMahon’s final episode, how LaCroix’s death will affect the team moving forward, and when fans can expect to see the newly cast Dylan McDermott.

DEADLINE: We’re all sad to say goodbye to Julian McMahon and Jesse with so much finality. How much prep went into the episode, and was killing Jess off always the only option?

DAVID HUDGINS: As producers, we knew awhile ago that Julian wanted to pursue other creative pursuits. So I got in the room with a writer early on, and we started talking about how Jess would leave the show. We spent a lot of time on it, honestly, exploring every option. Everything was on the table. Ultimately, in the writers room, we kept coming back to this notion that the premise of this show is Most Wanted — we’re chasing the worst of the worst, the most dangerous of the dangerous. Inherently in that line of work, is the constant risk that you can either get injured or killed in the line of duty. And we just decided that true to the premise of the show, this was what was going to happen to Jess— he gets killed in the line of duty. But we also wanted to do it in a way where it was heroic, which is why he dies while trying to save [Lucy]. It’s shocking, it’s tragic. It’s emotional. It’s dramatic. And it was the best story we could do for the exit of this character.

DEADLINE: Did McMahon have any input into the fate of his character?

HUDGINS: Julian did not weigh in. He’s such a pro and such a good guy. He basically told us, “I trust you will do what’s best for the show.”

DEADLINE: What were the emotions like on set when you shot the final moments?

HUDGINS: It was very emotional, as you can imagine, with everybody there, including Julian. We were in a parking lot on Roosevelt Island in New York, in the heart of the city, which is appropriate for the death of that character. It was just extremely emotional for everybody but we all stepped up and got it done in a great way.

DEADLINE: Speaking of emotional, can you share any insight on that final scene where Sarah and Byron travel to tell Tali her dad has died?

HUDGINS: There is a version of this episode that could have ended with just the shooting. But as writers, we were always interested in exploring the emotion, the fallout, the grief, and the reality of that moment — which is why you have Barnes and Hana (Keisha Castle Hughes) telling Sarah. They’re all so great in that scene. And then bringing in Terry O’Quinn so they can go tell Tali at the end — what an emotional punch. It’s still not over. We are going to be exploring those characters and their grief, the team’s grief, and how they’re dealing with his absence over the next couple of episodes.

DEADLINE: Will the team be dealing…