Christopher LaSalle died during the latest episode of NCIS: New Orleans and fans are still reeling from it. Actor Lucas Black had played the character since the spinoff began and fans loved watching him on the show.
As we reported earlier in the week, LaSalle was ambushed and murdered during a new episode of NCIS: New Orleans. It happened early in the episode, keeping fans on the edge of their seats as the episode progressed.
One pivotal scene made it seem like LaSalle was waking up from his hospital bed after having surgery on multiple gunshot wounds, but it turned out that he was seeing his brother. Cade LaSalle had also been murdered on the show, which is what Christopher had been investigating when he was shot.
This was the last scene I shot with @lucas_york_black and it’s pretty representative of our entire time together. Lucas has always supported me, lifted me up, and reminded me that this ridiculous profession is supposed to be fun. Love you, bud. Also pictured: Our Christmas Album. pic.twitter.com/PRZHVSsfVg
— Rob Kerkovich (@RobKerkovich) November 7, 2019
Fan reaction very negative to Christopher LaSalle death
There have been a lot of posts on social media and comments from fans on articles about the tense episode. Many of them are quite negative, with some fans even stating that they don’t want to watch the show without Lucas Black on it.
A high number of fans have also stated that Black was one of the main reasons they tuned in to the show in the first place. For that group of fans, the surprising death of LaSalle was particularly difficult to deal with on Tuesday night.
It could be very interesting to see what the CBS ratings look like for the next episode of NCIS: New Orleans. The preview for the new episode already has a different feel to it without LaSalle, but the writers have to do something to take the show in a new direction.
Will fans accept that new direction? This won’t be the first major change for the NCIS: New Orleans cast, but it is always difficult for a show to maintain its viewership numbers when someone popular leaves the show.
The original NCIS has survived the exits of Michael Weatherly (Anthony DiNozzo), Pauley Perrette (Abby Sciuto), and Cote de Pablo (Ziva Davis) so anything is possible with the spinoff.
NCIS: New Orleans airs Tuesday nights at 10/9c on CBS.