The cancelation of NCIS: Hawai’i after season 3 is even worse when remembering this major unresolved Jane Tennant storyline. The series introduced the mother of Vanessa Lachey’s Jane in season 3, episode 7, “The Next Thousand,” when Tennant suffers a head injury that causes Jane’s major vision of being in a cabin in the woods with a mysterious woman who knows too much about the case she is working. After Jane wakes up from her vision, she later realizes that the woman is her mother, looking exactly the way she did the day she abandoned Jane.
NCIS: Hawai’i was introduced to the NCIS universe in 2021 and is currently airing its third (and now final) season on CBS. It was a shock when the network recently announced that NCIS: Hawai’i season 4 is not happening. The announcement devastated those anticipating more from Vanessa Lachey’s Jane and the rest of the NCIS: Hawai’i characters, who represent a diverse cast of characters and brought many exciting firsts to the franchise. With the series ending abruptly, the storylines that won’t be explored worsen the show’s cancelation.
Lachey revealed that when she read the script that delved into that side of her character, she wrote to the showrunners Christopher Silber, Jan Nash, and Matt Bosack to thank them for allowing that story to be told. She said it’s not about the “woe is me” side of her struggle but about how the challenges she faced brought strength to her and her character, empowering Tennant to be capable of her role as Agent-in-Charge of the Pearl Harbor NCIS office. Lachey attributed the struggle that her character has persevered to her success as an NCIS agent:
Lachey revealed that when she read the script that delved into that side of her character, she wrote to the showrunners Christopher Silber, Jan Nash, and Matt Bosack to thank them for allowing that story to be told. She said it’s not about the “woe is me” side of her struggle but about how the challenges she faced brought strength to her and her character, empowering Tennant to be capable of her role as Agent-in-Charge of the Pearl Harbor NCIS office. Lachey attributed the struggle that her character has persevered to her success as an NCIS agent:
Canceling NCIS: Hawai’i before season 4 means that Lachey cannot revisit and evolve this powerful narrative for her character. It’s disappointing considering that Lachey made history with Jane Tennant as the first female lead for NCIS, and further expanding on her heroic journey could be an opportunity to empower women everywhere. Although the NCIS franchise has featured many powerful female characters throughout its over 1000 episodes, Jane’s character was unique in that she was a mother as well as a fighter. Lachey’s unique ability to portray this is why she was chosen for the role.
The development of Tennant’s female lead isn’t the only thing a canceled NCIS: Hawai’i will miss out on. Overall, the series represents some of the most diverse backgrounds in the NCIS universe. Along with representing the first top-billed female lead in an NCIS series, Lachey also represented the first Asian-American lead in the NCIS franchise. Not only was Lachey the first female lead in an NCIS series, but her character was also the first female Special Agent-in-Charge at NCIS Pearl Harbor, and mirroring this triumph in the show helped bring awareness to Lachey’s iconic role.
Along with representing the first top-billed female lead in an NCIS series, Lachey also represented the first Asian-American lead in the NCIS franchise.
