UPDATE: Elisabeth Shue has also chosen not to participate in the "CSI" series finale, according to Entertainment Weekly.
EARLIER:
"CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" will take its final bow this fall, but without one of its founding member. George Eads, who played Nick Stokes, has opted out of the two-hour series finale that will bookend the 15-year run.
Creator Anthony E. Zuiker and the other "CSI" producers had hoped Eads would return for the final episode and play a role in the completed script, according to TVLine. However, his character didn't play a "critical role" to the plot and removing him from the story didn't require any major rewrites.
The writers had already wrapped up Eads' storyline in the season 15 finale when Nick transferred to San Diego to run the city's crime lab.
Original cast members William Petersen (Gil Grissom) and Marg Helgenberger (Catherine Willows) already confirmed their return shortly after CBS officially canceled the series and announced the fall finale. Helgenberger was under the impression that everyone would be returning for the last case.
"I'm excited... that all of us are going to be back," she told TVLine last weekend at the San Diego Comic-Con. "I think it's going to be a really fun time."
They will be joined by at least nine other returning cast members including Jorja Fox (Sara Sidle), Eric Szmanda (Greg Sanders), Robert David Hall (Dr. Al Robbins), David Berman (David Phillips), Wallace Langham (David Hodges), Jon Wellner (Henry Andrews), Elisabeth Harnois (Morgan Brody), Ted Danson (D.B. Russell) and Paul Guilfoyle (Captain Jim Brass), who left the show in 2014.
The finale will also feature arguably the most popular character to recur on the show: Dr. Heather Kessler, a.k.a Lady Heather, played by Melinda Clarke, according to TVLine. No other plot details have been revealed about the episode, tentatively titled "Immortality."
"CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" will solve its last mystery on Sunday, Sept. 27 on CBS.
