'NCIS: New Orleans' season 3 cast news, spoilers news: Agent Brody not returning for series' third installment

The "NCIS: New Orleans" team would be returning for its third run minus one of its original characters. Apparently, Zoe McLellan was written off the police procedural drama for "creative" purposes.

TV Line broke the news this week that McLellan, who played Agent Meredith "Merri" Brody in the series, was cut off the storyline for the upcoming season. The character's exit makes sense since her poor decision toward the end of season 2 put her and the team in trouble.

It would be recalled that in "NCIS: New Orleans" season 2, Agent Brody got into a relationship with Homeland Security Agent John Russo (Ivan Sergei). She thought she could trust him, but he turned out to be an anti-military fanatic.

Although Pride's (Scott Bakula) team effectively stopped Russo from bombing the city's port, Brody's association with him was in bad light. Her decisions ruffled a few feathers, which was why the entire team was put on administrative leave in the season 2 finale.

According to TV Line, these events prompted the series to make a "creative decision," which was to write McLellan off the story.

Cinema Blend surmised that Brody would take the fall for what happened in the finale, getting kicked off the team due to her poor decisions. Nevertheless, the publication was quick to note that the move was uncommon for a TV series since usually, the actor chooses to leave a series and not the other way around. It is being speculated that McLellan must be working out something in her personal life to prompt the write-out.

At any rate, a new agent is set to join the team when "NCIS: New Orleans" season 3 returns to the small screen. Vanessa Ferlito would play the sassy agent who, apparently, will be brought in from D.C. to investigate the affairs of the New Orleans-based team.

"NCIS: New Orleans" season 3 returns on Tuesday, Sept. 20 at 10 p.m. ET.