Why Sela Ward left FBI (and why she won’t be back on the show)

If you started your FBI journey recently, whether in preparation for the upcoming sixth season or because you’ve finally gotten around to bingeing the hit CBS procedural, then you’ve seen Sela Ward’s brief turn as Special Agent in Charge Dana Moiser in the series.

For 22 episodes, she led the team with an authority that included a staid hand and a trust in the people in her department. Dana was a profiler whose expertise in behavioral science and understanding of human emotion came in clutch, helped solve the case, and brought victims justice. However, Ward’s character is only present in season 1 and hasn’t made an appearance in subsequent episodes.

What happened to Dana and why did Ward leave the show? Here’s what we know.

What happened to Dana on FBI?

In the season 1 finale, “Closure,” which focused on a case that brought Special Agent Maggie Bell answers on why her husband was targeted and killed, Dana decided to retire. When she was asked why she was making such an abrupt move, she told Jubal that for the first time in her career she’d made a decision based on emotion during the case, not logic and protocol.

She explained that she shouldn’t have allowed Maggie to apprehend the woman responsible for calling the hit in on her husband. While Maggie did do the right thing and didn’t get revenge for what happened when she held the woman at gun point, she could have very well been overwhelmed by grief and anger. Dana’s choice to put her in that position could have ended badly and Maggie’s career and life could have been ruined.

Dana was happy that Maggie was able to get justice for her husband the right away, but she felt it was best if she retire. In fact, she was excited to step into this new phase of her life, to see what was next for her.

Why did Sela Ward leave FBI?

When Deadline reported Ward’s exit, the outlet noted that she had only been on a year contract so her departure was expected. The actress’ presence on the series had been a delightful surprise for fans of her work on CSI: NY because she had let on that procedurals weren’t really for her, giving the impression that that program would have been her last in the genre.

However, Ward told TVInsider the following about why she joined the cast of FBI:

"I thrive and shine where there are relationship pieces. When I have a role like CSI or this, I feel like a racehorse who gets five gallops out of the gate and then gets stuck, [even though] I’m ready to fly around the track. I did this because I’ve known Dick Wolf forever and it would give me a reason to be in New York. I’ve been dying to move back here."

Her role as Dana Moiser is her last acting credit. Given Ward’s opinion of procedurals, in regards to her own acting process and preference, if she does take on another project in the future it likely won’t be on FBI or any other procedural airing on TV.

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