Here is Why Agent McGee Needed Tony DiNozzo to Exit 'NCIS'

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Michael Weatherly really made "NCIS" a show that was funnier, less serious while at the same time, keeping that serious tone you'd expect of a crime show. His character, Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, was a comedian, he offered banter, he offered character dynamics that actually set the show's tone for multiple seasons.

He had a mentee-mentor relationship with Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (played by Mark Harmon), to that slow-boiling romance we all loved with Ziva David (Cote de Pablo), and of course we can't forget the relationship he had with McGee, where they were basically brothers.

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In fact, the set-up on "NCIS" character dynamics worked as a family for many seasons. Gibbs, as the father, whoever the director was as the "mother" (this especially worked with Gibbs's ex-wife in that position), and there has always been a brother (McGee) or a sister (Kate). Ziva flucutauated the dynamic because she was more... of a girlfriend than anything, an in-law, basically.

But anyway, Michael Weatherly was what made the show for a while, but when Weatherly departed, it was a new door opened for some people on the series, such as Sean Murray's McGee.

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McGee could not grow when he was always in the shadow of his "big brother", but once Weatherly was gone, McGee was able to grow enough to step in and fill his shoes.

The Chicago Tribune wrote: "What got difficult is it seemed like the character had to go. You can’t be in that No. 2 slot forever. That started to become a constraint to me and that ended up being some of the tension DiNozzo was having on the team…McGee [Sean Murray] is looking at him going, ‘Will you get out of here, I wanna be No. 2!”

McGee is also taken more seriously as a character (and person) on the show without Weatherly there overshadowing him, and casting him in a "little brother" light.

He carries the air of boss! DiNozzo's departure for his daughter, Tali, with Ziva David, allowed Gibbs to look at McGee how he used to look at DiNozzo.

The trust they feel for one another is unbreakable. It's unbreakable because, as an agent on a team of others, you have to put them first before yourself. If you can't do that, you shouldn't be on the team.

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They respect one another now, and it's a deep-seated respect. The new agents on-staff look at McGee as, not a "probie" or probationary officer, but as an original agent who demands respect. If he's got a plan, you listen, if he has an idea, you listen. His brains have really gotten the team through some tough times, and never received the appreciation he deserved, until now.

We've seen McGee hack into various databases and websites and even other government organizations with Abby, but now that he's the "OG", people are finally listening.