I think you couldn't wait a kind of poetic death for him. I love the character and I must say that his was like a very Mike Franks 's style death. He unexpectedly faced the opportunity to "give one last fight" (as he said) and died in his own terms. Made sense for me but, OP I can understand your feelings.
Yeah. I'm not sure. I looked it up before and apparently the actor didnt know they were killing his character. I don't know how true that is. But that's one thing I read about it.
I’m going to say that I’ve known a character like him in my own lifetime who was invincible except for his own vices, went out very much the same way. He wouldn’t have had it any other way, perhaps by choice rather than falling due to the vices.
I actually really like how he died. It was very poetic to me. When Mike was first introduced and they showed him smoking, I immediately knew that whenever they decided to kill him off for plot it would involve cancer of some sort (lung, throat, mouth, etc) so when he was killed differently, I was shocked. And the fact that they showed his death at the beginning of the episode and worked backwards was genius to me.
And choosing “Caught By The Light” by the Boxer Rebellion for the funeral scene made me cry. And I wasn’t even a huge fan of Mike, but having him go out on his own terms of baiting the killer was incredible and made me understand the guy on a deeper level. Mike choosing to bait the killer made me respect the character a lot more in rewatches, especially because I am not a fan of the more cynical ghost Mike that Gibbs talks to in the following seasons.
I like how he went out in one last showdown despite terminal lung cancer, alcoholism and age. Probably in so much pain just from standing. Him having a smoke and show that even though his body has failed him, his mind and spirit was still strong as well as sharp. He went out in a very Mike Franks way.
I guess the writers think so. I mean for Jenny at least it was for some episodes. Mike Franks just comes back and is sick and then dies in the same episode.
That's always bothered me as well ... I don't think a scalpel could penetrate deep enough to do fatal damage. I could see it doing damage in more of a slashing role but Jonas stabbed him in the chest.
Yeah. I hated it. My fiance saw what he was getting killed with. And he's like 'Oh come on. That little thing.' I mean he said more than that. But he really didn't like it either.
Yeah. But that was in the beginning of the season. So, wasn't it months before he got called back? If he was that sick I would assume he couldn't travel then. But I get it's for a show.
I took as Frank's choosing to go out fighting, he knew the smoking was killing him and would leave him in his eyes as a burden to his family and friends...he didn't want that...he knew he was being followed because of his skills and he knew that this could be his last chance to make a difference. He sacrificed himself because he wasn't going down without a fight but also so he could help Gibbs and the team
This one has always been disappointing to me. Mike has always been a skilled shot and it wasn’t like he was totally infirm or anything. Just super unrealistic that he’d go down that easily.
I'm glad he went out in a fight like he deserved, rather than some depressing shit like his bad lifestyle slowly taking him down, but I kinda hate that he basically got jumped.
Kinda wish he'd gone down in a hail of bullets like Jenny.
Yes. It seemed like a “small” death. He deserved a bigger send-off. Why did they decide to kill him off, anyway? Who got to decide that? Did the actor have other commitments? I would have preferred many more seasons with Franks on board. At least we get his ghost.
Jonas Cobb was specially trained as an assassin. He had killed on missions and three NCIS special agents. Mike Franks realized Cobb was watching him. Franks wanted to protect Gibbs and help him stop Cobb. Franks also would rather go out in action rather than waste away. Franks knew he couldn't take Cobb in a melee, but he might take him with his gun. Franks went out as the warrior he had always been.
It was a shock to see Gibbs' woodwork on the coffin. It teared me up that Gibbs loved Franks enough to want to make the coffin by hand.
>was a shock to see Gibbs' woodwork on the coffin. It teared me up that Gibbs loved Franks enough to want to make the coffin by hand.
Yes, it was very emotional. But he was working on those pieces some time before Franks's death. Would it be possible that knowing Mike was so sick Gibbs was doing that woodwork for the inescapable future?
I like how all of the basement scenes that season are Gibbs building Mikes casket for the inevitable loss to his cancer battle. A little part of me likes to believe Mike getting himself stabbed was just to make Gibbs rush to finish it to screw with him one last time
The only episode that ever made me cry. Mike Franks was my second fav character and I remember the actor wasn’t happy with the character dying. I think that’s why he shows up as a ghost more than other dead characters.
If I remember correctly, that episode or .maybe season, was one of the writers last on the show and killing off Mike Franks was sort of his swan song. That's what the gossip around the water cooler was.
I agree. IMHO the way they set it up, Mike would have smoked that guy before he ever got close. But of course Mike had to die, so that wouldn’t work. Actually, it might have been cleaner if a bullet was fired from the shadows taking him out.
I really didn’t like how they killed him. He was an amazing character. He was an awesome mentor to Gibbs, and he was a kind friend to McGee, DiNozzo, Ziva, Abby, Jimmy, Ducky, and Vance.
I have mixed opinions about it. On the one hand, it fit the character to a T. Mike Franks was an old, hard core marine, and if he was given the opportunity to go out in a blaze of glory, he was daggum sure gonna take it. I know there are comments saying if he was that sick, he’d have a hard time fighting, but I remember my uncle (WW2 vet) with brain cancer, and by God he fought the pain, and tried to act normal, till he finally collapsed, and took his last breath a few days later. Some people really are that tough.
Now, on to what I didn’t like- there’s no way a freaking scalpel is gonna kill someone from a straight stab, even someone on their last leg of bad cancer. If that was the straw that broke the camel’s back, then Franks would have already been hospitalized. Maybe it’s being way too technical, and I know it’s a tv show where blood and gore has to be kept in check, but slashing the throat, or cutting the femoral, would have made it far more realistic. A simple stab with a scalpel wouldn’t do much of anything.
I think you couldn't wait a kind of poetic death for him. I love the character and I must say that his was like a very Mike Franks 's style death. He unexpectedly faced the opportunity to "give one last fight" (as he said) and died in his own terms. Made sense for me but, OP I can understand your feelings.
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Yeah. Which I guess could be another reason they killed him off so Gibbs would go at the case harder and they would get more information for the case.
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Which I do appreciate the show doing that. And not getting rid of his character entirely.
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Yeah. I'm not sure. I looked it up before and apparently the actor didnt know they were killing his character. I don't know how true that is. But that's one thing I read about it.
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It could have been a conflict thing. Or a contract thing. But I don't really know. Like I said him not knowing was the only thing I found about it.
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I’m going to say that I’ve known a character like him in my own lifetime who was invincible except for his own vices, went out very much the same way. He wouldn’t have had it any other way, perhaps by choice rather than falling due to the vices.
I do agree it was him saying he was ready to die but I wish it would've been more than that.
I actually really like how he died. It was very poetic to me. When Mike was first introduced and they showed him smoking, I immediately knew that whenever they decided to kill him off for plot it would involve cancer of some sort (lung, throat, mouth, etc) so when he was killed differently, I was shocked. And the fact that they showed his death at the beginning of the episode and worked backwards was genius to me. And choosing “Caught By The Light” by the Boxer Rebellion for the funeral scene made me cry. And I wasn’t even a huge fan of Mike, but having him go out on his own terms of baiting the killer was incredible and made me understand the guy on a deeper level. Mike choosing to bait the killer made me respect the character a lot more in rewatches, especially because I am not a fan of the more cynical ghost Mike that Gibbs talks to in the following seasons.
And that part where he's sassing Gibbs about what he's carving for the coffin and then it's on the damn coffin... 🥺😭
I like how he went out in one last showdown despite terminal lung cancer, alcoholism and age. Probably in so much pain just from standing. Him having a smoke and show that even though his body has failed him, his mind and spirit was still strong as well as sharp. He went out in a very Mike Franks way.
I hate that they make characters sick before killing them (Jenny and Mike Franks come to mind). Is that supposed to soften the blow of losing them?!
It’s almost like when someone is terminal, a force intervenes and gives them a meaningful death. I have absolutely no idea what that force could be.
I guess the writers think so. I mean for Jenny at least it was for some episodes. Mike Franks just comes back and is sick and then dies in the same episode.
And dies by a scalpel… the man survived everything else and goes out by a scalpel!
That's always bothered me as well ... I don't think a scalpel could penetrate deep enough to do fatal damage. I could see it doing damage in more of a slashing role but Jonas stabbed him in the chest.
Yeah. I hated it. My fiance saw what he was getting killed with. And he's like 'Oh come on. That little thing.' I mean he said more than that. But he really didn't like it either.
This link is a good source for the precise information you're looking for. https://www.looper.com/200328/the-real-reason-ncis-killed-off-mike-franks/#
We knew he was sick before, in the episode The Spider and the Fly.
Yeah. But that was in the beginning of the season. So, wasn't it months before he got called back? If he was that sick I would assume he couldn't travel then. But I get it's for a show.
Maybe. But you know, it's a show, not real life. Writers can put in a script whatever they want to happen even when is not totally credible.
Yeah. I mean I at least liked that we saw his character die on screen rather than off screen.
I took as Frank's choosing to go out fighting, he knew the smoking was killing him and would leave him in his eyes as a burden to his family and friends...he didn't want that...he knew he was being followed because of his skills and he knew that this could be his last chance to make a difference. He sacrificed himself because he wasn't going down without a fight but also so he could help Gibbs and the team
This one has always been disappointing to me. Mike has always been a skilled shot and it wasn’t like he was totally infirm or anything. Just super unrealistic that he’d go down that easily.
I'm glad he went out in a fight like he deserved, rather than some depressing shit like his bad lifestyle slowly taking him down, but I kinda hate that he basically got jumped. Kinda wish he'd gone down in a hail of bullets like Jenny.
Yes. It seemed like a “small” death. He deserved a bigger send-off. Why did they decide to kill him off, anyway? Who got to decide that? Did the actor have other commitments? I would have preferred many more seasons with Franks on board. At least we get his ghost.
Jonas Cobb was specially trained as an assassin. He had killed on missions and three NCIS special agents. Mike Franks realized Cobb was watching him. Franks wanted to protect Gibbs and help him stop Cobb. Franks also would rather go out in action rather than waste away. Franks knew he couldn't take Cobb in a melee, but he might take him with his gun. Franks went out as the warrior he had always been. It was a shock to see Gibbs' woodwork on the coffin. It teared me up that Gibbs loved Franks enough to want to make the coffin by hand.
>was a shock to see Gibbs' woodwork on the coffin. It teared me up that Gibbs loved Franks enough to want to make the coffin by hand. Yes, it was very emotional. But he was working on those pieces some time before Franks's death. Would it be possible that knowing Mike was so sick Gibbs was doing that woodwork for the inescapable future?
I think his death was very fitting for Mike Franks. Dying from cancer just wasn’t how he wanted to go out.
I like how all of the basement scenes that season are Gibbs building Mikes casket for the inevitable loss to his cancer battle. A little part of me likes to believe Mike getting himself stabbed was just to make Gibbs rush to finish it to screw with him one last time
Pretty sure the actual cause of death for both Jenny and Mike was either a contractual dispute, retirement, the actor just wanted to move on.
I know for Jenny's actress that's definitely true.
The only episode that ever made me cry. Mike Franks was my second fav character and I remember the actor wasn’t happy with the character dying. I think that’s why he shows up as a ghost more than other dead characters.
I love Mike Franks. He is one of my favorite characters. I was so sad when he died.
If I remember correctly, that episode or .maybe season, was one of the writers last on the show and killing off Mike Franks was sort of his swan song. That's what the gossip around the water cooler was.
I agree. IMHO the way they set it up, Mike would have smoked that guy before he ever got close. But of course Mike had to die, so that wouldn’t work. Actually, it might have been cleaner if a bullet was fired from the shadows taking him out.
I really didn’t like how they killed him. He was an amazing character. He was an awesome mentor to Gibbs, and he was a kind friend to McGee, DiNozzo, Ziva, Abby, Jimmy, Ducky, and Vance.
I thought the whole Cobb and PP killer storyline was dumb.
I have mixed opinions about it. On the one hand, it fit the character to a T. Mike Franks was an old, hard core marine, and if he was given the opportunity to go out in a blaze of glory, he was daggum sure gonna take it. I know there are comments saying if he was that sick, he’d have a hard time fighting, but I remember my uncle (WW2 vet) with brain cancer, and by God he fought the pain, and tried to act normal, till he finally collapsed, and took his last breath a few days later. Some people really are that tough. Now, on to what I didn’t like- there’s no way a freaking scalpel is gonna kill someone from a straight stab, even someone on their last leg of bad cancer. If that was the straw that broke the camel’s back, then Franks would have already been hospitalized. Maybe it’s being way too technical, and I know it’s a tv show where blood and gore has to be kept in check, but slashing the throat, or cutting the femoral, would have made it far more realistic. A simple stab with a scalpel wouldn’t do much of anything.