greetings!" Shortly after Part II aired, it was assured that, despite his character quitting NCIS, Harmon was not leaving the show. A CBS representative clarified, "[the finale] was a cliffhanger and people need to tune in next year to see what happens." Reception Ratings By the third season, NCIS had become "a solid Top 20 hit", and "Hiatus (Part I)" was watched live by 15.17 million viewers in the United States following its broadcast on May 9, 2006. A few days later, it was reported, "While ABC, UPN and NBC have unsuccessfully pitted their own offerings against Fox's 'American Idol,' with show after show cycling through the timeslot, the CBS drama has fared well against the singing contest. It pulls in an average 3.1 adults 18-49 rating, making it No. 2 in its time slot behind 'Idol.'" On May 16, Part II was seen live by 16.49 million viewers. According to The Futon Critic, "NCIS was second in households (10.5/16), viewers (16.49m), adults 25-54 (5.3/13) and adults 18-49 (3.8/10). NCIS beat NBC and ABC combined in households (vs. 5.7/09, +84%), viewers (vs. 8.37m, +97%), adults 25-54 (vs. 3.4/08, +56%) and adults 18-49 (vs. 2.9/08, +31%)." A rating point represents one percent of the total number of television sets in American households, and a share means the percentage of television sets in use tuned to the program. Critical reviews Bellisario had divulged that a character would be "leaving" in the finale before the episode aired. Ed Robertson of Media Life Magazine speculated that either Tony (Michael Weatherly) or Abby (Pauley Perrette) would depart with the conclusion of Part II, saying, "We assume CBS would never be stupid enough to kill off series star Mark Harmon, who plays hard-nosed Leroy Gibbs, who is already suffering memory loss after a recent explosion." Jae-Ha Kim of Amazon.com later described the events of the finale as "explosive" in her review of the third season. Michelle Calbert from BuddyTV included the "Hiatus" two-part in her list of "The 10 Best Gibbs Episodes" and wrote, "We're including both episodes as one because they are basically just one two-hour episode. Gibbs is seriously injured in an explosion and the trauma triggers memories we never knew he had. That season we had seen glimpses and hints to what we found out in those two episodes, but it was still shocking to discover that Gibbs had once had a wife