NCIS: Los Angeles Producer: Dom is Gone; No One is Safe!

NCIS: Los Angeles began and ended last night's episode, "Missing," with the disappearance of rookie agent Dom Vaile. The story was left wide open to interpretation.

Until now. Cast member Adam Jamal Craig (Dom) is leaving the hit procedural, according to Entertainment Weekly, which spoke with snow creator Shane Brennan.

The only question is when. Pretty much the only thing clear after last night was that this is the shocking, emotional story teased by producers earlier this month.

Adam Jamal Craig (Dom Vaile) is leaving NCIS: Los Angeles.

The pilot episode of Lost originally called for Jack to be killed off immediately after establishing him as the main character. Dom is no Jack, but his departure did come out of nowhere, and seemed to be engineered to generate the same kind of shock value.

Tuesday's episode left the character’s fate very much up in the air. Is Dom dead? Will his kidnapping remain an unsolved mystery? Why was Craig written out?

Follow the jump for excerpts from EW's interview with Brennan in which he addresses the fate of Dom and more regarding this unfinished NCIS: Los Angeles business ...

Q: Where’s Dom?

Shane Brennan: He’s gone. He’s out there somewhere.

Q: Will the team continue to search for him?

Shane Brennan: They’re not about to leave one of their own unaccounted for, but life goes on. They’ve got cases to solve. So they continue to do that and wonder.

Q: How long will this story play out for?

Shane Brennan: It will arc the rest of the season ... in the great tradition of NCIS, it doesn’t mean that having answered the questions we won’t pose more.

Q: Why did you decide to write out a main cast member this early?

Shane Brennan: To my mind, particularly in the first season of a show, there is no main cast. The audience is meeting a whole bunch of characters and you get the opportunity to play around with them. I’m a great believer in playing with the audience’s expectations. No one’s safe.

Q: What was Adam’s reaction?

Shane Brennan: He was incredibly professional. Everyone’s aware that these sorts of things can happen. I warned everyone that I shake things up all the time.

And by the way, just because Dom’s missing doesn’t mean you won’t see him again. There’s blood in the car, but is he dead? Alive? What’s going to happen?

There is a powerful episode to come that will provide some resolution.

Steve Marsi is the Managing Editor of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Google+ or email him here.