Is Hetty Coming Back on ‘NCIS: Los Angeles’? It’s Way Past Time for an Update
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Season 12, Episode 14 of NCIS: Los Angeles, “The Noble Maidens.”]
“Hetty’s not coming back,” Retired Navy Admiral Hollace Kilbride (Gerald McRaney) said of Linda Hunt’s character in the April 4 episode of NCIS: Los Angeles. We had the same reaction as intelligence analyst Nell Jones (Renée Felice Smith), who’s been (temporarily, or so she thinks?) filling in for the operations manager at the Office of Special Projects (OSP), which is, Wait, what?!
One thing is clear: With so much currently unknown about Hetty’s whereabouts this season, it’s time to get answers.
Since the beginning of the season, Hetty has been videoing in from an unknown location — it looks like a war zone and is somewhere she said is “nowhere I want to be” — without giving any details about what she’s up to. Instead, she has had Nell come in to take over her duties, assigns cases (such as via cryptic messages like the one that led them to dead CIA agents), and got former LAPD liaison Deeks (Eric Christian Olsen) into FLETC so he could become an NCIS Investigator.
There has been some speculation about what she’s up to, but we have yet to get any proof. We’re used to being in the dark about most of Hetty’s actions, but 14 episodes into the season and it feels the lack of information has carried on way too long.
And then, in “The Noble Maidens,” Kilbride stops by to help the team as he has in the past, rants about the “fishbowl” of the office up top and Hetty’s “controversial” methods, and drops the aforementioned bombshell on Nell that her boss might not be returning this time.
CBS
No, Hetty hasn’t said anything to him, he says, “but she has had her foot out that same door far longer than you have. And I think it’s time we accept this mission she’s on may very well be her last.”
The team has been preparing for Hetty’s eventual retirement for a while now, even discussing among themselves who might take over (Chris O’Donnell’s Callen is a possibility in addition to Nell, who was considering quitting after taking her personal days to consider her options before Hetty roped her into returning). Let’s just hope, however, that if any of those plans, which also include bringing in young agents to train (like they have with Caleb Castille’s Rountree this season), do come to fruition, it’s because Hetty chooses to officially leave NCIS, not because whatever mission she’s on ends with her death.
Fortunately, there also seems to be a bit of foreshadowing, with the focus shifting to the team beginning to track down Hetty. “I’d have to find her first” and “if I ever do track her down,” Nell says while talking with Kilbride about Hetty, Nell filling in for her, and the latest events.
CBS
And if that indeed is what will happen next, it’s about time. Just because the team is a well-oiled machine in Hetty’s absence — and even without Hunt appearing — doesn’t mean that NCIS: LA couldn’t have given us more about her whereabouts. Is it time for the team to make another trip overseas to help her out, like they did to Vietnam in Season 9? Only time will tell.
In the meantime, let’s just hope we get something significant before the May 23 season finale. She’s too significant a part of the team and the show (since the beginning!) for her to be written out for good (as Kilbride suggests when he says she’s not coming back) without the CBS procedural doing her justice.
NCIS: Los Angeles, Sundays, 9/8c, CBS
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Hetty can not leave NCIS LOS ANGELES. She is the mother, the guiding force of the team.
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Hetty must not leave NCIS LOS ANGELES, there's only ONE HETTY,her character is unique 👌
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Please and please whoever is in charge of this program and is reading this, please don't take my Hetty off please 🥺😭😭😭.
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Hetty was a unique character and added so much to the show. I don't enjoy the show like I used to and to make viewing even more painful, Nell just doesn't cut it in that position. Plus, the new characters don't fit the show. They perhaps could if they had a personality but... I'm going to watch til the finale but if something miraculous doesn't happen, like Hetty coming back!!!, then it will be the last for me.
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Yes, where is Hetty? We all miss her. Just like I miss Nell and Eric. The show is not the same anymore they have had a great cast with alot of reoccurring characters. I love Arkadie and Sabatino..
Definately not the same show, I am trying to give it a chance, but up until the last few episodes I was using the DVR and watching it whenever. Hate to see the show end but they have to do something!
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i agree the show has been rather medioker lately. go back to the original cast. show was great then. deeks and kensi are great for the show
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I took all the NCIS shows off my DVR. No Hetty, plus I think they glorify extrajudicial actions too much. They've become repetitive.
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Hetty, Hetty, Hetty,and more HETTY !!!!
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Callen would definitely be the more logical choice to lead the team but he would not want to be behind a desk and dealing with all the bureaucracy. Plus he is a great agent and partner to Sam. I never quite understood how Nell could come back in such a high level position when she says in the first episode "I don't even work here anymore". There are others who have filled in or even people from other NCIS shows who could come in and probably work as the head of the LA office.
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I think the “frumpy” look is the actress’ “preferred look on camera and off. Someone should tell her how unbecoming it is as is her penchant for mixing and matching pieces that are already ugly enough on their own, but when she mixes and matches them them, it’s B-A-D.
I find it it hard to believe that NELL, basically an intelligence agent, was selected to fill in for Hettie in her absence. A hard one for me to accept...
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Hetty has been grooming her for that position for years..
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I agree that Hetty is an unique character and truly adds so much to the show. She is perfect to be the one that brings the team together. Absolutely no one else can do that like she did. The first episode she was in I wasn't too impressed and a friend told me about Hetty and I went back to watching it. I not only watch it I watch all the reruns. It i my favorite show. NCIS was my favorite but too many people have left the show and except for Mark Harmon I wouldn't watch it even as little as I do. Please do not get rid of Hetty!!!
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I really miss hetty. She brought that special something to the show. I don't know if I would watch if she permanently left. It's not as good with the new people they don't seem to fit in. So sad. This was a great show.
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I think Nell needs some new clothes. Don’t know what’s going on with that frumpy look
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She looks like she might be pregnant
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nell has gotten kind of chubby
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What I don't understand & have not SEEN addressed is the question is LINDA HUNT too ill to return to the weekly show following her accident a year ago? She looked perfectly fine to me in last year's season closer when DEEKS & KENSIE got married. So why has the actress been unavailable for the series? Also I thought last season NELL was dressed like she was to disguise the actress BEING PREGNANT as shows often do or she had UNEXPLAINABLY GAINED a large amount of weight! This season I don't understand it. I, too, do not like all the new characters, that they initially sent DEEKS back to training, that NELL & ERIC were broken up. "IF IT AIN'T BROKE, don't fix it." But the show is REGULARLY in the TOP 15, SO CBS HAD BETTER NOT CANCEL IT, before correcting all the mistakes made this season, or I will be severely pissed off. It is one of CBS's HIGHEST RATED shows!
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Hetty leaving NCIS LA is like Gibbs leaving the original NCIS. The shows will collapse without them.
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I agree completely
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we agree
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More information is surely needed, from the very first episode till now Hetty has disappeared here and there , but she always returned, I need to know !!!
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I also don't like Roundtree or Fatima, they just don't fit in. I also can't believe you killed Kirkin. He was so funny. The show was great the way it was with the main characters. You're going to lose your viewers if you keep messing with the characters. The show was great, now, not so much!
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i agree go back to the original cast
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I think this show is getting very boring especially Nell. I no longer sorry about not seeing it or catching up on episodes.
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Please dont let Hetty leave NCIS. Bring her back please.
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Hetty has to come back! NCIS is Hetty. I really dont like the show without her or Deeks.
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I think i'll cry if hetty doesn't come back
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I think a telling point about Nell's future is when she entered Ops while Eric is looking for the truck and told Eric to hand her the tablet saying Move your asses and polish your 'staches. We're getting the band back together and we work best as partners. Anna deserves the best.
Maybe Nell is back in Ops instead of replacing Hetty?
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I want Hetty back. She makes the show. I also want to see Eric and Hodoko return. I would like to see more of Callan's dad if possible. Callan character is missing that yearning for family lately that's what attracted me to him. Nell was great working in Ops. And what's with her new frumpy look? She dressed better in previous season's. I don't think she can replace Hetty. Please bring Hetty back or I will stop watching the show.
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I really want Heddy back, she was perfect for the part and is missed terribly. BRING HEDDY BACK
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My favorite show on tv but now that Hetty is gone I find myself watching the Grit channel with Westerns on it.
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I read where Hunt is being allowed to stay at her home because of Covid worries. She's 75 and her health is a worry for CBS. So , they are filming those videos at her house! Really! One was said to be in her drive way. No time table was given on her return to studio
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I think the mysterious plot where is Henry is great. She has always played this part and as the plot unfolds, the mystery will be solved. Love the story lines. Everyone has something going on in their lives.
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Losing Hetty would seriously erode NCIS LA. Star Trek the Next Generation -what would have happened if Picard were lost to the Borg? It would leave a very big hole in the narrative that could never be filled. As great an ensemble as TNG was it was Picard that was the spark , the glue that held the show together. It is the same as NCIS LA- great ensemble but without Hetty the show cannot hold together. Though I probably have seen many of the episodes watching the reruns it is plainly visible that Hetty is more than an integral part of NCIS LA she is NCIS LA. I have no issues with Neil subbing but once the Covid situation settles down bring back Hetty! I thought that Rogers was going to be the Assistant Director but maybe that could be a new position for her?
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Incredible article. We really need answers. And anyone who knows her really well knows perfectly well that she's not so easy to get rid of, she'll be back, and in charge, soon enough.
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I don’t know if Linda Hunt is coming back or not. But she made this show interesting. She was the the main character that kept the show exciting. But since she left and they create new characters that cannot replace her character the show is becoming less interesting. The actors who still remain, their characters seem to be getting silly. I think they need new writers. I would still watch the show if it was less silly. Rewrite, create, reinvent and bring Heddie back. PS clean up Deeks. He looks like a druggie.
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Hetty sure does need to return she was the rock that made the team what they are sorry but know one can take her place. Please come home Hetty I really miss you
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I enjoy all three NCIS shows hate seeing two of them leaving. Have watched from the start.😩😞 so sad. If Hetty isn’t coming back, clear up where she is give her a great send off. Don’t bring in anyone new. Have one of the other team members fill her spot.
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Lost interest a few years ago with "Geeks" & Kenzy" thing just way to farfetched (husband/wife). for me. They're doing the same thing with Eric and Nell.
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