Densi, Undercover Ops, Teamwork & More We’ll Miss About ‘NCIS: LA’
The CBS primetime lineup just won’t be the same after May 14, the day that NCIS: Los Angeles will be airing its series finale.
For 14 seasons, the spinoff of NCIS (which has now been on for 20 years) has followed the agents of the Office of Special Projects, with investigations, locations, and agents and their relationships that are unique among procedural dramas. The good news: There’s enough time that the producers will be able to write an ending. The bad news: We’re going to have to say goodbye to so much we love about the show.
To go along with the things we need to see by the series finale, we’ve rounded up what we’re going to miss about NCIS: LA below.
NCIS: Los Angeles, Sundays, 10/9c, CBS
Kensi & Deeks' Relationship
From meeting undercover to partners to a “thing” to a date without saying it’s one to going all in to getting married to becoming foster parents, we’ve seen every step of Kensi (Daniela Ruah) and Deeks’ (Eric Christian Olsen) relationship over the years. Do we fondly look back on the times when they used to talk in metaphors (such as frozen lakes and knives) about their relationship? Sure. Are we also very glad they’ve moved past that and are now serious couple goals? Definitely. It’s that journey that has made the tougher moments hurt so much and the joyful ones even more delightful.
The Unique OSP & Boatshed
For the most part, procedural dramas place their teams in a typical office building or police station. But for OSP, their HQ looks like a condemned building and the first floor includes an entire section dedicated to clothes for undercover operations. Ops upstairs is a tech analyst’s dream. And the boatshed, where interrogations and interviews are conducted and outsiders relegated to, is just that: a boatshed. But there’s a trapdoor in the floor of one of the interrogation rooms, making for the perfect escape or entrance for those in the know. More recent upgrades include a patio and a mini armory.
Undercover Operations
These agents have quite the list of undercover aliases they can use, and we have seen (or at least heard of) some multiple times, from Callen’s (Chris O’Donnell) Mr. Carl to Sam’s (LL Cool J) Switch to Kensi’s Fern to Deeks’ Max Gentry. (Let’s not even get into all of Hetty’s aliases.)
Full Exploration of the Agents' Lives
Not only have we seen the team at work, but we’ve also seen quite a bit of them off the clock as well, whether it’s at home (including when that was a boat for Sam) and Kensi and Deeks’ bar. And one thing that NCIS: LA has done well over the years is show them away from the job as a result of what’s happened on it, such as Deeks, after he and Sam were tortured at the end of Season 4 and beginning of Season 5, Kensi, in physical therapy after being injured in Syria in Season 8, and Sam, after his wife’s death in Season 9.
Sam & Callen's Banter
No one does it better. Sure, we love the moments when we see the entire team together at their desks — especially as we could track Deeks slowly being accepted by Sam, Callen, and Kensi, then “Densi” getting together — but there’s nothing like Sam and Callen’s banter, whether it’s in the office or in the car.
Callen Continuously Learning Something New About Himself
Sure, there’s the obvious, like the fact that for the first seven seasons of the series, Callen only knew his first initial (G.). But over the years, we’ve gotten to know more and more about his family, his history with Hetty (Linda Hunt), and, in Season 13, even learned about a CIA project he was a part of and which kickstarted his current quest.
Hetty. Just Hetty.
Need we say more? We already miss the team’s former operations manager, who has been MIA and on a mission of her own in Syria since the beginning of Season 13, with a few check-ins. (The latest came during the NCISverse crossover, in the form of an audio message to help out with the case and a tease of a history with Gary Cole’s Alden Parker.)
The Dream Team at Work
There may have been a few learning curves over the years, but when these agents gel, they get the job done. For the perfect example, take a look at Season 4’s “Kill House,” in which, after stumbling earlier during an exercise, they come together when it matters most, with an assist from the captured analyst Nell (Renée Felice Smith), pulling a move no other hostage has or ever will.
A Recurring Cast Like No Other
The CBS procedural has one of the best list of recurring characters ever on TV, from retired KGB officer Arkady Kolcheck (Vyto Ruginis), who is always so entertaining, to his daughter Anna (Bar Paly) to CIA Officer-turned-US-Marshal Vostanik Sabatino (Erik Palladino), whom we love to hate, to Mama Deeks (Pamela Reed), who could say pretty much anything, to the team’s former operational psychologist Nate Getz (Peter Cambor), a familiar face we love to see whenever we can since he left OSP, to Michelle Hanna (Aunjanue Ellis), whom we still miss. You can also count JAG‘s Harmon Rabb Jr. (David James Elliott) and Sarah “Mac” MacKenzie (Catherine Bell) on that list.
Rare Crossovers
It wasn’t until 2023 that LA got in on the multi-episode team-up action, but prior to that, there were quite a few single-character crossovers, including NCIS‘ Pauley Perrette, Rocky Carroll, and Michael Weatherly. Ruah even appeared on an episode of Hawaii Five-0, which also featured a two-part crossover with LA.
Multi-Season Storylines
Few procedurals stretch an investigation out over multiple seasons, especially how often LA has. For example, there’s the mole hunt that led back to the CIA (in Seasons 6 through 8), everything about Callen over the entire series, Kessler (Frank Military) as a threat to Kensi since Season 12, and the Body Stitchers, first introduced in Season 9 and resurrected in Season 14.
Explosions
When you think of NCIS: LA, it’s impossible not to think of explosions, especially when you compare how frequent they are compared to the rest of the franchise. If you want heart-pounding action, this is the show you watch.
Conversation27 Comments
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D
Been watching since the beginning but thought the show really took off for me once Deeks was brought on. All the characters seemed to jell and the storylines grew. Will miss it being part of my Sunday night. Without saying I know how I’d like to see the show end and where the characters go. If done correctly I could see maybe a 2 hour tv movie being done with the characters coming back but not necessarily working for NCIS in some way
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G
Also been watching since the beginning and the storylines in the early seasons were much, much better. Since season 10 the stories have gotten boring and to be honest, plain stupid sometimes. The acting's always been a biggest plus for the show, but the lack of focus on the team and the regular partners has hurt the show. And bringing on two new field agents didn't work for me. Fatima was an intelligence analyst when she was introduced. Why not have her take Nell's place? If they ever do make a movie, I hope they have a different executive producer and different writers because they need both.
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B
Really going to miss the show. It’s been a part of our family since the beginning. I sincerely hope Hetty comes back to wrap up her storyline Hetty was and always be NCIS LA!!
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T
100% agree!
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O
NCIS LA will definitely be missed. And to my all time favourite ship #densi for life❣️
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T
Things I'll definitely miss:
1, Hetty
2, The office itself (coolest building ever)
3, The explosions
4, The banter (when it was really funny)
5, Those rare crossovers in the early years were sooo good!
6, The fun undercover OPS (Hetty having so many aileses was awesome!)
7, Everyone's lives being explored (in nice ways with good writing)
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C
Numbers 6 & 7 haven't happened for too long and 4 only rarely with the main actors taking time off. The early seasons (1-7) are my favorites.
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T
Those are my favorites too, along with Season 8
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O
Love the show and will definitely miss it. A fabulous ending would be to see a surprise pregnancy for Kensi. Also to have Hetty come back for Anna and Callen’s wedding.
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O
I hope Eric & Daniela get a spin off
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O
Yes love them and that would be great
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B
I'm heart broken. My favorite show ever. I will miss G Callen most.
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J
Some of the above are things that viewers WON'T miss.
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T
Like what?
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J
Here's a list:
Multi-season storylines. They get boring, and I forget the first part before the next related episode ever appears. A 2-part episode is fine once in a while, but procedurals are meant to be solved in a reasonable time, not strung out over an entire season--or longer. That's when it becomes NOT a procedural, but a show like 24 or Prison Break.
Exploration of the Agents' Lives. Again, this is a procedural show, emphasis on the workplace. I really don't care about anyone's personal lives. Kensi & Deeks are an exception, as their relationship started at work; however, I still don't much care about their lives when not on an assignment.
Callen Learning About Himself. yawn Why do we have to see his personal journey? So he lived most of his life without a 'real' first name, just an initial. Why not leave it that way? Leave a little mystery. What is this NCIS obsession with initials for names? (It began on JAG with Admiral A.J Chegwidden; the J stood for Jethro, which was also one of Gibbs' names--L.J. Gibbs. Then it was only one initial, with G Callen.) Anyway, they should have just left Callen alone and let his initial-name be his 'quirk.'
Hetty. I never worshipped at the altar of Hetty. She was an office manager, not a Jedi or a ninja. If she's on the show, fine. If she's not, it's because Hetty quit or resigned a handful of times over the years.
I know this will get downvoted bigtime, but hey, I was asked, so I answered.
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T
This show started off being about Callen finding out about his past, and yes, finding out about his real name, it wasn't just going to be abandoned over night.
And I don't see anything wrong with Hetty being as awesome as she is. It's what made everyone respect her. And also, Hetty never actually quit or resigned, so she's not 'former' anything!
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J
The show did not "start off" being about Callen "finding himself." Sure, he didn't have a full name, and he didn't know anything about his parents, but that was who he was, the facts of his life. The show was ABOUT the NCIS office in LA, and he just happened to be one of the agents.
Also, about every two seasons Hetty disappeared on some of personal mission, usually 'off the books,' and sometimes she left a note, sometimes she didn't. Considering nobody knew where she'd gone (including her superiors, I assume) that sounds like desertion of her duties if not outright quitting.
Obviously you disagree, and that's fine, but these are my viewpoints.
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R
You're wrong about the show not being about Callen and his personal journey. Shane Brennan, the creator of the show, specifically said he built the show AROUND Callen and his personal journey. His journey never took up a lot of episodes after the first season. There were only three episodes, I think, that dealt specifically with his personal history after that first season (Familia, Lange, H., and Reznikov, N.). All the other episodes, like Matryoska and No More Secrets, were about cases and his personal stuff was only a small part of the episode. It wasn't until his and Hetty's backstories got "revised" that episodes are kind of focusing a little on his personal history but still just scenes not whole episodes. While I liked Hetty in the early seasons, constantly having her on a secret mission didn't make sense. How could she be the Operations Manager if she was gone 50% or more of the time?
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J
What Brennan may have said is irrelevant (to me). The show is called NCIS-LA, which means it's focus is about a TEAM, not a single individual. Sure, there can be an occasional development in Callen's 'personal journey,' but it's not, never was, and should never be the focus of the entire series.
Also, I agree w/ you about Hetty; she was OK in earlier seasons, but then she started being written as some sort of Yoda/ninja character and went off on mysterious missions, which was totally ridiculous.
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G
It may be irrelevant to you, but I think the comments of the creator of the show are a lot more relevant than what any ordinary viewer says, including me. lol There are many shows that aren't titled after the main character and yet the main character IS the focus of the show, even in procedurals. Densi became too much of the focus in the later seasons and is one reason I found the show becoming tedious. I like the individual characters, but as a couple, they were/are one of the most boring couples I've ever seen in a TV show. Different things appeal to different viewers.
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O
I will definitely miss the team. And the ending has to be great, so no Callen/Anna wedding. I won’t watch it if there is.
Hettys return would be awesome. I am torn about the end episode.
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R
There was an earlier post that was pretty critical of the show but made some points I agreed with and didn't include any rude or vulgar comments but it's disappeared. I like the show but to be honest everything except the acting has gone downhill. I'm not a Densi fan (I like the team), so I didn't care about all the family/child/infertility talk that went on forever. Long storylines haven't been good. Why continue the Katya storyline if they couldn't get Eve Harlow? That made the storyline just silly because Eve was terrific as Katya.They introduce characters and then they disappear for episodes. Raymond's been in two episodes, I think, same as Anna. And the writing's been poor. I bet for a lot of these writers this is their first professionalTV writing gig. I'll miss the actors a lot, but I'm not surprised it was cancelled.
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T
That entire storyline made me dislike Densi, possibly for good. In what world would 2 agents ever be allowed to foster or adopt an illegal runaway whose parents are still alive? Plus, that girl looks more like an adult then 16! Utterly ridiculous.
I'll always love the team, but going forward, it's probably best to just pretend that 99% of the last few years never happened.
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J
Its about time to call it a day. Becoming a bit stale. It was getting a chore to watch. When Eric was around the jokes were contrite. It WAS a good run
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E
I'd say the multi-season storylines is a negative as they sometimes drew out certain ones way too long. There's also no reason they shouldn't have given us Hanna, S. and Deeks, M. episodes already this far into the series. That's another sign of poor writing, planning and pacing.
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G
Even without episodes Hanna, S. and Deeks, M., we still know more about those two characters than we know about Callen or Kensi, so I hope they don't waste one of the remaining episodes on them. The poor writing and planning has been obvious in the revising of Callen's, Anna's, and Hetty's backstories. Plus, Callen had the most experience in intelligence undercover work since he worked for the DEA, CIA, and FBI, but we never knew why he quit any of those agencies, and there was only one episode that introduced us to someone he worked with back then. We saw people Sam worked with or met when he was a SEAL or working on a task force. Same with Deeks. But not Callen.
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R
So much to miss. #Densi is obviously my favorite. That’s a relationship that is, and should be the “epitome” of ALL relationships. Deeks excels there, with his charm and charism, and Kenzi just folds right in, eventually. Callen and Sam are just badasses. They are a team I would have as friends forever. #safety. Callen and Anna must marry, and they should have explored the story line with Sam and Nicole DeChamps. There was obviously a connection there. Eric and Nell, the awkward wizards great, until they were terribly missed. Fatima and Roundtree grew on me. They should get together. Hetty, too many secrets, but well loved. I will miss seeing you guys on Sunday nights. But, you’ve ALL added such flavor to my viewing pleasure. Much love❤️🤗