Where the ‘NCIS: LA’ Finale Left Everyone & What Could Be Next
NCIS: Los Angeles may have bid adieu to two longtime cast members — Barrett Foa (who played Eric Beale since Season 1) and Renée Felice Smith (who played Nell Jones since Season 2) — but it does look like everyone else (including Linda Hunt’s Hetty!) will be back in Season 13.
Season 12 ended with everyone pretty much in a good place with almost all relaxing on the beach. Sam (LL Cool J) and Callen (Chris O’Donnell) were watching the former’s son’s flight test. Kensi (Daniela Ruah) and Deeks (Eric Christian Olsen) enjoyed a picnic. Fatima (Medalion Rahimi) opened up to Rountree (Caleb Castille) about the anniversary of her best friend’s death before laughing for the first time all episode. And Hetty had Retired Navy Admiral Hollace Kilbride (Gerald McRaney) unpack her weapons he’d started removing from the Office of Special Projects’ armory. (Nell and Eric, meanwhile, headed off to work together in Tokyo in cybersecurity.)
What could be next for everyone? We speculate below.
NCIS: Los Angeles, Season 13, Fall 2021, CBS
Callen
Where we left off: Callen was in a good place, at least for now. And after that final conversation with Sam, might kids even be in his future? He was, after all, planning to propose to his girlfriend Anna (Bar Paly) this season.
What could be next: Speaking of Anna, that proposal isn’t the only thing up in the air. There is the matter of Russian spy Katya (Eve Harlow), who still has it out for her, and we have a feeling Callen’s going to be heavily involved in that. Plus, we can’t help but wonder what his role at NCIS may be, with Hetty’s temporary replacement (Nell) leaving and the operations manager’s future up in the air.
Sam
Where we left off: Sam was one proud father in the Season 12 finale as he watched his son’s flight test. Plus, things seem to be going well with his girlfriend, Katherine (Moon Bloodgood).
What could be next: While Sam is in a new relationship and we do imagine Katherine will be a big part of his life, we don’t see him getting married again. As for work, we think we’ll see a lot more of him training younger agents in Season 13, just like he’s mentioned wanting to do in the past.
Kensi
Where we left off: Kensi received an eerie postcard from the psychopathic serial killer David Kessler (Frank Military), who is free due to a presidential pardon and has made it very clear that he has some dark plans for her.
What could be next: We have a feeling the Kessler storyline is going to take a very dark turn at some point in Season 13 at the worst possible time.
Deeks
Where we left off: Anatoli Kirkin (Ravil Isyanov) bequeathed Deeks, now an NCIS investigator, his crime syndicate. (Yes, really.)
What could be next: There is quite a bit of fun that could be had with Kirkin’s businesses, though we suspect it won’t actually come up too often (if at all). But while Deeks may have left behind the LAPD, we can’t help but hope Season 13 is when we’ll get the “Deeks, M.” episode — during which more about his time there would likely have to come up.
Kensi and Deeks
Where we left off: They decided to put trying to have kids on hold with everything else going on (Kessler), but adoption is now on the table.
What could be next: After the Kessler threat is dealt with, we have a feeling that kids are in their more immediate future, and it could be very interesting to see them at least start the adoption process. (We can’t help but wonder how their dangerous jobs, however, might affect that.)
Hetty
Where we left off: Due to Hunt’s availability (because of the pandemic), Hetty was mostly only seen over video, off in places unknown, mixed up in something. She returned in person in the finale, to say goodbye to Nell and stop Kilbride from boxing up her belongings.
What could be next: We have to find out what Hetty was doing all of Season 12, and as has happened in the past, we expect it to require help from the rest of the team (and maybe some more people from her past). Even if Hetty is around full-time (or close to it) in L.A., however, we have a feeling we won’t be seeing her resuming her duties as operations manager, at least not in the same way as she has in the past.
Fatima
Where we left off: Fatima continued to kill it both in Ops and in the field in Season 12 and we learned more about her via her opening up about losing her best friend and how that led her to leave behind acting and ultimately join NCIS.
What could be next: With Nell and Eric officially gone, we have a feeling we might see Fatima more in Ops than in the field, at least at the beginning of Season 13 unless we come back and someone else is already in there.
Rountree
Where we left off: Rountree’s the newbie, and he’s been treated as such (i.e., being the one in the food truck staking out places), but he’s still learning and fitting in quite nicely.
What could be next: If Sam does begin to train other young agents, perhaps Rountree will no longer be the “rookie,” if you will. We also have a feeling there are quite a few more explosions in his future, like the one on his first day with the team.
Conversation13 Comments
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Callen - he was searching for archived documents in the final episode connected to his upbringing with Hetty, after commments made by Kilbride and their 'state-off'. I see kids a long way off in his future as we know he and Anna are still together but by his own admittance to Joelle, Anna's a complicated person (as is he).
Sam - his girlfriend hasn't been mentioned for most of the season so what is their status? His daughter clearly had no interest in meeting her in an earlier episode. It would be more interesting to see Aidan's career path cross with NCIS than focus on too many relationships.
Hetty - was places unknown but we do know she was working on ousting the Russian mole who's in the high levels of US intelligence so presumably that's where she was. I hope she's back running Ops as it would be a wrong move for Callen to have the role.
Kensi - yes Kessler will come back, I wonder how Deeks will react (presumably with violence and anger). Kensi is a strong woman and I hope she manages to save herself rather than have to be rescued. And please, no more injuries for her!
Deeks-the finale was funny with him inheriting Kirkins criminal empire but it doesn't need to be regurgitated. A Deeks M episode would be good and Mamma Deeks and Arkady...a must!
Fatima- inconsistent character, her backstory felt out of place and she should have taken the day off work to remember and grieve. She is fine in the field and Ops but if she's in Ops then the others can have more screen
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The others can have more screen time.
Rountree- needs character development!
Will Kilbride be back, offering a similar dynamic as Granger?
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O
Is it possible that things don't work out in Japan and either Eric or Nell or both could return at some point during the season?
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In the plot's time line the pandemic is/was rampant in Japan, they may get turned around sooner rather than later
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R
I’m going to really miss Nell & Eric. Great actors and so fun to watch.
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R
THIS SHOW IS ONE OF MY FAVORITES BUT THIS YEAR IS GOING OFF THE RAILS.
THE WRITING THIS YEAR IS DISJOINTED.
ALSO, THE WRITING OF THE SHOWS NEED TWIKING TO BVE MORE LIKE IT USED TO BE.
I THINK ROUNDTREE IS A POSSIBLE. I WOULD RATHER SEE THE OTHER RETIRED ADMIRAL INSTEAD OF THIS ONE. THJIS ONE IS TOO CRANKY.
I THINK FATIMA DOES NOT FIT AT ALL IN THE CAST OF NCIS Los Angeles.
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Callen, not sure. Based on what Arkady did to get his daughter into the US and a citizen was based on misinformation, what will happen now. Anna’s working history in the US was fake and paid for by Arkady. She worked in OSP and ATF that we know of and possibly was not a real US citizen. She went to school for 15 years and then worked for FSB. When did that stop? She brought over her old FSB team on US soil to help her out instead of fessing up to US government agencies about who and what exactly Katya was capable of and getting US help. Is she still a Russian citizen? How will she become a US citizen now? All these things should be answered before any progress into the Callen and Anna
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The only misinformation was about Anna's education from 5-20. There's no indication she did any work as an FSB agent, and even if she did, there's no indication she did any work against US interests. After all, Arkady was a known KGB officer who is now a US citizen, so that wouldn't be a problem for Anna. That wasn't "her" FSB team that was hunting Katya; she simply had a relationship with Max. There's little doubt that Anna is an American citizen after working for both Chicago PD and ATF unless Gemmill and company want to muck up things even more. The whole "reinvention" of Anna's and Callen's backgrounds have been a mess from the get go.
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It’s my return button that freezes everything up. Roundtree I see as continuing to be in field. Kensi I see finally getting pregnant, unexpectedly and Deeks, will always be Deeks. Hetty may come back for a bit, but I see her finally retiring and a big party for her. As I said before my computer froze up, Callen I see running the OSP as he does have the training, skills and is capable f doing things Hetty did and maybe more. But I see him in the field at times, so SAIC. As for his relationship with Anna, she has some real problems based on how she got into the USA and how she became a citizen. It was all bought and paid for by Arkady by changing everything out n her past. Even Arkady is in trouble. Lying about all they did to get Anna here, that’s not trivial, it’s major. We shall see what or how the show gets them off, if they do.
Fatima I see in Ops.
It did it again, man oh man. I see Sam training new agents, possibly a new agent, a female.
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C
Kensi & Deeks will be pregnant by seasons end. Fatima & Rountree need to be built; individually. I'd love to see more of Katherine & Sam, great dynamics. Callen & Anya stay status quo til series end & then have the wedding of anyone's lifetime! Hetty is going to be Hetty & I love it. Killbride: Yes! Ties the team dynamic in ways even Hetty didn't anticipate!
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What about Peter Cambor -- Nate Getz? Is he coming back?
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My computer froze up before I could finish. For Callen I actually see him running OSP if not as Ops Manager then as Special Agent In Charge.
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Agree 100%. This season was pretty much a writing disaster. It's too bad Gemmill feels the need to "reinvent" Callen and Anna, and the whole background of Fatima is absurd: she was on a TV show for 5 years AND is an intelligence analyst AND is tech savvy AND she's hired by NCIS OSP to work in the field undercover? How old is she and who would hire a former actor to work undercover in L.A.? 🙄
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