‘NCIS’: LL Cool J Returns as Sam Hanna (PHOTOS)

Welcome back, Sam Hanna! LL Cool J‘s NCIS: LA character returns to D.C. in the Monday, April 21, episode of the mothership.

LL Cool J reprising his role was officially announced in March, with him sharing in a video, “Back on set, baby. NCIS. Let’s get it.” (He previously appeared on NCIS in the backdoor pilot ahead of LA‘s premiere and the three-show crossover with Hawai’i.) However, TV Insider did know that someone from the past would be showing up after talking to Brian Dietzen earlier in the season. “I just worked with [someone playing a returning character], and I’m not allowed to tell you, but I’ll tell you it’s someone from NCIS‘s past, and it’s going to be fantastic, and I think people are really going to lose their s**t,” he said at the end of February.

So what brings Sam back? In “After the Storm,” when a trio of combat vets are found murdered in a D.C. motel room, NCIS tracks down a suspect who refuses to talk to anyone but Sam Hanna. Watch the promo above, then check out the photos below to see Sam with the NCIS team.

“I think that’s the one time that I’ve been nervous because he’s so cool. And I am just so not, and every time I feel like I’m just looking at him and playing his songs in my head and he’s talking to me and I’m like, ‘I’m sorry, what?’ I’m going, ‘Mama said knock you out, what?'” Diona Reasonover (who plays Kasie) shared with us about working with LL Cool J again. “But he’s so nice and he’s so funny and such a good presence on set. It’s really very fun to be working with him.”

Scroll down to check out the photos from Sam’s return, then let us know what you’re hoping to see in this episode in the comments section.

NCIS, Mondays, 9/8c, CBS