‘NCIS: Los Angeles’ Producer Reveals If Hetty Will Return

The return of NCIS: Los Angeles for its 14th season on Oct. 9 should have been a reason for fans to celebrate. Instead, the episode was met with shock and disappointment from those hoping that Linda Hunt’s character, Hetty Lange, would finally make an appearance. The Oscar-winner was nowhere to be seen, but showrunner R. Scott Gemmill said we will see Hunt soon.

Hunt, 77, has made few appearances in the previous two seasons, even being demoted to “special guest star” status for Season 13. Gemmill and his team chose to limit her time on screen out of concern for Hunt’s safety during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hunt also took time off after she was involved in a car accident in 2018.

In the universe of the show, Hetty’s last-known location was Syria and she has not been seen since the Season 13 premiere aired in October 2021. It’s unclear how Hetty will get back to California, but Gemmill said they hope to have the character attending Callen (Chris O’Donnell) and Anna’s (Bar Paly) wedding. During the Season 14 premiere, a body was discovered with Hetty’s ID, but the body turned out to be a child’s, leading to the team believing that Hetty faked her own death.

“Hetty has been an integral force within the agency and an especially important part of Callen’s past,” Gemmill told Variety Tuesday. “As Callen starts thinking about his upcoming wedding to Anna, he would want Hetty present. The plan is to go and rescue her at some point and find out what she’s gotten herself into in Syria, but we’re just trying to figure out when we can pull it off. The goal is to make it happen this season.”

Hetty was an integral part of NCIS: Los Angeles during the show’s early days. The character held the role of NCIS Supervisory Special Agent and Operations Manager of the Office Of Special Projects and raised several orphaned children outside of work, including Callen. Many of these children grew up to become skilled U.S. government agents. In the first eight seasons of the show, she was always around, overseeing the LA team from their headquarters and keeping a close eye on Callen’s progress. In recent years though, she has been known to go on extended missions that take her overseas without the team’s knowledge.

Hetty’s return is not the only thing NCIS: Los Angeles fans have to look forward to this season. The show’s team will finally be tied up in a mission involving the mothership series, as well as the NCIS: Hawai’i team. The first-ever three-show NCIS crossover will air later this season. The cast will involve a “mysterious and highly trained hitman” who is targeting members of the NCIS teams. This will be the first time NCIS: LA characters will work with NCIS characters since Michael Weatherly stopped by in a 2015 episode. CBS has not announced when the crossover will air.

New episodes of NCIS: Los Angeles air Sundays on CBS at 10 p.m. ET. NCIS and NICS: Hawai’i air back-to-back on Mondays, starting at 9 p.m. ET. All three shows are available to stream on Paramount+.