NCIS: Los Angeles is entering its 12th season on a roll and showing no signs of slowing down (or decreasing the explosions, of course).
There’s so much to love about the series, whether it’s the different relationships among the team and the partners, the romances, the characters, the action, and the cases. And Season 11 left off with characters and storylines in places that have us excited for what’s next.
What does Hetty’s (Linda Hunt) eventual retirement mean for her team — Sam (LL Cool J), Callen (Chris O’Donnell), Kensi (Daniela Ruah), Deeks (Eric Christian Olsen), Eric (Barrett Foa), the on-vacation Nell (Renée Felice Smith), and Fatima (Medalion Rahimi)? What about the agents’ personal relationships and ongoing mysteries?
Scroll down as we share our Season 12 hopes across the board for that and more.
NCIS: Los Angeles, Season 12, Fall 2020, CBS
A definitive blueprint of the team going forward
This isn’t something we need to see addressed even in the first half of the season, but it would be nice to know by the end of it — because we can’t imagine Hetty retiring next year — what the team will look like going forward. Who will take over for Hetty? Who might join the team? (Rountree?) Who will stay? Who could go?
Hetty discusses her future retirement with the team
The team has accepted that some day, their operations manager is going to be saying goodbye to Ops. And while she’s had conversations with Callen and Nell about taking over, it’s time that everyone sits down as a team to talk about it.
Good news for Kensi and Deeks on the baby front
Even if next season just ends with Kensi pregnant or at some point during it, the couple decides to adopt, let’s see some real — and positive — progress made. Having kids was a point of contention for the two over a few seasons now, but last year saw them trying to have a baby.
The team’s complete takedown of Argento
The team had the navy chief responsible for killing a sedated prisoner and civilians in Afghanistan in custody at the end of the finale, but Argento was so certain that he wouldn’t be convicted due to his connections in D.C. Mac (Catherine Bell) had worried about potential consequences for OSP as a result of the investigation, and rather than see our favorite agents in trouble again, let’s see them — especially for Sam, as it’s always personal for him when it involves SEALs — get a big win over Argento.
Nell returns
Nell wanted to quit after thinking she didn’t want to be an agent anymore (or even just stick to her work as a tech analyst in Ops). However, Hetty told her to use her vacation days to really think about it, and we just hope that after those are up, Nell has realized NCIS is where she belongs. It wouldn’t be the same without her!
Another JAG reunion
NCIS: LA gave us the JAG reunion we’ve been waiting for in the Season 10 finale and following fall’s premiere, but David James Elliott’s Harm wasn’t with Mac when she returned for “Code of Conduct.” Considering how long it took us to see the two of them in the same place in their previous appearances, we want more. With Mac part of the ongoing Argento storyline, she’s likely to return, but hopefully we’ll see Harm again soon — and the two of them will get back together after their post-JAG split.
An exciting — but close-ended — arc for the Russian threat
Anna’s (Bar Paly) freedom is tied to an ongoing mystery involving her former cellmate, Katya (Eve Harlow), which Season 12 will get into. And while we love ongoing arcs, we’re not quite ready for another years-long one like the mole hunt. Give us some intrigue with the spies, a good chase, some danger for characters we know and love, and definitive answers to wrap it all up in one season.
Ups and downs (but not too many) in Sam and Callen’s relationships
Both Sam and Callen are entering Season 12 in relationships — the former with insurance broker Katherine (Moon Bloodgood) and the latter with Anna — and there of course needs to be some drama when it comes to romance. But considering how much Kensi and Deeks have been through over the years even before they got together, let’s give them a break. That being said, Sam and Callen have both suffered over the years as well, so let’s at least keep both their girlfriends alive.
Nell and Eric put a label on their relationship
The two determined that they jumped from being friends to living together and in a serious relationship a little too fast, and with her mother’s health problems, took a step back in Season 11. But we love seeing our meerkats in Ops together, so let’s see the two find their way back to each other sooner rather than later.
More Fatima in Ops and in the field
Like Nell, the newest team member excels with a tablet or gun in her hand (or in hand-to-hand combat). She’s fit in seamlessly with the team since her introduction, and it was great when Rahimi was promoted to series regular. Let’s keep seeing her in Ops and partnered up with one of the team (as much as we love her and Kensi, let’s see that continue to change) in the field.
