NCIS: Los Angeles executive producer and showrunner R. Scott Gemmill teases what’s been happening with Hetty in Syria and how she will make her return in season 14. The popular spinoff of NCIS just aired its season 13 finale, and in March, CBS renewed NCIS: LA for another season. Starring LL Cool J as Sam Hanna and Chris O’Donnell as G. Callen, the show follows the Los Angeles unit of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service called the Office of Special Projects (OSP). Hetty Lange (Linda Hunt) is the Operations Manager of the OSP. Hetty is a fan-favorite character, with Hunt’s performance earning her two Teen Choice Awards.
In 2018, Hunt was involved in a serious car accident, so she took a year off from filming NCIS: LA. Soon after, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and the actor, 77, kept her distance from the show to stay safe and healthy. The writers explained Hunt’s absence from NCIS: LA by having Hetty go off on various overseas missions. It’s not unusual for characters in the show to come and go, as NCIS: LA often features crossover stars and reshuffles cast members. Season 13 ended with viewers still left wondering about the status of Hetty’s Syria mission. There were fan theories floating around during the season that her character had died, that she had been taken captive, or that she had somehow initiated a drone strike. Now Hunt is returning to the show, and viewers will finally get some answers.
Gemmill speaks with TVInsider about Hetty’s mission to Syria and the general status of her character. Without revealing too much, Gemmill shares that in season 14, OSP members will have to find out Hetty’s location and what she’s been doing in Syria so they can help get her out of danger. Gemmill teases that once Hetty reunites with Callen, they’ll have a conversation that will address a conflict between them, which had been interrupted when Hetty abruptly left for Syria. Check out what Gemmill had to say about Hetty’s future on the show below:
We started to see the beginning of the friction between the two of them [Hetty and Callen] as he starts to find more about his past that seemed to have been put to bed. He does start to have a bit of a confrontation with her in the burn room where she finally admits that he was someone who was in this program that he didn’t really know anything about —none of us really did — and then before he can sort of resolved this with her, she goes back to Syria.
Part of it is she had her own sort of operation going on, but I think she also probably went back early so that she didn’t have to deal with Callen because it’s not gonna be a pretty conversation. In the end, we will understand why she did it and that there were some other circumstances involved that save Hetty from being a bad guy, but it’s still a bit of a sore subject for Callen and something he’s gonna have to learn to live with.
Gemmill went on to say that “part of next season will be our guys finding out where she is, what happened and probably having to go in and pull her out of the fire.” His statement confirms not only that Hetty is still alive, but that she will be back as an active character on NCIS: LA. Although Gemmill did provide details about where the show is heading, viewers won’t know exactly how things will go down until season 14 actually airs. It will be interesting to see exactly how Hetty’s return from Syria will play out, as well as how her reunion with Callen will go. Regardless, Hetty is such a fan favorite that no matter how things shake out for her character’s return, viewers are sure to be excited to have her back.
It’s possible that the next season of NCIS: LA will be its last. However, there has been similar speculation in recent years as well, primarily due to the show’s age. Even if the upcoming season does turn out to be NCIS: Los Angeles‘ final run, it’s nice to hear viewers will get to enjoy some more time with Hetty before the show comes to a close
