TV Linda Hunt's Hetty is alive and will be back this season on NCIS: Los Angeles It's the year of living Hetty. Get it? Cuz Linda Hunt won an Oscar for... never mind. By Lester Fabian Brathwaite Lester Fabian Brathwaite Lester Fabian Brathwaite is a staff writer at Entertainment Weekly, where he covers breaking news, all things Real Housewives, and a rich cornucopia of popular culture. Formerly a senior editor at Out magazine, his work has appeared on NewNowNext, Queerty, Rolling Stone, and The New Yorker. He was also the first author signed to Phoebe Robinson's Tiny Reparations imprint. He met Oprah once. EW's editorial guidelines Published on October 11, 2022 10:30PM EDT Linda Hunt may have been absent from the season 14 premiere of NCIS: Los Angeles, prompting fears that Henrietta Lange had perished in Syria. But no need to worry, says executive producer R. Scott Gemmill, the resilient agent will be back. When last we heard of Hetty, last season, the NCIS Supervisory Special Agent and Operations Manager of the Office of Special Projects was somewhere in Syria. In the premiere episode, a body was found with Hetty's ID, but it turned out to be the body of a child, meaning Hetty had likely faked her own death. Classic Hetty! Linda Hunt as Hetty, and not Edna Mode, in 'NCIS: Los Angeles'. Ron P. Jaffe/CBS Hunt has portrayed Henrietta Lange since the first season of NCIS: Los Angeles in 2009. Hetty is known for taking in orphaned children, including Chris O'Donnell's G. Callen, and grooming them to become agents for the U.S. government. After 12 seasons, the now-77-year-old Oscar-winner's role was reduced in season 13 amid COVID-19 precautions. However, with Callen getting ready to tie the knot to Anastasia "Anna" Kolcheck (Bar Paly), there's no way Hetty would miss that. But in typical Hetty fashion, no one knows what she's quite up to at the moment. "Hetty has been an integral force within the agency and an especially important part of Callen's past," Gemmill told Variety. "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." Well, hopefully Hetty shows up in time for the massive NCIS-verse crossover airing in January. NCIS: Los Angeles airs on CBS Sundays at 10 p.m. ET/PT. Want more movie news? Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free newsletter to get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews, and more. Related content: NCIS: LA promotes Hetty… for president? CBS to air first-ever 'NCIS-verse' crossover with NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, and NCIS: Hawai'i NCIS: Los Angeles' Callen takes a knee in exclusive photos from season 13 finale