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CBS‘ NCIS: Los Angeles, by writing out not just Eric but also Nell in its Season 12 finale, made the question of Linda Hunt‘s involvement in the CBS series more burning than ever.
After all, if Nell (played by Renee Felice Smith) was groomed all season long to take over for the MIA Operations Manager, who will lead the team in her sudden absence?
Or might the “new Hetty” be in fact the very best Hetty, as in Hunt herself?
TVLine spoke with showrunner R. Scott Gemmill about Hunt’s cameo in the season finale and what that means for Season 13, and more. (And as always, if you seek additional NCIS: LA scoop, email InsideLine@tvline.com. I’m sitting on tons!)
TVLINE | Hetty showing up…. Eric and Nell riding off into the sunset…. “Densi” picnicking on the beach…. Sam seeing his son take his fighter pilot exam…. Correct me if I’m wrong, but was this the happiest damn NCIS: LA season finale we’ve ever had…?
Well, it wasn’t what we were going to do, that’s for sure. We were going to use the finale that we had written for last season, which got bumped because of COVID, and then we realized everyone had such a tough, s–tty year, that we couldn’t in good conscience put the fans through any more trauma. So we decided to go in the exact opposite way and do a fun, feel-good episode that leaves everyone happy and hopeful for what is coming down the line.
TVLINE | What was the gist of the original, bumped finale?
It involved Anna and Katya and that storyline, which we still want to play out. But it was a little darker than [what we went with]. If ever there was a season where you wanted to go out on a fun, happy note, this was the one where everyone needed that more than we needed to show off some cool episode. We needed to make everyone feel good.
TVLINE | I liked how at that one point Sam and Callen recounted everything that they’d gone through during this crazy year.
You know, the fans have been really loyal for 12 years, and sometimes we do things that are exciting but are also a little bit traumatic, and we felt like we should have as much fun as we can and share that with the fans. It was like a little “love letter” to the audience, to show how much we appreciate them.
TVLINE | Amongst other things, you also apparently had an election in your world, because the president who gave Kessler the pardon is now a former POTUS. But it’s not Trump, because your guy was a former congressman, right?
Yeah. Yeah. We always have to have a loophole!
[We then discussed the decision to write our Eric and Nell, reported here.]
TVLINE | What sort of reactions did you get from Barrett and Renée, when you told them your plan?
You know, it goes back and forth with each season. There have been seasons where Barrett has gotten sort of bored — he really pulls toward Broadway — and I would always have to have the duality conversation, which is, as a friend, “I totally understand. You want to be doing something else, something cool. You should.” But as a father figure, I’m like, “Keep getting the paycheck because one day the show’ll be over, and then you can do whatever you want.”
Renée’s the same; a lot of the time when we haven’t seen her, it’s because we’ve written her out so that she can pursue [other projects]. She’s developing her own shows, and just wrote a book that’s out. A lot of the actors have other projects; Dani [Ruah] is directing a movie in Portugal right now. It’s such a gift to have a show go this long, but it’s also a big ask to have someone do the same thing for a long time, whether it’s actors or writers or one of the crew.
TVLINE | With Nell gone, what is the plan to fill Hetty’s position?
Right now, we’re kicking around some ideas….
TVLINE | It seems like you may have to bring on someone new.
As you know, Linda [Hunt] was away a lot more this season because of COVID and us trying to keep her safe. The couple of episodes that she was in, where she was supposed to be in the Middle East, we actually shot in her driveway. That was getting a little more difficult to do, and then finally, Linda had both her vaccines, she was feeling great, and she came back. And she was so happy to be back. She had been gone for so long and hadn’t really interacted with anyone, so she was just so thrilled to be back on set. The minute I saw her, she’s like, “Let’s talk about next season…,” so I think that as tough as last year was, for a lot of reasons, she, like the rest of us, is starting to see a little light at the end of the tunnel and feels good about coming back to work.
TVLINE | That’s good to hear, because Hetty’s line about still being up to her “ass in alligators” made me worry you were hedging your bets.
Whenever [a cast member] goes away, we introduce some predicament that we’re forced to deal with. We always try and incorporate it. I think those are instances of opportunity rather than problems. Like when Dani was pregnant, or whatever it is that’s thrown at us, we try to incorporate that. You normally wouldn’t ever write one of your No 1 through 6 actors out for four or five episodes, because you couldn’t afford to, but when they have to for whatever reason, you try and jump at that because that’s something you don’t normally get to do, and you build that into the story. Like, “Where is this character?” Obviously, Hetty was away, but we want there to be a real reason, and we’ll probably revisit that next season.
TVLINE | So, we might get a good amount of Hetty in Season 13?
That’s the plan, yeah.
TVLINE | In the meantime, what an MVP Gerald McRaney has been, as Kilbride!
Oh, man…. I have been a huge fan of his forever. I mean, I grew up watching him and I was really happy when we had him on the show the first time, a few years ago. He’s such a pro and so cool, he raises everybody’s game.
TVLINE | And Kilbride’s such a pisser, grumbling about the millennials and their TikToks.
He’s so great because he can do comedy, and he can do drama, and he likes to be out running around with guns, because he’s a big hunter in real life. We hope to see a lot more of him.
TVLINE | Was there anything you didn’t get to in Season 12?
There were a lot of things, like Callen’s past as a child; we probably would have started to explore that a bit more. We didn’t get to where Hetty was; that was a big storyline that we were building towards with, what she was involved in. If we were having a normal season, we would have gone to where Hetty was.
TVLINE | When she and Nell hugged, I got teary-eyed, man. I felt like Renée was really crying in that scene.
That’s what we wanted. We didn’t want to shortchange that return, so we had Hetty make an appearance with Nell, and then had a little fun with her and Kilbride.
TVLINE | Turning to the week prior, I kind of loved how Joelle is basically a Bond villain at this point, dressed all in black with one gloved hand and a prosthetic leg….
I talked to Elizabeth [Bogush] ahead of time and said, “I think we’re going to cut your leg off,” and she was like, “What??” [Laughs] You want to have some legitimate repercussions for some of this craziness, and that seemed like a good way to do it.
TVLINE | Renewal came later than usual this year. Are you preparing for next season to possibly be your last?
We sort of always have that in the back of our mind, and this year wasn’t any different. Next season, I hope to get a heads-up if that is the case, just so that we can go out with an episode or a bunch of episodes that really tie up things and send our characters into the future in a way that makes everyone happy. But we’ll just have to wait and see. No one ever knows. If there is someone that knows, they’re not telling me!
TVLINE | You think it’ll be a full season?
I think we’re scheduled to do 18 episodes. I would like to do [at least] 19, because that will get us to 300. I would really like to get 300, because that’s such a milestone.
Want more scoop on NCIS: LA, or for any other show? Email InsideLine@tvline.com and your question may be answered via Matt’s Inside Line.
Hoping it’s more than 18 episodes as that means a bunch of reruns and extended breaks. I think things will have improved enough to do close to a full season again. Getting those extra episodes will also help with some of those story arcs as it felt like several this season weren’t served well with the reduced episode count.
As for the future of the show, I think they’ll need to add some people to the cast as I don’t think Fatima is the type of full-time tech/ops person they need. They also need someone in senior leadership to be there with Hetty and Kilbride is the best character they’ve had to replace Granger’s role.
Considering the show got off to a later than normal start, 18 episodes was a pretty good number. I think we got roughly the same amount of reruns as in a normal season.
I really hope Linda Hunt is able to be in more episodes next season and we don’t get a Covid resurgence.
To be honest, the should be planning for a final season. NCIS is not the same without Hetty. Now, with Nell and Eric gone, even less so… I hope they bring Nate back.
Thank you TV Line, for these interviews.
We need to go back to 24 episodes next Season, and we definitely want to know what Hetty is up to!
They need to find character replacements for Nell and Eric. The ops room has been off without them. Fatima IMHO needs to be out investigating with the team. The actress who played a deaf character, who was the owner of a tech company, from a few episodes ago, seems like a good fit. Would love to them add her dynamics to the show.
Hopefully they make it to episode 300. I love the comedic interactions with all the characters. Best show on TV.
I’m so happy that we’ll get to see more of Hetty but even Hetty at a distance or just knowing she is out there somewhere makes me a happy camper.
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I’m so happy that Gemmill sees Gerald McRaney the way I do, as someone who elevates every scene he’s in, doesn’t matter the show. Even if you hate the character, you have to love the actor. I posted something to that effect earlier.
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Matt, thanks for asking all the right questions!😃 You know your audience here well.👍
I am really hoping they start a new storyline next season. The whole Anna and Joelle storyline are extremely played out. It’s almost as if the writers have nowhere else to go. I love this show and would like to see it interesting again. The actors that play Roundtree and Fatima need to loosen up. They seem so stiff like they have no chemistry with each other. We need new ops people and the girl who played Jasmine Garcia is not the girl. Find a way to bring back Harley Hedoko please.
OK, gotta say it…
This is the absolute WORST show of the NCIS franchise!
They canceled New Orleans to keep this load of 💩 on the air?
This show has the MOST annoying characters of any of the NCIS shows!
I don’t regularly watch L.A. because I can’t stand Deeks, Hetty, or a couple other characters. It’s only if I don’t have any other shows recorded to watch.
I did see the season finale this week, and they did tie up some loose ends, but I hoping & praying they don’t bring Hetty back full time!
It says in the story that Hetty will for sure be in most of the episodes
I disagree the original is the worst it used to be good until Ziva than Tony left now ot sucks as for New Oreleans I never got into that one. NCIS LA is the best one
The original is much better with Tony gone. Couldn’t stand his juvenile actions. Ziva was missed though. I do like the current cast very much. As for the LA show, I actually like Hetty. Without her I’d drop the show entirely. Pissed they cancelled NO though.
Love this show with its international flavor! My aunt was C.I.A. in Southeast Asia. Best to all!!
CBS should air NCIS LA & the other Sunday night dramas uninterupted after the football season. That would provide better continuity and help the ratings. I figured that out of the 3 NCIS shows one had to thrown under the bus to make room for NCIS Hawaii. Why they decided to air Seal Team & Evil on Paramount Plus but not NICIS NOLA is a mystery. I came to watch NCIS a few seasons ago and have caught up on every episode. What makes this show work are the characters. NCIS LA has manged to give us characters that we care about and become involved with. Even though the cast is excellent the show truly revolves around (Linda Hunt) Hetty. Even when Hetty is not present she is still there. As for Neil & Eric leaving one has to figure that is the natural outgrowth of 2 young people building their future. Hopefully they can come back once in a while. Even though the new character on NCIS NOLA is very good there is no doubt that when LaSalle was written out it left a big void that was hard to fill. I do not think thst this will be the case with NCIS LA but it does depend on whom they bring aboard as the new meekrats upstar in the OPS center. The show was building towards a certain point as where Neil & Eric would end up. I do think we will be seeing more of Killbride. In one scene he was making inquires as how to cover up the windows in the Assitant Directors office. Hetty wil return-did we not see Kilbride placing Hetty’s antique weapons back? Killbride makes a good foil for Hetty . I think that the producers are searching for the same type of relationship that Hetty had with Granger. Hopefully I am correct because that will spark things up for next season. All in all the season that just concluded wasn’t that bad-in fact considering all of the interuptions and Covid related dealys it was pretty good. The final episode was a nice landing for the characters which in a year that everything was upside down was needed. Kirkin leaving Deeks his criminal empire was a great comic touch. So onto season 13 but I ask why only 18 episodes ? Is not the usual order 22 or thereabouts.? Regarding NCIS Hawaii will the show primarily deal with naval cases or as NCIS LA does include other types of crime? I ask because if the new NCIS show follows the same pattern as NCIS LA that would negate Hawaii 5-O to a large degree.
Even in NJ paragraphs are useful
I had meant to write NCIS LA-having caught up on every episode
What really would have made fans happy would have been to have you resolve the mess you made of Harm and Mac….Hopefully, you can get CB and DJE back in Season 13 to fix the messy storyline. If Hetty does leave, it would be nice to see one of them step into her shoes
Agree about the horrible mess with Harm and Mac., and I personally want more Hetty.
No other place to mention this– unless I missed it, why no article about NCIS:NO’s last episode? I’ve lost count of the NCIS;LA stories.
Have to agree it would be great to see the Harm and Mac situation resolved in the next season of NCIS:LA or even incorporate their characters into NCIS: Hawaii nothing i have read about the new show so far, and that isn’t much, makes me think i will become a fan even though I love Hawaii.
Love Hetty the main reason I enjoy NCIS:LA
Sad to see NCIS:NO come to an end really enjoyed that show.
Yea… More Hetty please. She is the heart and soul of the show…
The (former) President who pardoned Kessler, may not have been based on the real former President, but this is NCIS. In at least one episode of NCIS (the flagship show), Michelle Obama appeared as herself, while Barack Obama was still President. So we know in the NCIS universe, they do use real politicians (to a certain extent)
I have enjoyed the NCIS series very much. As for NCIS LA, I do not really care for the 2 new characters. As portrayed, they are not as professional as one would expect on an elite team. Also not as likable. I personally liked Agent Duchamps much better and Hidoko before she was killed.
Getting real tired of the pop out video taking over 1/4 of my screen. Why did you make this change? It’s annoying as, due to my vision issues (and I’m sure many others who visit the site), I have to enlarge the text to be able to read it these days. Now this pop out video has no “X” to close it out and it takes over a big portion of the space where the story is.
C’mon Matt, fix this crap!
Scenes with Kilbride (Gerald McRaney) feel the exact opposite to me.
Rather than bringing out other characters (or actors), they shrink, fear him, and often look like they are shitting bricks whenever he is around.
His grumpiness about everything not his way is tiresome.
I’d be very happy if he had been the one leaving to Tokyo. Permanently.
The finale was great. So good to see Hetty. She looked so happy. Love McRaney. Hope he stays.
Want to know everything about NCIS & NCIS LA. Keep us informed on everything about both shows. Can u please get Hettie back on ncis la & Ms David on ncis ?
Is NCIS LA being cut from tv
NCIS:LA is my favorite show! Do whatever you need to keep it on!!!!
Bring back Neil and Eric in the fall and keep Joelle until series end she is great bond bad girl.
Outstanding performance Me & My Son Johnny Williams Love the Show it’s Our Favorite God Bless you All
Love the season finale! Going with upbeat was amazing!
I’m really getting tired of the Deeks-Kensi-baby drama. Every week: Baby, I wanna talk. I’m optimistic. I love you.
Honey, I can’t talk. I’m bummed. This is hard. I love you.
But yay, Hetty’s back!
Is the real Hattie ok or is she sick? I’m worried about her in real life.
Did you read the story above…?