Although the upcoming season of NCIS: LA will be somewhat focused on the highly-anticipated wedding of Callen and Anna, there will still be a lot of focus on Deek and Kensi. Last season, after a long journey to become parents, the couple took in teenager Rosa, and they all officially became a family. But it all happened without one major person in the couple's life, Hetty. With this, Daniela Ruah is opening up about how the NCIS den mother's absence has affected the duo’s life.
Over NCIS: LA's last few seasons, Linda Hunt's Hetty has largely been absent aside from a solid cameo here and there for either a season finale or premiere. Showrunner R. Scott Gemmill has revealed that the producers are trying to get Hetty back for the Callanna wedding, which would be lovely to see. But even if she does return for that special event, one can't help but consider that she'll still have missed the moment that Deek and Kensi became parents.
Daniela Ruah told TV Insider that the character's absenteeism has really forced her and Eric Christian Olsen's characters to grow up a bit. As she explained:
But it’s also interesting to sort of explore — and I think we all go through this at one point in our life at some point — Hetty was sort of everybody’s parent, right? Looking out for everyone, being the person they go to to sort of figure out what they should do next. We all have somebody like that in our lives until we don’t — a parent, whether they age or pass away or whatever it is. At some point, we have to be independent and make our own decisions based on what would Hetty do or what would Hetty say, but they’re not there to give you that answer. And so to watch these characters make decisions on their own after having learned about life so much from her is interesting to watch.
Daniela Ruah also mentioned how Hetty has yet to meet Rosa and didn’t even want to be a reference while the two were seeking to adopt a child. Parenthood has been a long time coming for Deek and Kensi, they experienced a number of obstacles while trying to adopt and before that, conceive. While they should definitely rock at being parents, I'm still curious to see how they continue to make decisions without their beloved mentor around.
On another note, if Linda Hunt does manage to come back for Callen and Anna’s wedding, what would that reunion look like? It’s likely to be an emotional one since it would have been a long time since the team last saw her. It’s also likely we would get to see her meet Rosa, so fans may want have to have their tissues handy.
Meanwhile, Season 14 of NCIS: LA will also feature a first for the franchise when there’s a three-way NCIS crossover between the flagship series, LA, and Hawai’i. The event will take place sometime in January 2023 so, while that’s still a few months away, it's just good to know that LA will finally take part in a crossover with both of its sister shows. It's probably a long shot, but I would love to see Hetty take part in such an event if she were to return and reunite with Deek, Kensi and their colleagues.
Don’t miss the Season 14 premiere of NCIS: Los Angeles tonight, Sunday, October 9 at 10 p.m. EST on CBS! Also, heck out CinemaBlend’s 2022 TV schedule for info on other shows that will be premiering in the coming months!
