NCIS: Los Angeles keeps hinting that Hetty Lange and her days in charge of the team are limited. It raises some interesting questions about the show itself and who might replace Linda Hunt on the NCIS: LA cast.
The latest episode had the team trying to save Hetty from an assassin she had trained. It nearly killed Marty Deeks, and it raised more questions about whether or not Hetty had led her team of recruits down the wrong path.
Who could replace Hetty Lange on NCIS team?
During Season 9 and entering Season 10, it sure looked like Shay Mosley (played by Nia Long) was being groomed for the spot. She was another no-nonsense character who could hold her own in the ops center and in the field.
The character is no longer on the show, as she is in hiding with her son Derrick after they had become targets of the Mexican cartels. The storyline could be continued, though, especially if that’s what the writers wanted.
The sting of disillusion grips Hetty this week when her former pupil takes a turn for the dark side. #NCISLA pic.twitter.com/hUSmvsMlwd
— NCIS LA (@NCISLA) November 27, 2019
Recently, other possible replacements were also discussed on the show. Hetty had Eric Beale (played by Barrett Foa) go undercover on the show and he was nearly killed. This fractured the relationship that Hetty has with Nell Jones (Renée Felice Smith), who is the other tech specialist and girlfriend of Eric.
At the end of that episode, Hetty spoke with Callen (Chris O’Donnell) about how Nell had been on a track to take the job as leader of the team, but that it may no longer be in the cards. This was spurred on by Nell stating that she could not intentionally put her friends in harm’s way.
Sans Nell and Shay as options, that leaves Callen, who has always seemed like the de facto leader of the team when they are in the field. He keeps telling Hetty that he doesn’t want the job, once leading to Hetty saying that “neither do I.”
It caused a lot of viewers to immediately feel Hetty is taking part in her final episodes.
If nobody on the current NCIS: LA cast wants the job, it certainly opens the door for the producers to bring on someone new. It could be an interesting way to spice up the back end of Season 11, especially if John Rogers (Peter Jacobson) uses the information he learned about Hetty’s past in order to oust her from the job.
Could the obvious scenario take place, where Rogers gets placed in charge of the team? Or is he more interested in keeping those secrets buried so that the team can continue to succeed? There are a lot of questions as the show heads toward a new chapter.
What we know for sure is that the NCIS: Los Angeles fall finale airs next Sunday and that the episode looks to be a really good one, packed with character development for all the main players.
NCIS: Los Angeles airs Sunday nights at 9/8c on CBS.
The only one that could possibly take Hetty’s place is Nell, I do believe the show will have a hard time keeping viewers if Linda Hunt leaves.