Her stay will be brief–we’re told it’s only a scene and a half. But in that short time, Hetty reconnects with Intelligence Analyst Nell Jones (Renée Felice Smith) as well as Retired Navy Admiral Hollace Kilbride (Gerald McRaney). And she may be back just in time. Hetty had coerced Nell into handling her job while she was away, but it’s a job that Nell previously told her she didn’t want. She knew that Hetty had been grooming her as her eventual replacement, but a near-death event for Eric Beale (Barrett Foa) on a mission in San Francisco (that Nell felt Hetty was responsible for) changed her mind. Related NCIS: LA Star Renée Felice Smith on the Return of Linda Hunt and Impossible Things In the finale, Beale, who has become a very wealthy man as a result of an invention, returns and makes Nell an intriguing proposition. Our prediction? He offers her a position with his company and tries to woo her away from NCIS and Hetty will return just in time to keep that from happening. But that’s just a guess; we’ll have to wait to find out for sure. In an earlier interview, Smith told Parade.com, “Linda was essentially sidelined by the pandemic, but, very exciting, I do share a scene with her in our season finale and it’s one of the most memorable scenes of my time on NCIS: LA, so I’m very grateful to have her back as my scene partner.” Hunt has been MIA as a way of keeping her safe during COVID-19 protocols, so most of her scenes this season were actually filmed at her home. Also, in the “A Tale of Two Igors” finale episode, Deeks (Eric Christian Olsen) is kidnapped by an associate of Kirkin’s (Ravil Isyanov) in need of his help and NCIS investigates the shooting of a militarized dolphin equipped with a Russian microchip. NCIS: Los Angeles airs Sunday nights at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CBS. Next, get all the scoop on NCIS: Hawai’i!
