Everything you need to know about the next season of the crime drama’s tropical island spin-off. The third spin-off from the phenomenally successful NCIS franchise, NCIS: Hawai’i launched in 2021 and became the first instalment to be set outside the US mainland (paving the way for NCIS: Sydney, a new international series that launches in November 2023), and the first to feature a female lead.
Vanessa Lachey stars as mother-of-two Jane Tennant, the first female Supervisory Special Agent in NCIS history to be in charge of the Pearl Harbor Field Office.
Her team of Naval criminal investigators solving crimes on the Hawaiian islands includes right-hand man Jesse Boone, new recruit Kai and tech whiz Ernie Malik, alongside junior field agent Lucy Tara. Over the course of the first two seasons, the team bonded while catching murderers, hunting escaped exotic animals and even surviving being held hostage by pirates.
Read on for everything you need to know about the upcoming NCIS: Hawai’i season 3.
Has NCIS: Hawai’i been renewed for season 3?
Yes. After two hit seasons in 2021 and 2022, NCIS: Hawai’i was renewed for a third season back in February 2023.
NCIS: Hawai’i season 3: When will it air?
The first two seasons premiered in September 2021 and September 2022, so season three was originally scheduled to start airing in September 2023. However, the US writers’ and actors’ strikes have delayed production on the series, so it is now unlikely we will see any new episodes until spring 2024 at the earliest.
The writers’ strike has now ended, but even if the actors’ strike quickly follows suit, it will take a while for new episodes to be written and filmed. One possibility is for the release of season 3 to be delayed until September 2024, or a shorter season of around 13 episodes to be shown in the spring.
NCIS: Hawai’i season 3 cast: Who’s returning?
Alongside Vanessa Lachey as team leader Jane, the cast includes:
Alex Tarrant as Kai Holman
Noah Mills as Jesse Boone
Yasmine Al-Bustami as Lucy Tara
Jason Antoon as Ernie Malik
Tori Anderson as Kate Whistler
Kian Talan as Alex Tennant
There will also be a new addition to the cast for season three – NCIS: Los Angeles star LL Cool J. He made a surprise appearance as his NCIS character Sam Hanna in the season 2 finale of NCIS: Hawai’i, and it has been confirmed that he will return as a recurring guest star in season 3.
“All of us at NCIS: Hawai’i have been huge fans of LL Cool J for years and couldn’t be more thrilled or honoured to be adding his spectacular talent to our ohana for season 3,” said executive producers Matt Bosack, Jan Nash and Christopher Silber in a statement in May 2023.
NCIS: Hawai’i season 3 plot: What will happen?
It is likely that the third season will follow on from the tense events of the season 2 finale. Jane Tennant’s CIA past came back to haunt her when she became the prime suspect in the murder of a former MI6 agent, and she was forced to go to extreme lengths to track down the real killer and prove her innocence.
Her former CIA mentor, Maggie Shaw (Julie White), helped Jane in her quest, but by the end of the episode Maggie had become a fugitive, so it is possible that season 3 could focus on Jane tracking her old friend down. And while Jane was off on her solo mission, her second-in-command Jesse Boone took over the reins at work, so it’s likely there may be tension when he has to step back on Jane’s return.
Noah Mills, who plays Boone, teased the storyline for season 3 in an interview with ET. “There are some major changes coming to season 3 and it will be a different dynamic, I’ll put it that way, in the beginning of season 3,” he said.
He added: “I’m sure there will be some uncomfortable adjustments and some new relationships that we’ll have to explore within season 3, which I think will be really fun and intense.”
NCIS: Hawai’i season 3 trailer: When can I watch it?
There is no trailer for NCIS: Hawai’i just yet, but we’ll update this page when any new footage is released.
NCIS: Hawai’i is available to stream on Paramount+ – get a seven-day free trial of Paramount Plus on Amazon Prime Video.