Without their stern but devoted Operations Manager, Hetty Lange (Linda Hunt), the agents of “NCIS: Los Angeles” wouldn’t be where they are now. Every season, Hetty challenges the team to achieve new heights and takes on the role of a father for G. Callen (Chris O’Donnell). Sadly, Hetty’s involvement with the show waned throughout the years, and in seasons 13 and 14, she only made one appearance each.
In storyline terms, Hetty initially disappears during Season 9. It turns out she’s being held hostage in Vietnam, looking for Keane (Jeff Kober), an MIA former member of her team from the war who is eventually revealed to be alive after all. After her rescue, Hetty comes into conflict with new NCIS team leader Shay Mosley (Nia Long). When Mosley sends the whole gang to Mexico, Hetty realizes that the clandestine mission may result in heavy casualties — and worse, that Mosley doesn’t care, as the team’s recon target is her son.
Mosley will lose her command position after the team returns from Mexico, and Hetty will be assigned to a protracted OSI mission in Syria. She asks Hollace Kilbride (Gerald McRaney), a friend of hers, to fill her spot on the NCIS team. In the series conclusion, Hetty leaves Callen and his new wife, Anna (Bar Paly), with a letter. She apologizes for her absence, joyfully congratulates her protégé, refers to them as family, and extends an invitation for the pair to stay at her Mykonos home. She also sends G and his companion Sam Hanna (LL Cool J) on their subsequent journey after giving them a lead on an assignment in Morocco.
Why was Hetty gone for so long? It turns out Linda Hunt definitely had a good reason not to be around for the last few chunks of “NCIS: Los Angeles.”
The show’s producers did what they could to ensure Hetty stayed an onscreen presence
While the producers of “NCIS: Los Angeles” managed to weave the story of Hetty’s absence into the general plotline without too many jarring bumps, it turns out there are multiple reasons for Linda Hunt’s absences on the show.
The initial cause was an automobile accident that happened in 2018. The actress needed time to recover even if she wasn’t gravely hurt. She admitted to TV Line that she had wanted to resume filming the series sooner, but that her recovery took longer than she had anticipated. “Although I had intended to resume my role as Hetty at the start of the season, I needed more time to heal. I’m excited to come back later this season,” she said in her statement.
Then the COVID-19 pandemic occurred, and Hunt’s age (75 at the time) forced the producers to use her sparingly until a vaccine could be distributed. Even with Hunt back working full-time, the actress wasn’t available to shoot much during the show’s final season. Thus, Hetty appeared at Callen’s wedding via a letter in the series finale.
“It wouldn’t have been a series finale without some element of Hetty, and we felt like she — being all knowing and all seeing — would have known about the wedding somehow,” said showrunner R. Scott Gemmil to TV Line in May 2023. He continued by saying that if the program had been given a second season, viewers would have seen the “NCIS: Los Angeles” team launch a rescue operation to bring Hetty back from Morocco. Fans might be able to anticipate that in a future reunion film.