Hunt remained a series regular for the first 12 seasons, but her role was abruptly shortened for the final two when she was demoted to special guest star before NCIS: Los Angeles was canceled before season 15. Many were left disappointed and annoyed, looking for answers about why such an important character was left ignored. Despite teases that Hetty’s Syria storyline NCIS: Los Angeles would be revisited, the writers didn’t bring full closure before the end of the series.
Hetty’s Role In NCIS: LA Reduced In Later Seasons Explained
Linda Hunt’s Reduced Appearances Started In Season 10
Hunt wasn’t originally looking for a consistent TV role, according to an interview with The Daily Beast, but she threw herself into the role of Hetty. However, the first time she stepped away from the show was when she had to take a break during NCIS: Los Angeles season 10 due to a car accident she was involved in. While she didn’t sustain any major injuries, it took more time to recover than she initially thought it would. She returned for season 11, quickly becoming the formidable character everyone knew her as once more.
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Linda Hunt is an actor best known for her role as Hetty in NCIS: Los Angeles, which undoubtedly contributed to her impressive net worth.
Linda Hunt’s Personal Situation Contributed To NCIS: LA Decreasing Hetty’s Prominence
COVID-19 Contributed To Linda Hunt’s Reduced Availability
Due to Hunt’s age and health, the NCIS: Los Angeles showrunners had to find a way to film her scenes during that challenging season 12. Everybody involved in the series wanted to keep her safe, and that led to filming in Hunt’s driveway, setting up many scenes where she gave advice and direction through video calls to the team to limit too many people being on set with her. Once Hunt had received her COVID-19 vaccinations, however, she decided that she could return to the set. She returned to film the season 12 finale, something important to her as she had missed spending time with everyone on set.
While there were plans to bring Hetty back in season 13 and also in the 14th and final season, those plans changed due to Hunt’s availability and precautions for her health. There were still concerns about the pandemic during season 13, and according to Soaps.com, showrunner R. Scott Gemmill explained that Hunt’s lack of availability in season 14 led to her not being involved in the series finale, although he did not go into detail about the reason behind her lack of availability. Had Hunt been available for the two-part NCIS: Los Angeles series finale, the mission to save Hetty would have happened in the series finale to offer closure to all those who needed it.
Can Hunt Still Return As Hetty In The NCIS Franchise?
The NCIS Franchise Is Still Going Strong
Had Hunt been available for the NCIS: Los Angeles season 14 finale, Gemmill had story plans for the team set out on a rescue mission. Throughout the final two seasons, Hetty was in Syria, and at one point, it looked like she had been in a coffee shop when there was an explosion. Fortunately, Hetty faked her death and was able to get a message to the L.A.-based team during the three-way crossover event to both help the team and clarify that she was still alive. This led to Nell forming a team in the series finale intent on getting the Operations Manager back.
With the NCIS franchise still ongoing through the flagship series and NCIS: Sydney, there is an opportunity to bring Hetty back. An episode could involve Nell’s team coming to one of the other teams for support in Syria. Alternatively, one of the shows could be used as a way to mention Hetty and how the mission is going, which is something NCIS season 22 recently missed an opportunity to do.
After the end of the Los Angeles-based spin-off, there were also talks of a TV movie that could wrap up Hetty’s storyline. Considering the popularity of the NCIS franchise, this could still happen, but it would depend on Hunt’s availability and health. There is an interest to see Hetty saved and her story gain the closure that it deserves.
As the NCIS franchise continues to grow with various spinoffs, the question of returning characters from already concluded installments persists among fans. With Eric Christian Olsen recently expressing his minimal interest in reprising his role of Deeks for the franchise’s future, I’m also in a similar boat of being okay with the NCIS: Los Angeles crew remaining dormant, as their series finale mostly tied up everyone’s stories nicely, save for Sam and Callen’s being recruited to find Hetty in Morocco, a plot point I’m still definitely intrigued to see closed out.
