Explainers

Is Hetty still on NCIS: Los Angeles? Why is Deeks leaving?

Hetty NCIS LA
Hetty Lange has been an important part of the NCIS: LA cast for years. Pic credit: CBS

Having Hetty Lange on NCIS: Los Angeles has always been a treat for viewers. She has been the glue for the team and always seems to have a way to help out her team in the direst of circumstances.

On the other end of the spectrum, we have Marty Deeks, who is often the core of comedic interludes used to break up tension on the show. Most fans love the characters, though there are some who don’t like the corniness that Deeks can bring to episodes.

In Season 10, Hetty was missing for a number of episodes, all linking back to when actress Linda Hunt had a car accident that led to her needing some time to recover off-screen. That forced Hetty into working a bit behind-the-scenes on a few cases.

The absence of Hetty also led to questions about whether or not the character was going to be leaving the show. Her absence this year is due to the coronavirus pandemic. The producers of the show wanted to keep Linda healthy and safe so they have limited her scenes.

Yes, Hetty is still on NCIS: Los Angeles, even though the character isn’t on the screen as much. While she is out, Nell Jones (Renee Felice Smith) continues to lead the team.

Nell has done a pretty great job so far, but as even Nell keeps saying, she is no Hetty.

Why is Deeks leaving NCIS: Los Angeles?

As Season 12, Episode 7, began on Sunday night, a lot of fans were asking why Deeks is leaving NCIS: Los Angeles. That is due to how the episode started out and what has taken place through the first six episodes of the new season.

To summarize it all, the LAPD got rid of the liaison position with NCIS. That’s the job that Deeks held, and when it was removed from existence, it left Deeks without a job. He wasn’t a full-fledged NCIS agent, so he didn’t have another position to fall back on. The good news was that Hetty pulled some strings to get Deeks into the academy so that he could try to attain agent status.

On the new episode called Overdue, members of the NCIS team were getting interviewed by DCSA Agent Rosa Martinez to see if Deeks was actually good at his job. He had been watched closely by Internal Affairs while with the LAPD, so there were some big questions that needed to be answered.

Even though it may have looked like Deeks could soon be out of a job of any kind, actress Daniela Ruah (she plays Kensi Blye) has already stated that Eric Christian Olsen (he plays Deeks) isn’t going anywhere.

More NCIS: Los Angeles to come

The next new episode of NCIS: Los Angeles is going to air on Sunday, January 10 and it is called Love Kills. It will be very interesting to see what that means in the context of the show and if it ties into the relationship between G. Callen and Anna Kolcheck.

NCIS: Los Angeles airs Sundays on CBS.

All episodes of NCIS are now streaming on Paramount+. Try it FREE!

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Angel Monroe
Angel Monroe
3 years ago

As far as I’m concerned Deeks has always been some they could get rid of unless They want to clean him up with a haircut and shave.

Angel Monroe
Angel Monroe
3 years ago

Christian Olson has become creepy, I don’t know why you would keep him a part of the show

Angel Monroe
Angel Monroe
3 years ago

If Gibbs doesn’t come back you might as well cancel NCIS

Alyssa
Alyssa
1 year ago
Reply to  Angel Monroe

gibbs wasnt in this spin off series Angel and Christian just fine he not creepy you on the other hand though..

Carol
Carol
10 months ago

Why is the exit so bad don’t know anything about the end the story didn’t say you did very bad about the end.