The following contains spoilers from… the 15th season of NCIS: Los Angeles that we never got?
Sam Hanna came bearing gifts — and not just malasadas — when NCIS‘ latest Case of the Week demanded the former agent’s presence.
Oh, did we say “former” NCIS agent? That’s because that was the first bombshell that got dropped on us before Sam (played by NCIS: LA vet LL Cool J) arrived in the big orange room.
Having witnessing the massacre of his NCIS ELITE team during his NCIS: Hawaii Season 3 crossover, Sam needed “a change of pace” and requested a leave of absence from the agency, we were told.
So what is Sam up to these days? He “chose a far more dangerous battleground” — working in D.C. on the Hill, “defending freedom with a laser pointer.” Meaning, he’s trying to sell obstinate congressmen on military interdictions that, while vitally important, won’t help get anyone elected, seeing as they’re “two-bit squabbles halfway around the world,” as one politico put it. (By episode’s end, that same pissy congressman wound up learning he is in bed with a military contractor guilty of war crimes, at which point Sam then very much had his ear!)
What else did former Special Agent Sam have to share about his onetime teammates back in L.A. (and Hawaii)?
* G Callen is “not a lone wolf anymore,” Sam informed us. Rather, “He and [wife] Anna are expecting a new pup” — which we will choose to interpret as “a human baby,” and not a pet (or newborn wolf).
* Pearl Harbor SAC Jane Tennant‘s son Alex is in college, while daughter Julie (gosh, remember Julie??) is now age 15. Jane also hooked Sam up with the recipe (really? He baked?) for the malasadas with which he surprised pastry afficianado Alden Parker.
* Then, at episode’s end… just when you thought the OSP updates were done with and the grand dame aka Henrietta “Hetty” Lange‘s status would again be sidestepped…. Sam told Vance that he was quitting his job on the Hill, and that while NCIS’ doors are always open to him, “I have some things I need to take care of first,” he hinted.
“That wouldn’t have anything to do with Hetty, would it?” asked Vance, cocking an eyebrow. “I’ve heard rumors she’s been spotted on wrong side of a DMZ.”
Sam was coy about his forever-mysterious L.A. boss, winking back, “It’s probably better the less you know.”
When last we tuned into NCIS: Los Angeles (for its series finale), it appeared that the long-MIA Hetty had sent Sam and a newlywed Callen a pair of plane tickets to Morocco, in case they had time for “a small side project.” But once in Morocco, Sam and Callen instead found Nell (Renee Felice Smith), with Nate (Peter Cambor), Sabatino (Erik Palladino) and “the new guy” (played by Chris O’Donnell’s real-life son, Chip).
“Hetty got herself into a bit of a pickle, and I’m here to get her out,” Nell explained. Alas, she and her team soon enough found themselves “up to our elbows in alligators,” with no real lead on Hetty’s whereabouts.
