NCIS Los Angeles ended its 14 season run last night.
Linda Hunt, winner of an Oscar years ago and the heart of this procedural, did not make an appearance. The actress who played Hetty has not been on the show since October of 2021.
In the two preceding seasons, she appeared only once each year.
Hunt was in a car accident in 2018, and it seems like she never recovered. Once it was clear she wasn’t coming back full time, “NCIS LA” brought in Gerald McRaney as the new chief of the unit. Hetty’s absence was never fully explained, and Hunt was never given a proper send off.
No one expects older actors to full time forever, but it would be smarter to write a finale for them instead of telling reporters at press conferences that its only a matter of time before they return.
Let’s hope Hunt is comfortable and well cared for. She deserves at least that in her retirement at age 78.
PS The show is over but we will never get LL Cool J off CBS. He’s joining “NCIS Hawai’i” in fall, according to reports.
