NCIS: Los Angeles

NCIS: Los Angeles is an American action crime drama television series combining elements of the military drama and police procedural genres, which premiered on CBS on September 22, 2009. The series follows the exploits of the Los Angeles-based Office of Special Projects (OSP), an elite division of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service that specializes in undercover assignments. NCIS: Los Angeles is the first spin-off of the successful series NCIS and the second series in the NCIS franchise. The series concluded on May 21, 2023, making it the second series in the NCIS franchise to end.
The series originally starred Chris O'Donnell, Daniela Ruah, LL Cool J, Peter Cambor, Adam Jamal Craig, Linda Hunt and Barrett Foa. Cambor was demoted to recurring status, and Craig's character was killed off at the end of season 1, while Foa was written out at the end of season 12 and Hunt was demoted to "special guest star" status at the beginning of season 13. Other stars have included Eric Christian Olsen, Renée Felice Smith, Miguel Ferrer, Nia Long, Medalion Rahimi, Caleb Castille, and Gerald McRaney. The show received mixed reviews from critics, but was a solid ratings hit for CBS.
Premise
NCIS: Los Angeles follows Special Agents Sam Hanna (LL Cool J) and Grisha Callen (Chris O'Donnell), undercover agents assigned to the Office of Special Projects, a special branch of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service that specializes in undercover assignments. Sam is an ex-US Navy SEAL and former member of SEAL Team Six and dedicated family man. Callen is a former foster child who became a "legend" under the watchful eye of Operations Manager Henrietta "Hetty" Lange (Linda Hunt). At the start of the series, Sam, Callen, and Hetty are supported by Special Agent Kensi Blye (Daniela Ruah), a hand-to-hand combat specialist, trained sniper and forensic whiz, rookie agent Dominic Vail (Adam Jamal Craig), Operational Psychologist Nate Getz (Peter Cambor) and Technical Operator Eric Beale (Barrett Foa). Vail is abducted by terrorists halfway through season 1 and, following a period of being held hostage, is killed during his rescue mission near the end of the season. Getz, meanwhile, enters training to become an agent in the back-half of the season, and is reassigned during season 2, returning for occasional guest appearances afterwards.
In season 2, LAPD Detective Marty Deeks (Eric Christian Olsen), after helping on several cases late in the prior season, joins the OSP team as a liaison between LAPD and NCIS, replacing Vail as Kensi's partner. He holds this position until departmental reforms in season 12 end up terminating it, after which he completes FLETC training and officially joins NCIS as an Investigator. Over the course of the series, Deeks and Kensi slowly evolve from partners to lovers, with the two marrying in season 10. The two then become foster parents to immigrant teenager Rosa in season 13 and are revealed to be expecting their own baby in the series finale. Also joining the team in season 2 is Intelligence Analyst Nell Jones (Renee Felice Smith), a brilliant agent whom Hetty hopes to have take her place eventually, and who forms a close relationship with Beale.
During season 3, Assistant Director Owen Granger (Miguel Ferrer), an old friend of Hetty's, is assigned to the team as oversight with her, and manages to develop a cordial relationship with the team despite a frosty start. In season 8, Granger falls ill with cancer, coinciding with Ferrer's real-life battle with the disease; following Ferrer's death, Granger is written to have fled the hospital while in recovery from a failed assassination attempt, and is later confirmed to have died from his illness during the following season.
In season 9, Executive Assistant Director Pacific (EADPAC) Shay Mosley (Nia Long) is assigned to the OSP after Hetty leaves on a personal mission to free an old colleague in Vietnam; the team later rescues her when the mission goes wrong. Mosley, meanwhile, sends the team on an unsanctioned mission to Mexico to rescue her son from her criminal ex-husband at the end of the season; while successful in its goals, the mission results in the death of Mosley's trusted assistant, the wounding of most of the rest of team, and the OSP being put under the microscope during the beginning of season 10; Mosley later accepts full responsibility, resigns and goes into hiding with her son to escape a cartel allied with her ex (whom she had killed during the mission).
During seasons 11 and 12, rookie agents Fatima Nazami (Medalion Rahimi) and Devin Rountree (Caleb Castille) are recruited to the OSP, while Beale and Jones depart for the private sector at the end of the latter season. With Hetty leaving to do damage control from a prior mission, Admiral Hollace Kilbride (Gerald McRaney), who has assisted the OSP in multiple cases, is assigned in her place as Director of Special Operations in season 13. The series ends with Callen marrying long-time love Ana Kolcheck, and him and Sam taking a "side project" mission to find and rescue Hetty with a new team, which includes old teammates Nate and Nell.
Characters
Main
Chris O'Donnell as G. Callen, NCIS Special Agent in Charge of the Office of Special Projects.
Peter Cambor as Nate Getz (season 1; recurring seasons 2–8 and 13–14), Operational Psychologist, and later NCIS Special Agent.
Daniela Ruah as Kensi Blye, NCIS Special Agent attached to the Office of Special Projects.
Adam Jamal Craig as Dominic Vail (season 1), NCIS Probationary Agent and Technical Specialist.
Linda Hunt as Henrietta "Hetty" Lange (seasons 1–12; guest seasons 13–14), NCIS Supervisory Special Agent and Operations Manager of the Office of Special Projects.
LL Cool J as Sam Hanna, NCIS Senior Special Agent and ex–Navy SEAL and second-in-command of the Office of Special Projects.
Barrett Foa as Eric Beale (seasons 1–12), NCIS Technical Operator.
Eric Christian Olsen as Marty Deeks (seasons 2–14; recurring season 1), NCIS Investigator and ex-LAPD detective who previously served as liaison officer for NCIS/LAPD
Renée Felice Smith as Nell Jones (seasons 2–12; guest season 14), NCIS Special Agent and Intelligence Analyst.
Miguel Ferrer as Owen Granger (seasons 5–8; recurring seasons 3–4), NCIS Assistant Director.
Nia Long as Shay Mosley (seasons 9–10), NCIS Executive Assistant Director for Pacific Operations (EAD-PAC) and ex-Secret Service Agent.
Medalion Rahimi as Fatima Namazi (seasons 11–14; recurring seasons 10–11), NCIS Special Agent with the Office of Special Projects.
Caleb Castille as Devin Rountree (seasons 12–14; recurring season 11), NCIS Special Agent and ex-FBI Agent.
Gerald McRaney as Hollace Kilbride (seasons 13–14; guest seasons 6 and 11; recurring seasons 10 and 12), ex–US Navy Admiral and NCIS Director of Special Operations.
Recurring
Rocky Carroll as Leon Vance, the director of NCIS (seasons 1–3 and 6): He initially spent a great amount of time "getting the new LA office up and running", but still returns to ensure the well-being of his agents. Carroll also appears on both NCIS (as a regular), and NCIS: New Orleans. He makes a seventh appearance in "Hunted". Vance appears in the season two finale and season three premiere. He makes his tenth appearance during season six.
Brian Avers as Mike Renko, an agent attached to NCIS's Los Angeles satellite office (seasons 1 and 3): He often works with OSP. An undercover operative, Renko later reported directly to Owen Granger. The team were fond of him, so it came as a shock when he was gunned down during an operation gone awry in a revenge attack.
Kathleen Rose Perkins as Rose Schwartz, a Los Angeles County Medical Examiner (seasons 1–4): She often assists the team on their investigations. She is incredibly quirky and develops an affinity for Nate Getz, showing great romantic interest in the psychologist.
Ronald Auguste as Moe Dusa, a man whom Sam first came into contact with in Sudan (seasons 1–2): A "brother" to Sam, of sorts, he joins a terrorist group and assists in the kidnapping of Dom. Developing a conscience, Moe assists in Dom's escape. He is later found dead by the NCIS agents.
Vyto Ruginis as Arkady Kolcheck, a retired Russian operative. He is friends with Callen. He considers himself to be of great assistance to the NCIS team but often brings trouble in his wake. He has a daughter, Anastasia, whom he does not know very well.
Claire Forlani as Lauren Hunter, an NCIS Operations Manager and SSA (seasons 2–3): Taken in by Hetty as a teenager, Lauren later becomes an NCIS agent and succeeds Hetty for a short time as Special Agent in Charge of OSP. Initially adversarial, the team later warmed to Hunter. She was reassigned following Lange's return but was later kidnapped and murdered by the Chameleon. Her death has a lasting effect on Lange.
Indira G. Wilson/Aunjanue Ellis as Michelle Hanna aka "Quinn" (seasons 3–8): Sam Hanna's wife, Michelle, is a former deep-cover CIA operative. At the end of the eighth season, Michelle is kidnapped and murdered by Tahir Khaled in a vendetta against Sam.
Layla Crawford/Kayla Smith as Kamran Hanna (seasons 3−4, 6, 8, and 12), Sam Hanna's daughter.
Christopher Lambert as Marcel Janvier, a serial killer and criminal mastermind (season 3–5): When Marcel is conducting business transactions, his modus operandi is to buy the supplies for his employers and then arrange a drop-off for the merchandise. He is the primary antagonist to Callen during the show's third season and is responsible for the deaths of Hunter and Renko.
Scott Grimes as Dave Flynn, an NCIS Special Agent (seasons 4 and 8): Initially an NCIS forensic specialist assigned to the elite rapid response NCIS: Red team stationed out of San Diego, Dave later transfers to San Diego's NCIS: Cyber, where he retrains as a senior intelligence analyst.
Erik Palladino as Vostanik Sabatino, a CIA Agent (seasons 4–5, 7–8, and 10–14): He is arrested by the team while deep undercover. He is friends with Michelle Hanna and later joins Kensi Blye's Afghanistan team. Kensi initially believes him to be her suspect, but she later realizes he is a skilled operative and will be of great use to her. In season 8, it is revealed that Sabatino is working as part of a rogue CIA faction attempting to dismantle the NCIS team.
Anslem Richardson as Tahir Khaled, a local warlord in Sudan (seasons 3 and 7–8): A war criminal and warlord, he came into conflict with CIA agents and later NCIS agents Sam Hanna and G. Callen when they went to collect evidence about the genocide he was involved in. He is Sam's arch-enemy and began plotting revenge when Sam took his sister, Jada, from him. He is the primary antagonist of the seventh and eighth seasons, and later murders Sam's wife, Michelle, near the end of season eight. He eventually kills himself via bomb in a last (failed) attempt to kill Sam.
Matthew Del Negro as Jack Simon (seasons 5 and 7): Kensi's ex-fiancé, who was suspected of being a war-criminal known as 'The White Ghost'. Kensi was assigned to assassinate him in the series' fifth season.
Elizabeth Bogush as CIA Officer Joelle Taylor (seasons 5–13): Callen's ex-girlfriend, she is introduced as a teacher at a private school before it is revealed that she is part of the rogue CIA group tasked with dismantling the Office of Special Projects. In season 9, she, with the help of Callen, Sam, and Nell, fakes her death in order to take down the group behind the rogue CIA group. The group is known as the syndicate.
Bar Paly as Anastasia "Anna" Kolcheck, a freelance NCIS Special Agent (seasons 6–14): The estranged daughter of Arkady Kolcheck, she is a prospective ATF agent who begins filling in on NCIS missions while Kensi is on medical leave. Following Kensi's return, Anna embarks on a relationship with Callen and joins NCIS as a Special Agent on a freelance basis. Callen proposes to her in the season 13 finale with them marrying in the series finale.
John M. Jackson as A. J. Chegwidden (seasons 8–9), retired Rear Admiral and former Judge Advocate General of the Navy. A wartime confidant of both Hetty and Granger, Chegwidden served in Vietnam as a Navy Seal. He reenters the NCIS fold at Lange's behest during an investigation into the CIA. Jackson previously appeared as Chegwidden in nine seasons of JAG, and in one episode of NCIS.
Andrea Bordeaux as Harley Hidoko, NCIS Special Agent (season 9): Executive Assistant to EADPAC Mosley. She starts off as fiercely loyal to her boss, but soon forms a friendship with the rest of the OSP team. At the end of the ninth season, Hidoko goes missing during an off-the-books mission in Mexico to rescue Mosley's son, and is revealed to have been captured and murdered by a cartel allied with Mosley's criminal ex-husband. Her remains are identified at the end of the tenth season premiere.
Jeff Kober as Harris Keane (seasons 9–10 and 13): A soldier who served in the CIA contingent led by Hetty and Granger in the Vietnam War. Keane was captured by Viet Cong and held captive for decades until he was rescued along with Hetty by the NCIS LA team.
Ashley Spillers as Sydney Jones (seasons 9–10): A specialist for Homeland Security.
Esai Morales as Louis Ochoa, NCIS Deputy Director (season 10): Ochoa temporarily takes over directing the team in Hetty's absence.
Peter Jacobson as Special Prosecutor John Rogers (seasons 10–11): Rogers arrives at the Los Angeles office to investigate the team, but soon gets pulled into helping them out on their operations.
David James Elliott as Harmon Rabb Jr. (seasons 10–11), a Naval Captain transferred from the Judge Advocate General to the USS Allegiance. Elliot reprised his role from JAG.
Catherine Bell as Sarah MacKenzie (seasons 10–11), the former commander of Joint Legal Services Southwest who now acts as the Marine Corps liaison to the U.S. Secretary of State. Bell reprised her role from JAG.
Sasha Clements as Katya Miranova (season 13), nemesis of Callen and Anna
Natalia del Riego as Rosa Reyes (seasons 13–14), a teenage migrant seeking asylum, who is later fostered by Kensi and Deeks.
Kavi Ramachandran Ladnier as Shyla Dahr (seasons 13–14), NCIS Reserve Agent and Namazi’s analyst partner in OSP.
Richard Gant as Colonel (retd.) Raymond Hanna (seasons 13–14), Sam's father.
Crossover
Hawaii Five-0
Scott Caan as Detective Sergeant Danny "Danno" Williams, member of the Hawaii Five-0 task force.
Daniel Dae Kim as Detective Lieutenant Chin Ho Kelly, member of the Hawaii Five-0 task force.
NCIS
Michael Weatherly as Anthony DiNozzo, NCIS Senior Field Agent
Pauley Perrette as Abby Sciuto, NCIS Forensic Specialist
Gary Cole as Alden Parker, NCIS Supervisory Special Agent
Wilmer Valderrama as Nick Torres, NCIS Special Agent
NCIS: Hawaiʻi
Vanessa Lachey as Jane Tennant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the NCIS: Hawaiʻi Field Office
Yasmine Al-Bustami as Lucy Tara, Junior field agent of NCIS: Hawaiʻi
Other
Louise Lombard as Lara Macy; a former Military Police Lieutenant and the Supervisory Special Agent of OSP, Macy was relieved of her position sometime between the pilot episode and the beginning of season one. Hetty remarks she was sent to Djibouti in retaliation for insubordination regarding budget, although the truthfulness of this is unknown. After a short time working with an NCIS satellite division, Macy is found dead in an NCIS episode, murdered as part of a vendetta against Washington Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Lombard was not picked up as a regular in the new series and the character was killed in the NCIS episode "Patriot Down".
Episodes
Crossovers
Production
In November 2008, it was reported that a first NCIS spin-off series set in Los Angeles would be introduced with a two-part backdoor pilot during the sixth season of NCIS. Special Agent G. Callen was initially a CIA operative created by Shane Brennan for a series that was never produced. After taking over show runner duties previously held by Donald P. Bellisario on NCIS, he used the potential of a spin-off to bring his story to fruition.
Brennan intended for the series to hold a Miami Vice-esque vibe through its two co-leads, Callen and Agent Sam Hanna. However, the character of Lara Macy was written to serve as a parallel for Gibbs, the lead of the original NCIS team. Macy was portrayed by Louise Lombard in the backdoor pilot, but she was not featured in the actual spin-off, and Brennan was able to produce the show as he originally envisioned it.
The show was known as NCIS: Legend while in production (referring to the episodes of NCIS in which the spin-off was introduced), and other names considered included OSP: Office of Special Projects, NCIS: OSP and NCIS: Undercover. Filming started in February 2009, with the characters being introduced in the two-part NCIS episode titled "Legend", the first part of which aired on April 28, 2009. This episode served as a backdoor pilot for the series, in a manner similar to the way NCIS was introduced by way of a two-part episode of JAG.
In May 2009, CBS picked up the series.
On January 20, 2023, it was announced that the series would end after the fourteenth season, with the series finale airing on May 21, 2023.
Lawsuit
In April 2011, NCIS creator Donald Bellisario sued CBS over NCIS: Los Angeles because of his contract which gave him "first opportunity" to develop a spin-off or sequel; the lawsuit was dismissed by a judge in June 2012. However, discussions continued between CBS and Bellisario, and in January 2013 the dispute was settled outside of court a week before it was set to go to trial; the terms of the agreement were not disclosed but were described as being amicable.
Broadcast
In Canada, the series aired on Global like its sister series. In Asia, the series airs on AXN, AXN, and TVOne Pakistan. In the UK the series premieres its latest season first on Sky 1, with subsequent runs and repeats then also broadcast on Channel Five. In the Netherlands the series airs on NET5. NCIS: Los Angeles airs on Network 10, 10 Bold, Paramount+ and TVH!TS (formerly TV1). As of December 2019, it airs on Fox Crime after TV H!TS was rebranded as Fox One in Australia. In Israel it airs on Hot zone and yes HBO
In Portugal the series airs on Fox. It was next broadcast on M6 in France, 13th Street in Denmark and Germany, and Rai 2 in Italy.
Home media
The first nine seasons have been released on DVD in Regions 1, 2, and 4, and Season 1 was released on Blu-ray Disc in Region A. The first season DVD release includes the two-part pilot episode that aired as part of the sixth season of NCIS, which were also included on the Season 6 DVD of NCIS. All releases are distributed by Paramount Home Entertainment.
Reception
Critical reception
"Identity", the series' first episode, garnered 18.73 million viewers with a 4.4/11 share in the 18- to 49-year-old demographic and therefore won its timeslot. It was the second-most-watched show of the week, behind only the original NCIS.
Reviews for the show have been mixed. It has a score of 59/100 on Metacritic. According to Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times, "The crime is intriguing and multifaceted, its resolution requiring a nice balance of street smarts and lots of gunfire. But as with the original 'NCIS', the emphasis is on the characters of the team... Los Angeles, meanwhile, looks fabulous, a pleasing mixture of noir and gridlock, and there's an air of stability that's comforting in these uncertain times." The New York Daily News reviewer, David Hinckley, was more critical of the show saying that although "It all adds up to an hour of decent entertainment, and there's room for enough character development to give 'NCIS: Los Angeles' a personality of its own, ... a premiere episode shouldn't feel even a little like something we've already seen."
Tom Shales of The Washington Post felt that, "NCIS: Los Angeles gets the job done ... It's a procedural that follows strictly the established procedure, but it has likable characters, dislikable bad guys and the occasional flabbergasting shot of L.A." Robert Bianco of USA Today summarized it as a "serviceable hour that takes the NCIS formula—a light tone and a lot of banter wrapped around a fairly rudimentary investigatory plot—and transfers it to a special, undercover NCIS division in Los Angeles. Nothing more, but also nothing less." The Hollywood Reporter compared the show to The A-Team with "the same lighthearted approach to life-or-death situations. Maybe the biggest change is that 'NCIS: L.A.' achieves its inevitably favorable outcomes with a little more intellect and a little less testosterone." IGN stated that although "NCIS: Los Angeles doesn't exactly reinvent the police procedural... it's another above-average entry, aided by the fact that the people behind the show know what they're doing" and ultimately gave the episode a 7.7/10.
Ratings
Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of NCIS: Los Angeles on CBS.
Note: Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of the May sweeps.
Awards and nominations
Potential spin-off
On November 5, 2012, Deadline Hollywood reported the first news about a spin-off of NCIS: Los Angeles titled NCIS: Red. The new characters were introduced during a two-part episode of NCIS: Los Angeles. The spin-off was to feature a team of mobile agents, who travel around the country to solve crimes. This would have been the second successive spin-off in the NCIS franchise. However, on May 15, 2013, CBS confirmed that NCIS: Red was officially passed on and would not be moving forward. Scott Grimes reprised his potential spin-off role as NCIS: Red Agent Dave Flynn during the eighth season of NCIS: Los Angeles.
Adaptations
In August 2016, Titan Books published NCIS Los Angeles: Extremis, a novel by Jerome Preisler. Three months later, it was followed by NCIS Los Angeles: Bolthole, written by Jeff Mariotte. Both books contain original stories featuring the characters from the show.
Notes
References
External links
2009 American television series debuts
2000s American crime drama television series
2000s American police procedural television series
2010s American crime drama television series
2010s American police procedural television series
2020s American crime drama television series
2020s American police procedural television series
2023 American television series endings
American action television series
American television spin-offs
CBS original programming
English-language television shows
Fictional portrayals of the Los Angeles Police Department
American military television series
Television series by CBS Studios
Television shows about the United States Marine Corps
Television shows adapted into comics
Television shows featuring audio description
Television shows set in Los Angeles
Television shows set in California
Works about Mexican drug cartels