'NCIS: Los Angeles' leaves audience shocked as two series vets exit in Season 12 finale
'NCIS: Los Angeles' will be looking very different from the next season as two of the oldest series members have decided to cut out of the show
- Entertainment News
- 3 min read
Given the exit of two long-time actors in the elevated CBS drama series' Season 12 finale, the NCIS: Los Angeles squad will look radically different this autumn. Eric Beale, the squad's erstwhile tech operator-turned-rising tech giant, disclosed to his associate intelligence officer Nell Jones during the season finale that he had secured financing for his Kaleidoscope-focused tech company's global HQ to be located out of Tokyo. Furthermore, he had effectively proposed his board to Nell as his No. 1, and by the end of the series, Nell had agreed to join Eric rather than sign up as the "new Hetty." The two practically sped off into the horizon as a result of an unusually shiny-happy climax montage in NCIS: Los Angeles season 12 episode 18.
Who is leaving NCIS: Los Angeles?
Barett Foa has been around NCIS: Los Angeles ever since the premiere and was upgraded to recurring character in Season 1. The stage veteran took a short break in Season 11 to find another career opportunity, and he has only appeared on occasion in Season 12. Renee Felice Smith entered the ensemble in Season 2 and, like Foa, was missing from scenes in Seasons 11 as well as 12.
In a conversation with TVLine, R. Scott Gemmill, the showrunner, spoke about the decision to write the two characters out of the show and what led to that decision. Gemmill said that both Foa and Smith were ambitious individuals who had goals and aspirations which could find fulfilment only outside the show. He continued by saying that the two of them needed time away to try something new and the show was giving them the time and space to try different things out.
Gemmill noted that this might not be the end of the line for both the characters. He prompted to a particular loophole where Nell said that she was going to be with Eric and try things out but she gave it a maximum of ‘six weeks’ before she could make her way back. Gemmill did not say anything more concrete but that the future was not set in stone. What was most surprising was that Smith chose to leave when the spot for MIA Getty was open and she was next in line for the spot. Now it will be left to see who will be taking the vacated position in Season 13.