This is an overview of regular and recurring characters on the TV series NCIS: Los Angeles.
Contents |
| G. Callen | |
|---|---|
G. Callen promotional photo |
|
| First appearance | "Legend (Part 1)" (NCIS episode) |
| Portrayed by | Chris O'Donnell |
| Information | |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Supervisory/senior Special Agent (NCIS) |
| Title | Special Agent |
| Family | Clara Callen (mother, deceased) George Callen (grandfather, deceased) Amy Callen (sister, deceased) |
| Nationality | American |
G. Callen (portrayed by Chris O'Donnell) is an NCIS Special Agent in charge of the Office of Special Projects Team stationed in Los Angeles, reporting directly to the OSP Operations Manager Hetty Lange. He was introduced in the series' backdoor pilot, "Legend" from NCIS.
He often eats bananas to calm himself. He is known by friends as "G". Callen once served with his good friend Leroy Jethro Gibbs, who now works at the NCIS Headquarters located in the Washington Navy Yard. Callen specializes in deep undercover work.
In addition to English, Callen is fluent in at least six other languages: Spanish, Polish, Russian, German (with an English accent, which is claimed to be Austrian), Italian (with a Northern accent), and French.[1] Callen also claims to speak Czech and Romanian.[2]
The fake death certificate shown by Hetty to Alexa Comescu in the season two finale states that his date of birth is March 11, 1970.[3]
In Season 2, Episode 13 "Archangel", Callen states that the first time he had fired a gun was at the age of 20. In the same episode, it was revealed that Hetty has beaten him on a race up the NCIS rock wall three times in a row, and Callen refuses to challenge her to a re-match despite goading from Sam Hanna.
Callen had a troubled past. In the episode "Pushback", it is revealed that Callen had lived in 37 foster homes starting from the age of five. He sometimes moved every few days, and the longest he ever stayed in one place was for three months at fourteen, when he lived with the family of a Russian girl named Alina Rostoff (who he called "little sister"). It is revealed through flashbacks in the season two finale that Callen spent at least part of his childhood on the Romanian coast of the Black Sea.[4] It is revealed in "Identity" that he is called "G" not because he dislikes his first name, but because he does not actually know what it stands for, as the system never told him.
It is later revealed that as an adult, his foster-sister Rostoff was secretly sent to watch Callen and to prevent him from being killed by Russian mobsters. Callen is fluent in Russian due to his former relationship with the Rostoff family. Throughout the first season, it is shown that Callen is homeless, staying temporarily with his various NCIS colleagues and sometimes in the Operations Center itself.
In the Season 2 premiere, Hetty makes arrangements for Callen to purchase a house of his own—the very same house where he lived with Alina Rostoff as a foster child.
At the end of "Legend", Callen was almost killed in a drive-by shooting. Callen and the team later realized (in the first season episode "Pushback") that his shooting was related to a mission Callen took part in against the Russian Mob, as a DEA agent ten years earlier.
At some point prior to joining NCIS Callen was also an agent of the Central Intelligence Agency. During this time he was partnered with Tracy Rosetti whom he later married while undercover using the surname Keller. Following a mission in which it is implied that she placed the success of the operation above both their professional and personal partnerships, the two divorced. In the settlement Tracy received custody of Buddy, their dog.
In the first season's final episode "Callen, G.", Callen tracks down a woman named Amy Taylor (née Callen) who initially claims to be his older sister, but then admits her real name is actually Hannah Lawson, and that she was friends with the real Amy Callen when they lived in an orphanage together. The real Amy had died at the age of 11, when the two friends snuck out at night to play in the nearby river and Amy had been swept away in an accident. When Hannah returned, she slept in Amy's bed, and the authorities there never realized what had happened. When Amy's body was found a month later, she was buried under Hannah's name as the authorities didn't know any better. Callen later goes to visit his sister's grave, and finds flowers and a recent note left "For my Sweet daughter always in my Heart".[5] Also during the episode, Nate Getz discovers that a list of all of Callen's foster homes and orphanages was written by one person, albeit over a number of years and with different pens and pencils, indicating that someone had been keeping an eye on Callen during that time. The same list showed the various orphanages and foster homes where the real Amy lived until her death, indicating that this person also knew about the switch between Hannah and Amy. In "Deadline", Callen discovers that the list was written by Hetty.
The second season mostly revolves around Callen, who has been stalked by someone he does not know. He sees someone near the grave of his sister, and over the course of the season, runs into people who seem to know more about his past than he does. When Hetty resigns and takes off to Prague, Callen finds out from Director Vance that Hetty has started her own investigation, Operation Comescu, which is all about Callen. Callen and the team then resign too when Vance refuses to fly them to Prague to get Hetty.
Arriving in Prague, the team discovers that Hetty has been taken by the Comescus, and that the Comescus have been in a decade-long battle with the Callens of which G is the last one. They track their safe-house down to a house on the beach, and Callen starts to remember things from his past, as he realizes he has been on this beach before. Inside the house, Hetty convinces Alexa Comescu, the matriach of the Comescu family, that Callen died three weeks ago, showing her a clip of the attempted assassination and a death certificate she had made.
In the third season premiere, "Lange, H., it is revealed that Callen's grandfather was an OSS agent stationed in Romania who killed several members of the Comescu family. The syndicate retaliated, killing Callen's grandfather. The remainder of Callen's family fled to America until G's mother was recruited by the CIA. She returned to Romania, then a year later vanished for six years. The Comescu family had not forgotten their grudge, and came looking for the Callens. One of Callen's most vivid memories of his childhood is of being given a toy soldier by a stranger while he played on the beach. He realises that the beach is not in California as he had always assumed, but on the Black Sea coast, and that the toy was given to him to distract him while a Comescu assassin killed his mother. It is never explained why the Comescu family let Callen and his sister live, though Alexa Comescu describes it as "a mistake". Despite Alexa's claim that she knows everything about him—including what his initial stands for—Callen does nothing to protect her and allows Hunter to kill her.
Back in LA, Hunter is the acting Operations Manager until Hetty returns to work after sustaining a gunshot. Callen does not trust her and wants to know more about him and what was on the laptop that she retrieved at the Comescu house. Hunter later tells him that all the contents of the laptop were concerning the family's illegal activities and not about Callen. Hetty later returns when Hunter leaves for another undercover operation in Europe and offers to tell Callen everything starting with the reason she was trying to protect him: she had failed to protect his mother. She then gives him his mother's name: Clara. She also tells him that his mother was a CIA agent and that she had been her handler when she had gone back on assignment to Romania. After a year of mission, Clara vanished for six years and resurfaced with two children, desperate to get out of Romania. Hetty had been sent to meet her on the beach where the Comescus killed her. She also says that she doesn't know how he and his sister came to the US and that she had no idea who his father is but that she was the one responsible for getting him out of the orphanage and into foster homes.
| Nate "Doc" Getz | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | "Legend (Part 1)" (NCIS episode) |
| Last appearance | Harm's Way |
| Portrayed by | Peter Cambor |
| Information | |
| Nickname(s) | Nate, Doc |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Operational Psychologist |
| Title | Operational Liaison in the Middle East |
| Nationality | American |
Dr. Nate Getz (portrayed by Peter Cambor) is an operational psychologist working with NCIS, stationed in Los Angeles, introduced in the series' backdoor pilot, "Legend" from NCIS. Nate's specialty is psychology, and he holds both a Master's degree and Ph.D. in the field.
He observes surveillance tapes and watches/handles interrogations in order to make a psychological profile. He is also responsible for performing periodic psychological evaluations of the NCIS OSP personnel and to provide ongoing monitoring of their mental health. He is afraid of disobeying orders from Hetty Lange and finds her scary. The team often fails to get his humor, for example, in The Only Easy Day when he states: "What has the world come to when drug dealers aren't even safe within the comfort of their own fortified homes?". He also knows how to play banjo and harmonica, and enjoys listening to jazz music.
In the episode "Chinatown", Nate expresses his interest in becoming a field agent which is highly discouraged by the team members because of his inept field skills. He asks Hetty if she can think of any operational psychologist who has become a field agent; however, when she shares that the only known such person died on his second week of field work, Nate gets a little iffy about his choice. Despite this, Nate has received training in both fieldcraft and hand-to-hand combat, as demonstrated on several occasions in the episodes "Lockup" and "Harm's Way".
Nate and recurring character Rose Shwartz share an unconsummated mutual attraction. This has not been explored further as Peter Cambor is no longer a member of the main cast. Cambor's departure as a main cast member coincides with Nate's re-assignment to the Middle East to investigate an Islamic militant group based in Yemen. With the conclusion of that mission in the episode "Harm's Way", Nate's current assignment is undisclosed, although it is known that he is remaining in the Middle East for the time being.
Peter Cambor was credited as a main cast member during Season One, but his character was downgraded to recurring at the start of Season Two.
| Kensi Blye | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | "Legend (Part 1)" (NCIS episode) |
| Portrayed by | Daniela Ruah |
| Other Appearances | Hawaii Five-0 |
| Information | |
| Nickname(s) | Kens |
| Gender | Female |
| Occupation | Junior Field Special Agent (NCIS) |
| Title | Special Agent |
| Family | Unnamed father, (deceased) |
| Nationality | American |
Kensi Marie Blye ( /ˈkɛnzi ˈblaɪ/; portrayed by Daniela Ruah) is a Junior Field agent on the NCIS Office of Special Projects Team stationed in Los Angeles.
Like G. Callen, Sam Hanna, Eric Beale and Nate Getz, Kensi was first introduced in the back-door pilot "Legend" from NCIS. Kensi came from a Marine Corps family and still drives to Camp Pendleton every weekend. At some point her father was stationed at Camp Lejeune during her childhood. She is fluent in Portuguese and Spanish, can lip-read and knows Morse code.
In the episode "Borderline" she also stated that her father taught her how to "track, shoot, fix an engine, play poker, wire a house; basically anything you teach a son",[6] and that her father was her best friend. In that same scene she reveals that her "father didn't have any sons, just me" implying that she is an only child.
It is revealed by Kensi herself in The Only Easy Day that when she was the new girl that she had to climb through air ducts because she was the smallest, and also had to wear bikinis on assignment when needed. She's very talented with undercover work, and Callen and Sam have called her a "natural operator".
She collects Gel bracelets and is known to have at least seventy-two.
When she was fifteen years old and out seeing the movie Titanic with friends, a movie Kensi considers to be her own favourite, her father was murdered with his body being so unrecognizable that he had to be identified through the use of dental records. It has been a cold case for many years.
It is also revealed in the season 2 episode "Disorder" that she was once engaged to a Marine named Jack, but that their relationship dissolved after his return from Iraq suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder and his subsequent disappearance.
On-screen, her first partner was Agent Dom Vail. She was particularly upset when Dom went missing and she was seen afterwards washing dishes at his apartment. Kensi has been officially partnered with Marty Deeks since season 2, although their first experience working together was in the season 1 episode "Fame". Although Deeks and Kensi have a somewhat antagonistic relationship at first, she is visibly annoyed when Deeks flirts with other women, or attempts to use her as a wingman. Like Deeks, Kensi has a comic book collection. They have warmed up considerably over time, and she was visibly upset when Deeks was shot in the episode "Personal". Kensi asks Hetty if she can stay with Deeks in the hospital rather than assist in the investigation of his shooting, as she didn't want to risk not seeing him alive again, as had happened with Vail. Deeks is a flirter, and he has demonstrated some interest in Kensi on a personal level. In the episode "The Job," while undercover, she had to flirt with a good-looking thief. Deeks showed jealousy, as noted by Callen and Sam. In the Season 2 episode "Plan B" Kensi earns the nickname Wikipedia for her encyclopedic knowledge.
In the season two finale, Kensi resigns from NCIS along with Callen and Sam in order to follow Hetty's trail to Prague without Director Vance's authorization.[7]
Kensi also made a guest appearance in the Hawaii Five-0 episode "Ka Hakaka Maikai".
| Martin (Marty) Deeks | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | "Hand-to-Hand" |
| Portrayed by | Eric Christian Olsen |
| Information | |
| Nickname(s) | Marty |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | LAPD Senior Detective |
| Title | LAPD-NCIS Liaison Officer |
| Family | (father, deceased) |
| Nationality | American |
Marty Deeks (portrayed by Eric Christian Olsen) is a member of the Los Angeles Police Department who has been to law school and passed the California State Bar Examination.[8] He accepts the position of NCIS / LAPD Liaison Officer at the end of the episode Hand-to-Hand, in which he co-operated with the team when their investigation overlapped with his undercover operation. However, his position as Liaison Officer is not always effective given his less-than-friendly relationship with other LAPD detectives, getting brushed off on multiple occasions and stating in the episode "Fame": "you know how it is with undercover cops. I've pissed off more than my fair share of shields".[9]
At the end of his second appearance, Fame, he tells Kensi that he will be going on a long-term undercover assignment and Kensi seemed disappointed by this. In the same episode, it is revealed through conversations between Hetty and Callen that they don't actually need a liaison officer, but that Hetty has been watching Deeks for some time and her true intention is for him to eventually become an NCIS agent. This is eventually revealed to him in the season two episode "Imposters" when Hetty presents him with a set of completed and signed NCIS application forms. In the same episode it is revealed that Marty's given name is Martin and that he was born January 8, 1979.[10]
He appears as a series regular during season 2, during which time he reveals that he has never lived more than two miles away from the home where he grew up. He is also revealed to be a lawyer in the season première. He is partnered with Kensi Blye and frequently flirts with her, although he is not above attempting to use her as a wingman to meet other women. Deeks has a comic book collection. When Deeks is shot in "Personal", he is asked to provide a list of possible suspects.
He includes a man named Gordon John Brandel as one of them, and it is later revealed that Brandel is his father: a man who frequently abused Deeks as a child until Deeks shot him (non-fatally) when he was 11 years old. Hetty asks Nell to find Brandel, and she discovers that he died in an auto accident in 1998 after being released from prison. (This, however, contradicts statements made in the earlier episode "Borderline," in which Deeks told Kensi that at Thanksgiving dinner six years earlier, his father had fired a shotgun at him.) When Deeks asks Hetty who he should list as his next of kin, Hetty gives him her name.
Deeks is extremely personal about his choice of firearm, preferring the Beretta 92FS over the NCIS standard-issue SIG Sauer.[11] As stated in the episode "Bounty," this is because the 92FS's "manual safety saved [his] ass one time during a gun snatch attempt by a junkie".[12]
In the episode "Plan B", Deeks's best friend, Ray, tells him that he knows he has "a thing" for Kensi. He knows this by observing numerous interaction between the two. Though Deeks denies that he has "a thing" for Kensi, he blushes and he can't stop smiling while telling Ray that he doesn't have a thing. This leads some people to believe that Deeks may have feelings for Kensi. Ray says for Deeks to call him as soon "as things work out with Wikipedia" (Kensi). Near the end of the episode, Kensi asks Deeks if he is ever going to call Ray anytime soon. He walks close to her, then pulls back to look at her, then he smiles and says, "Why do you ask?" She said she was just wondering and when he does tell him that Wikipedia says hi, he laughs; and then Kensi says that she is glad that their "thing" is working out. Deeks once again denies any feelings he has for Kensi. In the next episode, Imposters, a waitress asks Deeks if he and Kensi are a couple, Deeks says they are but Kensi is surprised and denies that they are together.
In the season two finale, Deeks proves his loyalty to the team. When Callen, Sam and Kensi resign so as to go rescue Hetty in Prague, Deeks tells Director Vance that he would resign if he was an NCIS agent before leaving with the team to go and help Hetty.
| Dominic Vail | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | "Identity" |
| Last appearance | "Found" |
| Portrayed by | Adam Jamal Craig |
| Information | |
| Nickname(s) | Dom |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Junior Field Special Agent (NCIS) |
| Title | Special Agent |
| Nationality | American |
Dominic "Dom" Vail (portrayed by Adam Jamal Craig) was introduced in the episode "Identity" as the team's rookie agent. He was originally partnered with Kensi Blye. Dom is not a native of Los Angeles. An MIT alumnus, Dom moved to straight to LA after he was recruited by NCIS following graduation.
Dom's field of study has not been disclosed, although he has demonstrated on several occasions advanced skills with computers and electronics, and Eric stated that he "makes a pretty good geek for a field agent". As of season 1, both of Dom's parents are still alive. Dom is an uncle, as evidenced by crayon drawings stuck to his refrigerator door.
Dom disappeared in the episode "Past Lives" (although his team does not realize this until the following episode "Missing") and was finally found in the episode "Found". It was revealed that he had been captured by professional kidnappers hired by Islamic militants and held hostage in the hope of facilitating a prisoner exchange. Although Callen, Kensi and Sam eventually found him, they later found themselves caught up in a major gunfight with the terrorists. While pinned down on the rooftop, Dom took fire that was originally intended to hit Sam with the bullets piercing his body, essentially sacrificing himself to save Sam's life. Despite Sam's efforts to stop the bleeding, Dom died almost immediately with his death leaving the OSP team completely shell-shocked and grief-stricken.
His role in the team was later taken over by Detective Marty Deeks. The season 1 episode "Past Lives" was the last to credit Adam Jamal Craig as a main cast member. He was later credited as a guest star in the season 1 episode "Found", also his final appearance on the show.
Eric Beale[13] (portrayed by Barrett Foa) is a NCIS technical operator and intelligence analyst stationed in Los Angeles with the OSP. He often takes calls from Director Leon Vance from NCIS Headquarters in Washington, D.C.
He is very geeky, and enjoys surfing (twice standing his surfboard too closely to Hetty's car) and internet social networks. He, like Nate, often fails at attempts at humor. Hetty also disapproves of his attire (typically shorts and flip-flops) but tolerates it due to his skills.
In the episode "Absolution", he is revealed to be German American, and takes at least partial offense from the team's remarks regarding Germans in the episode. Other than Hetty, he is the only team member shown to wear corrective eye-wear.
He is the main connection between agents in the field and OSP headquarters, often manipulating traffic cameras and hacking into networks and satellites in order to gain an advantage for the agents. And in the season 2 episode "Enemy Within", he managed to shut down the internet for a couple minutes.
He is familiar with Abby Sciuto, a main character from the original NCIS, and has grown quite fond of her with the two having a strong friendship.
Eric is also an expert in sign language as seen in "Random on Purpose".
Like G. Callen, Sam Hanna, Kensi Blye and Nate Getz, he was introduced in the back-door pilot.
He is partnered with Nell Jones in Season 2, whom he originally disliked due to her being new, taking over some of his technical duties and at least once whistling the other team members to attention, something he normally does. He seemingly has put that behind them and warmed up to her, and it is implied there are growing feelings between the two.
Nell Jones (portrayed by Renée Felice Smith) is Eric's partner as an NCIS analyst. Introduced as a recurring character in the Season 2 episode "Special Delivery", Nell joined the main cast as of episode 2.11 "Disorder". She has a red pixie cut hairstyle and is of small-medium stature (being able to wear a Hetty-sized sweater—just barely—in the episode "Disorder"). In the episode "Harm's Way" she demonstrates at least a functional knowledge of written Arabic when she is called upon to translate the contents of a terrorist laptop.
Although Nell is a recent college graduate she is frequently shown as very helpful to the others. She and Eric originally had an antagonistic relationship early on due to Nell taking over some of Eric's duties, being new and once getting the others upstairs for briefing, a task Eric normally does. As their working relationship has progressed, they seem to have warmed up to each other and it is implied there are growing feelings between the two. Nell also has a habit of finishing other people's sentences. In "Special Delivery" she reveals that this is because she is a "type A with borderline ADD, and control issues with men [she] admires"[14] (such as Eric).
In the episode "Lockup", it is shown that Nell and Nate have met previously, but the nature of their relationship—if any—remains unknown. She also seems to have a good relationship with Hetty, and has been called by her first name or as "Dear" by Hetty occasionally. She seems to be friends or at least on good terms with Kensi who invites her to join the others for drinks in the episode "Absolution". Nell is fluent in Spanish and an expert of South America (Enemy Within).
She likes to receive flowers; in the episode Greed, she sends flowers to herself and reveals to Eric only after his never ending pestering. The flowers are noticed at first by Sam who comments, "Looks like somebody has a secret admirer." When Eric notices it, he stops mid-sentence and says, "Nice flowers."
Eric has feelings towards Nell but she doesn't exactly point them back to Eric. In Greed, she avoids the subject of who sent of flowers on all levels.
| Henrietta Lange | |
|---|---|
Hetty Lange promotional photo |
|
| First appearance | "Identity" |
| Portrayed by | Linda Hunt |
| Information | |
| Nickname(s) | Hetty |
| Aliases | Sylvia Cole Gloria Edwards |
| Gender | Female |
| Occupation | Operations Manager (NCIS) |
| Title | Operations Manager , Office of Special Projects, NCIS |
| Family | related to Marty Deeks but, doesn't explain any more than that |
| Nationality | American, Romanian-born, Roma |
Henrietta "Hetty" Lange (portrayed by Linda Hunt) is the Operations Manager at NCIS in Los Angeles. She was introduced in "Identity", the first episode of NCIS: Los Angeles as a stand-alone series.
In spite of her small stature, the other characters find her intimidating, not least of all because of her colorful past; she has had many encounters, liaisons, and relationships with past agents (referenced in "Missing") and Hollywood greats such as George Hamilton and Frank Sinatra. She is a fan of Lady Gaga, stating that she "will always love the Gaga."[15] Hetty's favorite beverage is tea, to such an extent that in "Bounty" she approved a mission in Afghanistan after Callen and Sam promised to bring her back a bag of tea leaves. It was revealed in the episode "Disorder" that she had been assigned to the Los Angeles office since before December of 2008.
According to Hetty's NCIS personnel file which is accessed by Nell and appears onscreen in the second season finale "Familia",[16] Hetty:
One of the last surviving Cold Warriors, Hetty has unparalleled access to contacts throughout the intelligence and defense communities, which she does not hesitate to exploit when required for the success of a mission or to protect the lives of her agents. Her reputation has taken on an almost legendary aspect; it is such that the mere mention of her name is often enough to strike fear into those who have heard of, but never met her.[18] She has an extensive list of aliases, as evidenced by multiple driver's licenses seen in a locked drawer of her desk, as well as several others hidden in a private safe deposit box.
She also subscribes to an older unwritten code of conduct, evidenced by her disgust at the new generation of Russian agents who have "broken all the rules" by killing innocents (Season 2 episode "Deliverance").
Hetty sometimes exhibits a maternal instinct towards her agents. When her agents were in serious danger in the episodes "Ambush" and "Found", she used her considerable political capital and her aforementioned contacts to pull out all the stops in rescuing them (such as convincing SECAF to authorize a F-22 Raptor fly-over of the militia camp).
Like Eric Beale, she is fond of Abby Sciuto, and when the latter visited the OSP operations center, Hetty points out to the other agents Abby's ability to "be functional and stylish at the same time".[19] When Deeks was shot and there was no one to call, Hetty told him to put her down as his next of kin in the future.
Hetty is deeply affected by the line-of-duty death of an agent, and has twice resigned (albeit unsuccessfully) from NCIS. The first was in 1999, when a promising young NCIS Agent (Sullivan) she had personally recruited was later killed when attempting to infiltrate a militia group.[20] The second time was following the death of Agent Dominic Vail in the Season One episode "Found". Although she delivers her resignation letter to Director Vance personally, it is later returned to her by Callen, who had picked the Director's pocket to recover the letter.[21] Hetty does eventually resign in the penultimate episode of season two, and is replaced by Senior Agent Lauren Hunter as the new Operations Manager.
In the season two finale, it is revealed that Hetty has familial ties to the Comescu family, and possesses the same tattoo as the mysterious man who gave a toy soldier to Callen as a child.[22]
In the Season three opening episode, "Lange, H", it was revealed that Hetty is not a member of the Comescu family but in fact had spent decades trying to infiltrate their ranks to protect Callen. At the end of the episode, it was shown that she had been shot and had then fallen to the ground, ending the episode in a cliffhanger, leaving her fate unknown.
In "Backstopped", having survived the shooting and then taken time off to recover, Hetty officially returned to work, resuming her duties as Operations Manager of the OSP.
She also calls the team members by their surnames such as Mr. Callen or Miss Blye, referring to Callen and Kensi.
| Sam Hanna | |
|---|---|
Sam Hanna promotional photo |
|
| First appearance | "Legend (Part 1)" (NCIS episode) |
| Portrayed by | LL Cool J |
| Information | |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Senior Field Special Agent (NCIS) |
| Title | Special Agent |
| Family | wife and daughter seen in "Betrayal" (#3.9) |
| Nationality | American |
Sam Hanna (portrayed by LL Cool J) is a former U.S. Navy SEAL (retired with the rank of Chief Petty Officer (E-7) from SEAL Team Six[23]) working as a Senior NCIS agent. He is tough and great friends with G. Callen, and very curious about Callen's past. He speaks and reads Arabic language, using it to assist the team with translation and conversation when dealing with Arabic intel, and has an encyclopedic knowledge of the Qur'an, although it is not shown what particular religion—if any—he espouses. He still lives by the Navy SEAL code of conduct, and has a strong sense of honor.
As revealed in the episode "Breach", this sense of honor prompted him to bring a Sudanese orphan named Mowahd Dusa to the USA, having killed Moe's father during a mission in Chad almost a decade earlier. Whereas Callen is a loner by nature due to the circumstances of his childhood, Sam is the consummate team player, an attitude gained through his years operating as a SEAL.
As seen in the episode, "Search and Destroy", Sam practices origami.
Sam is an extremely determined individual. It was revealed that Sam's dream as a child was to become a SEAL team operator, and that prior to enlisting in the Navy he did not even know how to swim.[24]
Sam can sometimes become emotionally involved in his cases, as demonstrated by his close relationship with Moe; by his unsanctioned promise to a Navy Commander to rescue his kidnapped daughter (episode "Little Angels") despite that fact that it was officially an FBI case; and his refusal to give up searching for fellow teammate Dominic Vail after the latter is kidnapped.
It was revealed that Sam has at least two children, including one daughter. Although none of them live with him, he is highly protective, even going so far as to tail his daughter for a month when she first started riding the school bus. Callen is aware of their existence but does not elaborate when pressed for more information by Kensi and Deeks.[25]
In the season 2 episode "Little Angels", Sam reveals that he was once buried alive by Serbian paramilitary soldiers when his SEAL team was tasked to uncover evidence of ethnic cleansing and mass graves in the former Yugoslavia.
In "Special Delivery", Sam states that he played football in high school, in the wide receiver position, although he had aspirations to play quarterback.
In the season two finale, Sam resigns from NCIS along with Callen and Kensi in order to follow Hetty's trail to Prague without Director Vance's authorization.[7]
In the season three episode, "Betrayal", it is revealed that he does in fact live with his wife and a young daughter.[26]
He is acquainted with Steve McGarrett from Hawaii Five-0.
Leon Vance (portrayed by Rocky Carroll) is the Director of NCIS and also the person responsible for setting up the Office Of Special Projects. He lives in Washington, D.C., and is a regular character on NCIS while also making regular guest appearances on NCIS: Los Angeles usually through video-conferences as well as making a few personal appearances at the OSP.
Mike Renko, portrayed by Brian Avers is an NCIS agent introduced in the back-door pilot from NCIS. He first appeared in NCIS: Los Angeles as a recurring character in the episode "Ambush", in which he assisted the team with information on a dangerous militia group. He also appeared in the episode "The Bank Job". His latest appearance was on the episode "Burned", when Hetty called for help as they had a shortage of agents since Callen went off the radar and the server was hacked. He was shot as he, Sam, and Kensi ambushed an alleged terrorist, but it hit his bulletproof vest and he escaped with minor injuries.
Abby Sciuto, portrayed by Pauley Perrette, is a regular from NCIS who has appeared in two episodes of NCIS: Los Angeles ("Killshot" and "Random on Purpose"). Abby is complimented by Hetty as "the first NCIS employee [she] has ever met with a sense of style".[27]
Rose Shwartz (portrayed by Kathleen Rose Perkins is a coroner in Los Angeles. She first appeared in Season 1, ep. 2 The Only Easy Day. She has also appeared in the season 1 episode "Breach" and season 2, episode 12 "Overwatch". Rose and Nate share a mutual attraction, which they've never acted upon. This has not been explored further as Peter Cambor is no longer a member of the regular cast.
Mowahd[28] (variant spelling Mowadh[29]) "Moe" Dusa, portrayed by Ronald Auguste is a Sudanese national who was brought to the USA as a child by Sam Hanna (who was still serving as a Navy SEAL at the time). Sam was on a mission in Chad rescuing foreign aid workers, and killed Moe's father who was one of their kidnappers.
Although Sam maintains close contact with Moe, he has not adopted him, and Moe instead lives with foster parents.
Introduced in the episode "Breach", Moe later joins a militant Islamic group after finding out that Sam was the one responsible for his father's death, resulting in young Moe becoming an orphan. He is later seen in the episode "Found" as one of the Islamic militants holding Agent Vail hostage.
In the episode "Lockup", after being sent to jail for his involvement in the Dominic Vail kidnapping case which ended with Vail dying, Moe is convinced by NCIS to infiltrate an Islamic gang in the prison in order to get close to a suspected terrorist leader. Moe was tortured for information and executed by the terrorist leader at the end of that episode with Sam eventually discovering Moe's body. His death left Sam deeply devastated and hellbent on seeking revenge but Hetty promised him that he would get the opportunity to do so some day.
In "Harm's Way", the concluding episode and months after Moe's death, Sam soon caught up with the terrorist responsible and successfully received clearance from Vance to get his own justice for Moe. He did so by having a UAV launch a missile at the fleeing car with the terrorist leader.
The missile hit its target, resulting in the leader's death and Moe's passing being avenged.
Senior Agent[30] Lauren Hunter (portrayed by Claire Forlani), is the new Operations Manager, assuming charge after Hetty resigns in the second season episode "Imposters". She was recommended for the position by Hetty herself, a claim corroborated by Director Vance.[31] Hunter is an expert marksman, but deliberately conceals this from Callen when she notices him watching her practice on the firearms range.[32] Hunter is a linguistics expert and in addition to English is fluent in at least five other languages including Polish, Russian, German, Italian and French, as well as another language that wasn't named.[33]
Prior to her introduction to the series, Hunter had spent two years undercover. She adopted the identity of Ilena Vadim, a minor member of the Comescu family, a crime syndicate based in Romania. Ilena had left Romania and settled in Argentina, wanting nothing more to do with her family and prompting Hunter to play on the family's belief that their niece would one day come back to them. She became Ilena, gathering information on the family for NCIS.
While the Special Projects team is in Romania trying to find the Comescu family, they discover that Hunter has infiltrated their ranks, and believe her to be a traitor. Hunter reveals her allegiance to the team when she shoots and kills Alexa Comescu, the head of the Comescu family. Hunter's cover within the Comescu family is so deep that not even Hetty—who was in the room when Alexa was shot—knew where her loyalties lay.
Special Agent Lara Macy (portrayed by Louise Lombard) does not appear on NCIS: Los Angeles, but was introduced as Hetty's predecessor as OSP Operations Manager in the back-door pilot "Legend" on NCIS.
She was a former USMC Lieutenant working as a military police officer, and almost two decades earlier had investigated then-USMC Gunnery Sergeant Leroy Jethro Gibbs's role in the murder of Mexican drug lord Pedro Hernandez. Due to the past investigation, their relationship was volatile until the OSP's operational psychologist Nate Getz revealed to Gibbs that Macy had been protecting him for eighteen years by covering up the evidence. Since Hernandez was responsible for the slaying of Gibbs' wife and daughter, Macy felt that his actions against Hernandez were justified.
In the episode "Ambush", Hetty remarks to Director Vance that the last she'd heard, as the result of a political "witch-hunt" Macy was "working out of a quonset hut in Djibouti."[34] This was contradicted on a subsequent episode of NCIS, where Macy's personnel file states that she never worked in Djibouti but was instead reassigned to Marseille, to head up an NCIS undercover team there.
In the NCIS episode "Patriot Down", Macy was brutally murdered in Annapolis and her body set alight by Jason Paul Dean, a mercenary and former U.S. Army Ranger, as part of a plot to get to Gibbs in relation to the Hernandez case.[35]
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