NCIS aired its long-awaited crossover event on Monday night, and it's safe to say it went down a storm with fans of the show, who were delighted to see a beloved character make a surprise return.
The special event saw teams from the Washington DC, Hawaii and LA branches come together for a high-stakes investigation, in which the agents learned that they each had a six-digit bounty on their head via the dark web.
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Just as agents Callen and Sam appeared to hit a dead end while attempting to locate a kidnapped Rountree and MIA Kilbride, they received cryptic texts which unlocked an audio message from none other than Hetty Lange!
"Sounds like you've got yourself in a bit of a pickle," Hetty said in the message.
"You are all quite capable, and far be it for me to tell you what to do," she continued. "But you might want to contact an old friend, Gwen Johns."
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Fans were delighted that Hetty, played by Linda Hunt, was able to make an audio cameo for the special episode. It was a long coming for fans, who last heard from Hetty in the season 14 premiere when it was suggested that the agent had faked her own death in Syria.
© CBSLinda Hunt made an audio cameo as Hetty
Taking to Twitter, one person was relieved to hear from Hetty: "Hetty is still alive and checking in on them oh my god #nciscrossover," while another added: "HETTY IS STILL ALIVE!!!!!"
A third fan commented: "I LOVE THAT THIS CROSSOVER BROUGHT HETTY BACK TO US! More please!!" while another tweeted: "Awesome that Linda Hunt aka Hetty was able to contribute on @NCISLA #NCISCrossover."
© CBSVanessa Lachey, Brian Dietzen and LL Cool J united for the crossover event
Chatting about Hetty's surprise appearance in the crossover, NCIS: LA showrunner R. Scott Gemmill told TVLine: "The triple crossover was such an important event for all of our NCIS families that it was important to have Hetty (played by Linda Hunt) be a part of it, even if she was physically unavailable.
"In true Hetty fashion, she proved not only to be on top of what was going on," Gemmill added, "but she even offered some cryptic advice to help get them out of a jam."
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