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| from Friday's big wrap party |
Source: https://parade.com/tv/ncis-los-angeles-series-finale-spoilers
NCIS: Los Angeles threw it’s wrap party on Friday night on the Paramount Studios lot, it’s home for the last 14 years, and Parade was invited. We had the opportunity to speak to showrunner R. Scott Gemmill about the series’ finale, which has been moved to May 21 and will be expanded to two hours for the occasion, to get the scoop on what we can expect.
While Gemmill wasn’t giving out any actual spoilers, he did speak in general terms about the issues that concern viewers most, such as what’s going to happen with the long-missing Hetty (Linda Hunt), who has been off on a dangerous mission all season. Will the team have to rescue her?
“We don’t get to that point, but it’s put in motion. Let’s put it that way,” Gemmill tells Parade. “We are going to have steps taken to resolve Hetty’s storyline in a way that I hope leaves fans feeling excited.”
As for the Callen (Chris O’Donnell)/Anna Kolcheck (Bar Paly) wedding, it’s happening! In fact, it could be the finale.
“That’s quite possible,” Gemmill teases. “There are a few surprises. We try to put everyone in a really good place and Callen and Anna are two of them. Part of what happens in the finale is Callen getting to a point of contentment and I think that’s why he’s asked Anna to marry him. He’s gotten to a point where he’s much more present and looking to the future, where for 14 seasons, we’ve seen him trying to learn about his past and figure it out. I think he’s in a good place. They both are.”
Of course, the funny part of that wedding is that Callen will end up with Arkady (Vyto Ruginis), who has driven him crazy since he first appeared on the series, as his father-in-law.
“I love Vyto,” Gemmill says. “He came in like so many people on our show as a one-off and we end up loving them and we keep bringing them back for multiple episodes. We’ve got this great, big family of characters that we get to draw upon.”
It’s no secret that a good series finale is difficult to craft. You just have to look at Game of Thrones, Lost and The Sopranos, and you can sense the discontent on the part of viewers, especially as they express it on social media.
“In fact, the longer you’re on the more difficult it is because there’s so much expectation and how do you live up to that?” Gemmill asks. “We just took it on a character-by-character basis and tried to put them in a very good place in their lives and, hopefully, the fans will be happy with it. I think the last scene is really fun and hopeful.”
That said, if CBS or Paramount comes back and says, “Let’s do a movie?” is it a possibility?
“Absolutely,” Gemmill says. “When you see the end, you’ll understand. We left it open to a next chapter … maybe.”
During our red-carpet chat, Gemmill also talked about how much notice he had to put the series finale together, what made NCIS: Los Angeles special for viewers and for the actors, and his plans to work with LL Cool J (Sam Hanna), O’Donnell, and Eric Christian Olsen (Marty Deeks) in the future.
How much notice did you have? Or have you been planning the ending for a couple of years now?
To be honest, because we don't always know each season whether we are going to come back, if you look at the last few season finales, they have all been uplifting and left the characters in a spot where if we didn’t come back the next season, hopefully, everyone would end in a good place. So, we've been doing that probably since at least Season 12 because we never wanted to get caught in a spot where we got cancelled and the fans were left in the lurch. So, we’ve always ended in a way that if it was the end of the show, hopefully, everyone ended in a happy place.
I was shocked when I heard the news, and the numbers are up.
I know. We were still a Top 15 show last week, so it’s nice to end up on top. We had hoped for another season. Everything comes to an end at some point. We’re so blessed to have had such a great run and all the same people pretty much from day one, which is unheard of. I have seen Dani (Daniela Ruah) go from a young woman to a mom, a wife, and a director, so it’s been such a great journey with all these people.
What was also great about this show is it told global stories, not just local murders.
We fell into that. The show evolved over time, and it became obvious that one of the ways to differentiate us from the mothership was to do a bigger story with a more global impact, so that worked out well for us.
Do you know what you will be doing next?
I don’t. I have some plans. We’ll see. The process of getting a show up these days is as challenging as it ever has been. It’s exciting. I talked to everyone here Chris, Todd (LL Cool J), and Eric about other stuff we want to do, and I’m sure we will find something because we’re always developing new stuff. Especially Eric and I are always talking about things. Todd and I have a project. Chris wants to do something. This is what we do. Even though it’s the end of this chapter, it’s exciting to think about what we can do next.
The thing that was exciting about this show for the cast is the leg up you gave the actors to do behind-the-scenes work. Daniela directed a few episodes, Eric wrote one.
My whole thing is, I want my writers to learn how to produce, I want my actors, if they want a chance, to learn to direct or write. It’s always important for me is that when people leave the show, hopefully, they all have left with not only having learned a lot and had fun, but are at a next level in their career. A lot of people their first directing gig was on the show, or their first writing gig. It’s really important to give back because I’ve been so fortunate with my career. I want to pay it forward.
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My take:
My trust issues with this asshole when it comes to Hetty teasers are at an all time high because of these last few years. (though, I'm sure you already knew that.). So hearing him talk about fans POTENTIALLY feeling 'excited' by how her mission is wrapped up, just really annoys me at this time! Because if you're not going to show the team getting to bring her home, what would be so damn exciting about her getting to come home other then her getting to come home?! 😡 (But who the hell really knows at this point?! Maybe he can actually surprise me with this. But I swear to God, if she's not still alive at the very end and still the team's boss, I will 10000% be through with this shitshow forever!! I won't even watch any future 'movie' they do if CBS ever brings it back! Because this show is NOT at it's greatest without Hetty!!!! And anyone who thinks otherwise is a damn fool!!)
Oh, and also, she and Callen 100% need to reconcile, and I need to see that talk and NOT hear about it being offscreen. And see her at his wedding (well duh!)
#HettysHomecoming