The subject was Eric Christian Olsen and how he wrote the special 250th episode of NCIS: Los Angeles.
The actor who plays fan favorite Marty Deeks talked of how acting on NCIS: Los Angeles can be difficult. So he kept that in mind when he wrote No. 250, which turned out to be a very Hetty-centric episode. Linda Hunt plays Hetty. At 76, she’s the oldest cast member. She was 74 for No. 250, which ran Dec. 1, 2019.
NCIS: Los Angeles called the episode “Mother.” And from CBS, here’s the plot in a nutshell “Akhos Laos (Carl Beukes), a former black ops agent originally recruited and trained by Hetty Lange, returns to seek revenge on Hetty for the life she introduced him to, on the 250th episode of NCIS: Los Angeles.”
Olsen talked about making the episode with CarterMatt.com.
“Our shows can be difficult,” Olsen said in 2019. “Exposition and procedural logistics are not easy to act. So, what we gave (Hunt) were these great character-driven acting scenes that we set up with incredible stakes based on choices she made in her past.”
“Once she said yes, I knew that we were in a wonderful place,” Olsen said of Hunt. “Then, she came in and she crushed it! She was incredible, and we had a director in Dennis Smith who’s done a ton of episodes of our show. He said it was the most ambitious episode he’d ever done. It only happened because of how amazing he is. He is so good.”
If you don’t remember the NCIS: Los Angeles episode, here’s a photo from one of the scenes of Mother.
Olsen Is Writing Another Episode For NCIS: Los Angeles In Season 19
Olsen is writing another episode this season. It will be the 19th of this season’s series. CBS has yet to provide a name or a synopsis. However, there’s an argument that Olsen may pick up the mother theme.
In the season 19 premiere, Callen (Chris O’Donnell) started sifting through Hetty’s old files, which she kept in an old-school cabinet. Hetty met him when he was in foster care — Callen was a juvenile delinquent. But Callen was wondering why Kilbride (Gerald McRaney) said Hetty “created” him.
It turns out that Hetty knew Callen far earlier than he remembered. She was part of a CIA program that trained spies very early in life. Callen likened it to what the Russians did with Anna and Katya. The CIA tested kids in the foster system for their intelligence and other skills. Callen was one of those children.
Callen found a file that Hetty identified as “Subject 17.” He figured out that he was the child she tested when he was in middle school. Callen confronted Hetty at the end of the episode. She finally admitted what she did.
Hetty now is in Syria as part of a covert assignment. Kilbride doesn’t approve. As for Callen, he’s using a former Russian operative to spy on Hetty while she’s out of the country.
This Sunday’s NCIS: Los Angeles episode involves a conspiracy-spewing general who may be supplying weapons to a local militia.
