Fans of NCIS: Los Angeles have been speculating for a while that some changes to the series line-up are in the air.
The case: Linda Hunt, who plays Hetty has been seen in very few episodes of the current run after being almost completely absent from the last season (because Hunt was involved in a serious car-accident and needed extended recovery time). Most of her subsequent on-screen work has seen her sitting down or shooting brief dialogue. Regular characters Sam (LL Cool J) and Callen (Chris O’Donnell) have both talked about being discontented with their current lots within the unit and Deeks (Eric Christian Olsen) and Kensi (Daniela Ruah) are wondering about starting a family. Meanwhile goofball Eric (Barrett Foa) and Nell (Renee Felice Smith) have also talking about where their future lives (with Foa actually taking off several early episodes to do a stage-play). It all points to something of a potential shake-up on the horizon, with a re-organisation and maybe even some departures – though nothing has been formally been announced.
However we’re now getting details of at least one confirmed change: Medalion Rahimi who has played the recurring role of American-born Middle-East specialist and agent Fatima Namazi in nine episodes of the show is going to be upped to a ‘regular’. Given her recurring status and prominence, the ‘promotion’ shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, though it will make some viewers more convinced than ever that it could mean someone is leaving. Fatima is a tech-expert as well as being effective out in the field.
The show is built around Los Angeles’ NCIS Unit, given a looser remit than the more by-the-book parent show NCIS. Though it regularly tackles terrorist-based subjects, the show has a decent track-record of not playing too much to stereotypes or racial profiling and tends to show a range of different viewpoints. For instance, Medalion’s Fatima would be the second Muslim character in the show – LL Cool’s Sam being the first.
“We were excited to work with Medalion last season and are thrilled to have her now joining us a season regular on NCIS: Los Angeles,” said executive producer R. Scott Gemmill in a statement.
