NCIS: Los Angeles wrapped its 14-season run in May 2023, but some of its leading actors aren’t done with the NCIS franchise. LL Cool J will reprise Sam Hanna in multiple episodes of NCIS: Hawai’i Season 3, and word recently came in that Daniela Ruah, who played Kensi Blye on Los Angeles, will direct an episode of Hawai’i, as well as an episode of the flagship show. Following the actress announcing her NCIS return, fellow franchise performer Brian Dietzen and Erik Palladino, among others, shared fun responses to the big news.
It was previously revealed that Ruah’s NCIS Season 21 episode, which she’s directing this month, will air in March, and then in February she’ll shift to her Hawai’i Season 3 episode, which will air in April. Naturally Ruah posted about her directorial gigs on Instagram, where she wrote in the caption:
Here we go again! So excited to be directing an episode of #NCIS and #NCISHawaii this year! Stay tuned.
The post was flooded with supportive comments. Brian Dietzen, who plays Jimmy Palmer on NCIS, said:
See you soon! 🙌
Although Kensi Blye appeared on NCIS all the way back in the Season 6 two-parter “Legend,” which functioned as NCIS: Los Angeles’ backdoor pilot, Daniela Ruah and Dietzen didn’t share any screen time. So it’s great that a decade and a half later, these two will finally get to work together, even though the former won’t be on camera. Meanwhile, Erik Palladino, who recurred on NCIS: Los Angeles as Vostanik Sabatino, chimed in with this:
Well... yeah. Makes perfect sense to me. Awesome at directing- check. Awesome at being a human - check. Hired!
But the kind words for Daniela Ruah didn’t just come from people associated with the NCIS franchise. Actually, in the case of Jamie Camil, who’s best known for playing Rogelio de la Vega in Jane the Virgin, kept his show of support limited to emojis:
💪🏽🙌🏽
Then there was TV presenter/actress Filomena Cautela, who aptly described Ruah scoring these newest professional accomplishments with just one word:
Queen
Finally, Heather Morris, who played Brittany Pierce on Glee, jokingly wrote the following about Ruah’s NCIS directing gigs:
You better
Daniela Ruah previously directed six episodes of NCIS: Los Angeles, as well as an episode of the miniseries Contado por Mul. Whether or not she’ll ever reprise Kensi Blye in any of these other shows remains to be seen, but if these NCIS and NCIS: Hawai’i episodes go well, I won’t be surprised if she’s brought back to helm more episodes. Who knows, maybe she’ll end up flying out to Australia to work behind the scenes on NCIS: Sydney too.
Both NCIS Season 21 and NCIS: Hawai’i Season 3 premiere Monday, February 12 on CBS. Those shows and the other NCIS franchise offerings can also be accessed with a Paramount+ subscription. Our 2024 TV schedule is also available for perusal if you’re looking for other shows to watch.
