NCIS: Los Angeles Season 3 First Look: Can Callen Find Hetty Before It's Too Late?

Chris O'Donnell | Photo Credits: Matt Kennedy/CBS
Chris O'Donnell | Photo Credits: Matt Kennedy/CBS

NCIS: Los Angeles' Season 2 finale saw Callen & Co. turn in their badges and headed overseas in search of Hetty, who resigned from NCIS to protect Callen from the Comescu mob family.

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There's just one problem: Hetty (Linda Hunt) turned herself over to the Comescu clan before Callen could find her. And based on the exclusive first images of Season 3 below, the search will continue.

In the photos, Callen (Chris O'Donnell), Sam (LL Cool J) and Kensi (Daniela Ruah) regroup in an abandoned building in Romania as they try to determine where Hetty is and what their next step should be. But it sounds like Hetty's location isn't the only thing Callen will learn during his stay.

"No cheats. No maybes. [This is] the most revealing episode yet about Callen," executive producer Shane Brennan tells TVGuide.com. "And yes, Hetty holds the key."

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Is that key the mysterious tattoo Hetty showed the Comescu leader (Cristine Rose) in last year's finale? We'll have to wait to find that out, but the answers about Callen's mysterious ties to this family will come much sooner, Brennan says.

"What we reveal in those first four episodes is more than what we've revealed about Callen's backstory in two seasons," Brennan says. "When we get to that fourth episode, I think everyone's going to take a big deep breath, and say, 'OK, where's he going to go now? What's the next part of this journey?' We answer a lot of questions, and they are heart-wrenching. "

Check out the photos below. NCIS: Los Angeles returns Tuesday, Sept. 20 at 9/8c on CBS.