Spoilers below for NCIS: Los Angeles’ final episode ever, so be warned if you haven’t yet checked it out!
After 14 seasons on CBS, NCIS: Los Angeles wrapped up its character ensemble’s stories in various ways that tied into the idea of family, whether it be of a biological or professional nature. Sam had some meaningful moments with his father, Callen and Anna made their relationship more permanent with an impulse wedding, Rountree was able to support his sister (albeit via a lawsuit settlement with the LAPD), and Hetty’s storyline was closed out with guest stars and a trip across the globe. And let’s not forget the big news that Daniela Ruah’s Kensi shared with Eric Christian Olsen’s Deeks: she’s pregnant, and it probably-maybe had nothing to do with his shawarma, so to speak! But it turns out that reveal likely wouldn’t have played out had CBS renewed NCIS: L.A. for Season 15 instead of canceling it.
The long-running NCIS spinoff laid its big finale moments out in fairly short order during the runtime of “New Beginnings Part 2,” which pretty much tracked with how Kensi and Deeks’ ascent to parenthood went down. Their initial frustrations over Kensi not being able to get pregnant were seemingly resolved in Season 13 when they adopted Natalia Del Riego’s Rosa Reyes. But then along came fate with the big surprise that Rosa will now be a big sister. Fans obviously won’t get to see how that will play out, and it sounds like that would always have been part of the plan on that front. When asked if there were any storylines that had to be tossed out or adjusted after getting the final-season news from CBS, showrunner R. Scott Gemmil told TVLine that the show likely would have held off on both Kensi’s pregnancy and Callen and Anna’s nuptials, saying:
No, because we really didn’t know how we were going to end the season. And so a lot of it, like Kensi getting pregnant, that was something we probably wouldn’t have done otherwise. And we probably wouldn’t have had Callen getting married this season, we would have probably prolonged that.
That's perhaps a surprising bit of news to hear, especially for anyone aware of how much fans were predicting to see that reveal happen, or that Daniela Ruah was just as pumped as the fans to learn the news that her character was expecting a bundle of joy with her true love. But according to Gemmil, it was an issue of practicality over having to play out a pregnancy and newborn's birth. When asked to elaborate on it, he continued, saying:
Probably because I would have had to deal with it next season in terms of what that means — if they have a baby, what’s the reality of having two people in a dangerous job where you could lose both parents in any single episode? So I would have held that off. That was probably going to be something we did whenever the show ended.
So it stands to reason that if NCIS: Los Angeles had lasted another ten years, fans would have seen a far older Kensi and Deeks becoming new parents, although maybe the plan would have changed along the way. If anything, that kind of time gap would put them closer to retirement, or at least taking a desk job that isn't as risky as what they're currently tasked with handling. Not that it's any easier on a woman's body to have children later in life.
But whatever the potential future could have been, fans are living in the reality where the couple can theoretically be heading into the best years of their lives, without any danger or other job-related worries. If there aren't any more episodes to tell us otherwise, we can believe whatever we want.
Also, as evidenced by plenty of other series to date, it's not exactly a dream scenario to have an unpredictable newborn or infant on the set of a TV show. (Just ask John Stamos, who famously got the Olsen twins temporarily fired from Full House for such behavior.) So that would have also taken things to a new level, for better or worse.
All episodes of NCIS: Los Angeles are available to stream with a Paramount+ subscription, so fans can relive all of Sam and Callen’s biggest missions over and over while waiting to see if we’ll ever see the characters again via crossovers with the flagship or via NCIS: Hawai’i.
