NCIS: Los Angeles season 9 spoilers ahead, because the finale in 2018 had some major moments and ended on a cliffhanger. Taking place in the complex and extensive NCIS shared universe, NCIS: Los Angeles is set in the titular city and follows the Office of Special Projects (OSP), a division of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) that specializes in undercover assignments. The show premiered in September 2009 and lasted for 14 seasons before its 2023 finale. NCIS: Los Angeles introduces a brand-new cast of characters who investigate dangerous crimes and criminals in the City of Angels.
Season 9 of NCIS: Los Angeles saw the introduction of Shay Mosley (Nia Long), the NCIS Executive Assistant Director for Pacific Operations. Mosley rubs many characters the wrong way, sticking to the maxim that OSP could either do things her way or leave. She considers the team cocky, impulsive, and undisciplined, all true characterizations that would end up being why they are able to help her in the season 9 two-part finale “A Line in the Sand” and “Ninguna Salida”. The OSP races to save Mosley’s son in the finale, and the shocking ending makes for a memorable cliffhanger.
Mosley Fires Deeks From NCIS
He Calls Out Her Hypocrisy For Breaking The Rules When It Comes To Her Son
All season long, Marty Deeks (Eric Christian Olsen) and Mosley have butted heads. Deeks may not be the most intelligent character on NCIS: Los Angeles, but even he knows that there is no good reason to fire a talented detective, no matter personal animosity. Deeks and Mosley were heading to a breaking point throughout season 9, but it still comes as a shock when she suddenly fires him, fed up with his insubordination. When Mosley’s young son Derrick is abducted, she begins taking huge risks and going rogue to find him, something she always accused OSP of doing.
Deeks calls out this hypocrisy and her general disrespect for the team. This, combined with the stress of losing her son, causes Mosley to lash out and get rid of Deeks. For his part, Deeks doesn’t even try and argue. He throws up his hands and storms out, becoming fed up himself with the newcomer wrecking their formerly tight team. The OSP works best when they are a cohesive unit and Mosley’s breaking them up, even if understandable, actually lowers the chances of her getting her son back.
Deeks And Kensi Call Off Their Wedding
They Both Have Different Ideas Of When To Leave The OSP
As Deeks is walking out, his fiancée Kensi (Daniela Ruah) follows him out and the sparks are not done flying. Kensi tries to get him to go back inside and apologize, but instead, Deeks rounds on Kensi and, for the umpteenth time in season 9, asks his future wife when they will stop doing this. “This” being the life-threatening job they’ve tied themselves to. Not only are they in constant danger, but Mosley has proven that they’re not even valued and that she can fire them for the smallest infraction.
When Kensi gives Deeks a halfhearted answer, he presses her to be specific about when she wants to stop. It becomes clear that Kensi has no idea when she’ll be done with this work, and may in fact never be done. When Deeks posits that maybe this is a discussion they should clear up before they go through with marriage, Kensi storms off, and their nuptials are canceled for the moment. The stresses of the season are getting to everyone, and once strong bonds are cracking.
The NCIS Team Learns Derrick Is In Mexico
Deeks Ends Up Joining Them
Mosley finally discovers that her arch-rival, international arms dealer and father of Derrick, Spencer Williams (Lamont Thompson), has brought Derrick to Mexico. The only way to retrieve him before he leaves would require OSP to go on an off-the-books mission, just the sort of cavalier behavior Mosley had previously tried to squash. Despite their frustrations, Callen (Chris O’Donnell), Sam (LL Cool J), and Kensi agree to join Mosley on her mission, and Hidoko (Andrea Bordeaux) goes first, alone, on reconnaissance.
Callen is the lead, which means Sam must go despite a leg injury, and Kensi is on board to work out her frustrations. It’s not the mindset of a team that generally leads to success. Deeks, seeing this, decides he’s not going to miss the important mission when they need him most. Despite being fired, he tells Kensi that he’s still her partner, at least for one last ride.
NCIS: Los Angeles Showrunner Explains Why Season 9 Ended On A Cliffhanger The Mexico Mission Ends In A Cliffhanger
Contract Negotiations Were Up In The Air
On their way to Mexico, the team loses contact with Hidoko, a foreboding sign. Once they land, they engage in a massive shootout with Spencer’s men and become separated. Deeks and Kensi manage to find Derrick and retrieve him. In the hail of gunfire, they bring Derrick to Mosley, who has just arrived in a helicopter and when she tells them to get on, Deeks refuses, intent on finding Sam, Callen, and possibly Hidoko, but he insists Kensi leave. She too refuses, and together they reenter the fight as a team.
They do finally find Sam and Callen, and the four officers get in an SUV and make a break for it. On their way out, just as it looks like they will escape, a rocket crashes into the side of their car, knocking everyone out. The team back in LA watches as the car begins to be engulfed in flames, and season 9 ends. Hidoko is missing, Mosley and Derrick are on their way to LA, and the show’s four main characters of the show are unconscious in a car that could blow any second. It’s a bold and harrowing cliffhanger to end on.
NCIS: Los Angeles showrunner R. Scott Gemmill discussed his thoughts on ending the show on a cliffhanger and told TV Line,
I wasn’t sure who was going to be coming back, so we figured we’d see where the chips will fall after contract negotiations!
It’s a refreshingly frank and reasonable explanation by the showrunner. Unable to foresee how future contract negotiations would go, Gemmill made the clever decision to put all the characters in situations where they could easily be removed from the series if need be. It’s a rather ingenious choice and his happy admittance of the reason is an interesting insight into how what’s going on behind the camera can often affect what’s going on in front of it.
The NCIS: Los Angeles Season 9 Finale Ending’s Real Meaning
The Cliffhanger Is A Result Of Broken Relationships
The NCIS: Los Angeles season 9 finale saw the culmination of a lot of interpersonal anger within the OSP unit. Mosley and Deeks nearly came to blows and Deeks and Kendi broke up. Relationships are the center of this finale, and they fracture in many ways. Hidoko is broken off from contact with the rest of the group, Derrick and Mosley are separated from each other until the end of the episode, and the team back in LA watches helplessly, broken off physically from their field agents trapped in a burning car.
How the usually tight OSP team has been stretched apart throughout the back end of season 9 makes the NCIS: Los Angeles cliffhanger ending feel earned rather than contrived.This is no small feat considering that the showrunner R. Scott Gemmill readily admits he did in fact contrive it as a solution to an off-camera complication.