The NCIS: Los Angeles series finale had a lot of family themes to it. However, one of the biggest was a real-life family connection in the final scene that was a good tribute to star Chris O’Donnell and a fun cameo for fans to boot.
Caution: This article contains SPOILERS for the series finale of NCIS: Los Angeles
The big finale of the series quickly had the team wrapping up a mission involving corrupt agents. It then moved to a bigger moment as Callen and Anna decided to forgo a fancy wedding and just get hitched at a courthouse with the team in attendance.
That wasn’t the only family news, as Kensi and Deeks were rocked to hear Kensi was now pregnant. After the ceremony, Callen got a letter from an absent Hetty (Linda Hunt), which indicated she was in danger. He and Sam headed to Morocco to meet with former NCIS tech Nell (Renee Felice Smith), who was searching for Hetty.
Nell had recruited a team with former NCIS psychologist Nate Getz (Peter Cambor) and CIA officer Vostanik Sabatino (Erik Palladino). With them was a young agent, but whenever he tried to introduce himself, Sabatino cut him off by claiming no one cared about his name.
If that agent looked familiar, it was for good reason, as it was Chris O’Donnell’s real-life son, Chip, carrying on a unique family tradition.
Chris O’Donnell’s family on NCIS: Los Angeles
NCIS: Los Angeles has long had a fun trick of using Chris O’Donnell’s real-life kids in the show. His daughter Lily played “Young Amy” in Season 1; his son Charlie played the younger version of Callen in the Season 1 “Callen, G” episode, and his brother Finley also played a young Callen in Seasons 2 and 3. Finally, daughter Maeve played a role in Season 7 with O’Donnell’s wife Catherine as her on-screen mother.
Speaking to TVLine, showrunner R. Scott Gemmill shared that they had planned to have Chip appear in an earlier season, also playing a younger version of Callen. However, the show’s production was curtailed by the COVID pandemic, and thus canceled that episode.
"But all of Chris’s other kids had appeared on the show except Chip, so I said, “OK, I’m running out of time, I’ve got to throw him in the last episode.” It was a nice little homage to Chris."
It was a fun cameo to boost the big finale and show how much NCIS: Los Angeles means not just to O’Connell but his whole family.