THE NCIS LOS ANGELES TEAM INVESTIGATES A 20-YEAR OLD PERUVIAN MASSACRE AFTER A WELL-KNOWN FASHION MODEL, BELIEVED TO BE ONE OF THE SURVIVORS, IS NOW A POTENTIAL TARGET, ON “NCIS: LOS ANGELES,” MONDAY, OCT. 5

“Driving Miss Diaz” – The NCIS Los Angeles team investigates a 20-year old Peruvian massacre after a well-known fashion model, believed to be one of the survivors, is now a potential target. Also, Kensi goes undercover as the model’s assistant and Deeks as her chauffeur, on NCIS: LOS ANGELES, Monday, Oct. 5 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT), on the CBS Television Network.

CHEAT TWEET: Kensi & Deeks go undercover as a fashion model’s assistant & a chauffeur! #NCISLA 10/5 10pm

“In the blink of any eye,” NCIS: Los Angeles showrunner Shane Brennan marvels, the NCIS offshoot has arrived at its seventh season, within which it will mark its 150th episode.

With the Season 7 premiere airing tonight (CBS, 10/9c), TVLine presents our complete Fall Preview Q&A with Brennan, who surveys Callen’s polarizing decision, “serious” matters for Kensi/Deeks, Eric’s brave new world and more.

TVLINE | If I’m Callen there at the close of the season finale, am I believing what Hetty has said about my father?
At this point, what Callen knows is that his mother’s dead and his father’s dead. That’s what he believes. But what the audience knows is… it looks like his dad is having some coffee at the shop there. [Laughs] That chapter in his life, while Callen thinks it may have concluded, the audience knows there’s a little more to come.

The first episode of the season isn’t a straight follow-up — three months have passed and Callen finds himself in a very difficult situation with Hetty and Sam, because he’s not telling them what he’s got himself caught up in. We discover that for the last couple of months, he’s been doing his own little investigation into something. When Hetty and Sam find out, he won’t tell them what it’s about and that creates a lot of tension. In fact, this will be as bad as it’s ever been for Callen and Hetty, and certainly as bad as it’s ever been for Callen and Sam. They’re both frustrated that he’s not telling them what he’s involved in. And for Hetty, who took this young man under her wing and has guided him through his entire adult life, it’s very painful.

TVLINE | Oh, I’m sure that once his motivation is revealed, they’ll all hug it out.
It’s revealed, but it’s not resolved. In the great tradition of this show we plant the seeds of something to come, and it has a fairly major impact halfway through the season, in a pretty large double episode. Look, this is going to be a really fascinating season. We’ve got it all mapped out and we have so much story [that] it is like two normal seasons — and that’s saying something, because this show doesn’t tend to dawdle, it doesn’t tend to go slow. We always have our foot on the accelerator, but this season is jam-packed.

TVLINE | And you have Episode 150 somewhere in there, right? Anything special planned?
It’s a normal episode, and actually a very funny episode. It puts Kensi and Deeks together in an undercover operation, as a kind of protection detail. It’s got some great guests in it, and it’s one of those shows that will be memorable.

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The NCIS: Los Angeles season 6 finale saw the team assuming undercover identities to head to Moscow. The new season, premiering tonight, finds G. Callen (Chris O’Donnell) going rogue while the team scrambles to locate him. EW chatted with LL Cool J, who plays Sam Hanna, about challenges facing the team this season.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Between presenting at the Emmys last night and the seventh season of NCIS: LA premiering tonight, you’ve had a busy couple of days.
LL COOL J: I’m definitely running on adrenaline. I had a long night last night, as you can imagine. But I feel good. I’m excited about the premiere. I’m excited that we just celebrated our 150th episode. I’m excited about the story line: Chris O’Donnell, his character G. Callen, and my character, Sam Hanna, kind of playing this cat and mouse game because Callen’s decision to go rogue puts Sam in a position where he has to choose between loyalty and following orders and supporting his partner.

What’s that going to do to the dynamic of the team this season?
That remains to be seen. But it definitely derails things for this episode and for some more episodes to follow.

Sam is also facing big challenges that will stretch throughout this upcoming season. How will it affect him?
You know, we find out a lot of different things about Sam and his personal life. We find out his former partners are involved in shady deals. We just find out a lot of things. His integrity is put on the line, [there are] some near death experiences. I mean, it gets crazy.

It has been a lot of fun [to play]. It just feels good to do great character work after six seasons and now into the seventh. The writers are still exited and passionate and connected to the characters and connected to what they’re writing. No one’s phoning it in. We still all have a burning desire to do great work and to dig deep and to give people the excitement that they’ve come to expect from the show, and hopefully this year they’ll continue to watch us and enjoy.

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NCIS: Los Angeles is rebooting itself as a family drama for Season 7. Sort of.

“The very heart of what this show is Callen’s search for his family and this whole identity theme that runs through his particular story,” creator Shane Brennan tells TVGuide.com. “So, thematically, everything we do this season, with all of the characters, at its heart it’s about family. And where we end up at the end of the season is a story that is right at the heart of what a family is and what a family will do together.”

Sounds… cryptic. But what we do know is that, like any family, the NCIS: LA crew will experience plenty of ups and downs this season – and quite a few turning points for individual characters in the process.

“We have a pretty exciting season,” Brennan promises. “We’ve got probably more in this season than we have in any other season, in terms of story arcs and revelations.”

Here are 5 things to look forward to on NCIS: LA this season:

1. Callen becomes a target Much of Season 7’s focus will be on Callen’s (Chris O’Donnell) search for answers regarding his family, after the reveal at the end of Season 6 that his father is actually alive. “Perhaps there’s opportunity to get closure on his life and his background,” Brennan says. “There’s still a chapter there to be written for Callen. And we will continue to write that chapter this season.”

But he’ll also have bigger problems to deal with. The premiere, which picks up three months after the end of Season 6, finds Callen at odds with the entire team after he goes rogue on an assignment and becomes entangled with both the CIA and a group of Russian criminals. Before long, his colleagues are tasked with targeting one of their own. “We’ve never seen Sam or Hetty in this position with Callen before. We’ve had situations where he’s gone off the grid, but there’s some pretty interesting conversations between Callen and Hetty and Callen and Sam about loyalty and being informed about what’s happening,” Brennan says. “It is tied into all of the things that the fans of the show know about Callen – and Hetty and Sam for that matter, too.” The information Callen uncovers that sends him off on his own also sets up a midseason event that will have major repercussions for the show going forward, Brennan teases.

2. Drama for Densi Now several months into their relationship, Kensi (Daniela Ruah) and Deeks (Eric Christian Olsen) are still as cute as can be – and take a big step in Episode 2, when Deeks introduces Kensi to his mother (Pamela Reed)! But there’s trouble ahead, Brennan warns, especially when Kensi starts to learn more about Deeks’ past as an undercover officer. “Going a little deeper into the season, hanging over Deeks’ head has been this internal affairs investigation that we talked about last season,” Brennan says. “Before we reach the halfway point, the whole internal affairs issue will be well and truly investigated. It’s going to put pressure on their relationship. The fact that he’s being investigated by internal affairs will cause a fairly dramatic reassessment of his life, of his career and what he wants to do with it. It impacts both his career at NCIS and his relationship with Kensi. When the internal affairs investigation reaches its conclusion and we find out what’s behind it, what it’s all about, it will be a catalyst for at some point Deeks making decisions about his future.” Gulp!

3. Hetty makes a tough call Callen’s actions in the premiere throw Hetty (Linda Hunt) for a serious loop and force her to make some decisions she may come to regret. “The season begins for her with a particularly challenging story line,” Brennan says. “The boy she took under her wing when he was 15, and she has nurtured him and cared for him and guided him through his entire adult life … they reach a point in this episode where he will not tell her what he’s doing, and she’s making demands on him to find out. It really is unsettling for Hetty when she doesn’t know what’s happening, because normally she knows everything and she knows what’s going on. She is at a total loss this episode to understand why Callen is doing what he’s doing, and why he won’t share that.”

4. Sam faces insurmountable odds An episode in the first half of the season has negative ripple effects for Sam (LL Cool J) that will play out through the finale, Brennan hints. “Towards the very end of the season, it becomes probably Sam’s greatest challenge, not only since joining NCIS, but in his whole life,” Brennan says. “He’s faced with the most challenging situation he’s ever encountered.”

5. An NCIS crossover! NCIS’ Tony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) heads to the West Coast for an October episode that Brennan says is in his Top 5 that the show’s ever done. “It’s not just a cameo. He is in virtually every scene,” Brennan promises. “It’s all about him. It’s hilarious. … It’s such an exciting, fun episode.”

NCIS: LA kicks off Season 7 on Monday at 10/9c on CBS.

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DEA AGENT TALIA DEL CAMPO TURNS TO THE NCIS: LOS ANGELES TEAM FOR HELP AFTER HER PARTNER IS MURDERED, ON “NCIS: LOS ANGELES,” MONDAY, SEPT. 28

Mercedes Mason Returns as DEA Agent Talia Del Campo

Pamela Reed Guest Stars as Mrs. Deeks

“Citadel” – DEA agent Talia Del Campo (Mercedes Mason) turns to the NCIS: Los Angeles team for help after her partner is murdered. Also, after Kensi grows suspicious that Deeks is hiding something, he surprises her by introducing her to his mother (Pamela Reed), on NCIS: LOS ANGELES, Monday, Sept. 28 (9:59-11:00, ET/PT), on the CBS Television Network.

CHEAT TWEET: DEA Agent Talia Del Campo @mercedesmason is back and get ready to meet Deek’s mom! #NCISLA 9/28 9:59pm on #CBS

Will this be the year that Callen (Chris O’Donnell) finally learns the truth about his family on NCIS: Los Angeles? And if so, what price will he have to pay?

Season 7 kicks off with a small time jump, picking up three months after the end of Season 6, when viewers learned that Callen’s presumed-dead father is actually alive. And it’s only a matter of time before Callen makes the same discovery. “The very heart of what this show is is Callen’s search for his family,” executive producer Shane Brennan tells TVGuide.com. “We are stepping closer and closer to finally giving Callen closure.”

The premiere finds Callen butting heads with the rest of the team after someone from his past (whom we’ve met before) returns with a piece of information that Callen is “hell-bent” on looking into, Brennan says.

“Callen goes a little rogue,” Brennan tells TVGuide.com. “It puts him in a fairly difficult position with Hetty. It puts him in a very, very difficult position with Sam – and as a result, puts him in a difficult position with the rest of the team. We’ve never seen Sam or Hetty in this position with Callen before. We’ve had situations where he’s gone off the grid, but there’s some pretty interesting conversations between Callen and Hetty and Callen and Sam about loyalty and being informed about what’s happening.”

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