LEAVING LOS ANGELES

After 14 seasons, NCIS: L.A. goes out with one last blast of a case, an impromptu wedding and sunny skies ahead for the team

- KATE HAHN

NCIS: Los Angeles

SERIES FINALE

Sunday, May 14, 10/9c;

Sunday, May 21, 9/8c, CBS

“I REMEMBER VERY vividly walking into the bullpen with my arms outstretched, like I was flying a plane and we were taking off,” says LL Cool J, recalling a favorite moment from shooting NCIS: Los Angeles. The scene was in the 2009 series premiere of the first-ever NCIS spinoff, which is closing its last case with a two-part finale, May 14 and 21, after 14 seasons of soaring success.

The actor and rapper plays special agent and former SEAL Sam Hanna, who’s bravely pursued terrorists, gangsters and other unsavory Angelenos alongside fellow agent G. Callen (Chris O’Donnell). They’ve had each other’s backs in Hollywood foot chases, Malibu gun battles and a very scary trip to the Middle East in Season 11. (O’Donnell calls that shoot, in the blazing Cali desert, his most physically challenging of the CBS show’s run.) Through it all, they’ve razzed each other the way good friends do.

“Our relationship and chemistry was really what made this thing work,” O’Donnell reflects. “It was that way from the first episode, and I enjoyed every day we spent together. Lotta good laughs on- and offscreen.”