Nell Returns to Work in the ‘NCIS: LA’ Season 12 Premiere (PHOTOS)

Intelligence analyst Nell Jones (Renée Felice Smith) may have stepped away from her work at NCIS after admitting she no longer wanted to be an agent, but operations manager Hetty Lange (Linda Hunt), who’d wanted the younger woman to eventually replace her, is going to have some work for her to do in the Season 12 premiere.

When NCIS: Los Angeles returns, Hetty has “a cryptic assignment” for Nell, according to the logline for “The Bear.” (That’s because the boss will be on “a bit of a misadventure,” executive producer R. Scott Gemmill told TV Insider.)

Elsewhere in the episode, Callen (Chris O’Donnell) and Sam (LL Cool J) are trying to track down a missing Russian bomber in the desert and secure its weapons and intel before those on board destroy the plane.

Scroll down for a look at that, Nell’s return to the office, Devin Rountree (new series regular Caleb Castille) officially part of the team, Arkady Kolcheck (Vyto Ruginis), and more from the premiere.

NCIS: Los Angeles, Season 12 Premiere, Sunday, November 8, 8:30/7:30c, CBS