Though she's still 100-percent a badass, Hetty is no spring chicken, and it seems quite reasonable for her to be considering retirement at this point. She certainly can't babysit the team forever, particularly considering it would be a high-stress job that could eventually end very badly for her. It seems that the other NCIS: LA characters are laying the groundwork for exactly that: the unthinkable day that Hetty retires.
After her sudden reappearance, Hetty seemed to hint to Special Agent G. Callen (Chris O'Donnell) that he should be the one to take over from her as Operational Manager — but their initial conversation saw Callen telling Hetty to stick around for a while longer, as he didn't feel it was time for her to step down just yet. Most of the team feels that while Hetty won't be around to save their butts forever, she won't be going anytime soon. Still, the conversation popped up again on a recent episode of NCIS: LA, with Kensi pointing out that Hetty is definitely "slowing down" from the powerhouse she once was. Sam Hanna (LL Cool J) clearly isn't interested in taking on all the responsibility of Hetty's job since he's hoping to train young agents, but he seems to be trying to nudge his partner Callen into the position, feeling that he would be a perfect fit.
