NCIS: Los Angeles: season 11 episode 3: Why is Eric Beale back?

In some ways, it’s unusual to watch an episode of NCIS: Los Angeles and wonder why a character in Eric Beale is there. After all, wasn’t the word last week that he was off for a secret operation?

Well, that is still the case — and Barrett Foa will be absent from some upcoming episodes. What’s going on here is that Sunday night’s “Hail Mary” actually was filmed prior to the start of production this summer, back when Foa kicked off a production of Angels in America. He will return a little bit later this year in order to resume his story as Eric. (Technically, tonight’s episode has a season 10 production code — it was actually the last episode to film in the season 10 batch.)

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We do always find it strange when shows like NCIS: LA do choose to bank episodes early that feel somewhat out of place within the rest of the larger season. Because Eric was gone, it’s odd to now have him back with little explanation. It makes you wonder if the writers were super-aware of what was going to be going on with Foa this past summer back at the point they were filming “Hail Mary.” This is an episode that is standalone in nature, but at least the team found a way to include some cool stuff in here including the return of Gerald McRaney.

Don’t get us wrong — it’s always nice to see Eric Beale on the show! He is one of the key reasons why this show is exactly what it is. His chemistry with Nell adds a ton of fun to the tech part of some of these missions, and we do think that when they combine their powers Captain Planet style, they make it so much easier to see how bad guys don’t often stand a chance.

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What do you want to see for Eric Beale moving forward on NCIS: Los Angeles season 11?

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