Hawai'i’s Season 3 Finale Will Bring Back Two Familiar Faces

The Big Picture

NCIS: Hawai’i
Season 3 finale will feature familiar faces, including a special twist and a cliffhanger ending.
Kai’s character development has led to a growth in physical abilities, showing a significant advancement in the season finale.
Tarrant is enjoying Kai’s transformation from an outsider to a more open and expressive member of the team.

The NCIS: Hawai’i Season 3 finale might be several weeks away, but it will be special. Apart from being a two-parter, it will also feature some familiar faces, as teased by star Alex Tarrant in an interview with TV Insider. The finale will feature two familiar guest stars, the first being Agent John Swift (Henry Ian Cusick) who will appear for the second time in this season since Episode 2. It has not been revealed who the second guest star will be, but Tarrant was excited for what the season finale has in store for fans. “There is definitely a special twist that comes in towards the end. It was a shock to me when I was reading the scripts, that’s for sure,” he said. He teased that the finale “most definitely … ends on a cliffhanger.”

Since Kai joined the team in the series premiere, he has been the newbie trying to find his footing in the team while dealing with personal issues. There were some parallels between the character and the actor, something Tarrant opened up about saying:

“For me this has been the most enjoyable season so far. I think the first two seasons, I’m from New Zealand, so I’m kind of juggling the accent and then trying to do the whole acting thing. So this is the first season where I felt like everything has come together and I can really just have fun with everyone.”

Kai Reaches New Heights in ‘NCIS: Hawai’i’ Season 3

Kai’s development has been steady, but quite noticeable is that he hasn’t had many fight scenes this season. Tarrant teased that fans will see Kai’s abilities advance in the season finale. “Kai actually hasn’t had very many fights this season, but in the finale, we really get to see something significant within his physical capability,” he said.

He has become more comfortable with himself and the team, which has made Tarrant happy about the character’s growth and transformation. Kai has torn down some of the walls he had built throughout his life and feels more at ease with the team. Tarrant loves the character’s journey and had this to say about it:

“I think he felt like an outsider coming in in the first season and Kai has gone through this amazing transformation, especially looking back at it from Season 1 to where he is now. He’s more open. I think he’s freer to express himself in the ways that he knows that his team won’t judge him for. So I think that’s such an awesome thing. I’ve been really enjoying this progression of Kai.”

Watch NCIS Hawai’i on Mondays at 10 PM ET on CBS. Stream on past episodes on Paramount+.