Lucy is not on NCIS: Hawaii as much in the second season because she has a new Special Agent Afloat job.
Lucy Tara is one of the newer members of the NCIS: Hawaii team and she is well-known for her on-again off-again relationship with Kate.
However, Lucy applied for a Special Agent Afloat position after a particularly bad break-up. As such, she had to leave NCIS: Hawaii and Kate for a few months.
About Lucy Tara’s character
Every law-enforcement procedural show needs a plucky, highly-skilled young new member, and in the case of NCIS: Hawaii, this character comes in the shape of Lucy Tara.
Lucy, who is portrayed by Yasmine Al-Bustami, joined the NCIS: Hawaii team as a Junior Agent in 2021 as a replacement for Jim Carter, who had been fired prior to her arrival.
Lucy quickly became a fan-favourite character after her arrival on the show. Fans have loved seeing how her relationship with Kate Whistler, who is a NCIS: Hawaii Special Agent that helps the team with crucial bits information for their cases from time to time, has blossomed.
Why is Lucy not on NCIS: Hawaii?
Although the budding romance between Lucy and Kate was one of the main things that kept fans of NCIS: Hawaii coming back for more, the couple did not get together for a long time.
Initially, fans of the series assumed that most of the second season of the show would focus on this new relationship and be filled with romance.
Unfortunately, as always, the creators of the show had something else in mind. Instead of being totally in love with each other when they finally got together, Lucy and Kate were forced to break up when the stress of their relationship just became too much.
After their break-up, Lucy decided to apply for a Special Agent Afloat position. Finally, in the seventh episode of the second season, titled “Vanishing Act” Lucy found out that she got the job.
However, accepting this job would require her to leave Hawaii to work aboard an aircraft carrier. This would mean that she would have to leave the island and Kate for several months.
After Lucy had a heart-to-heart conversation on the beach with Kate, she decided that she should take the job, regardless of the possible negative effect that it could have on their relationship.
As a result of this, Lucy is away at sea for most of the second season of the series and fans have not seen much of her or her relationship with Kate since.
This is besides the second episode of the cross-over special, where she was briefly featured aboard her new ship. This has made fans very concerned about whether her character will be written out of the show completely in the future.
Why is Yasmine Al-Bustami not on the show as much?
The reason why the creators of the show decided that they would send Yasmine Al-Bustami’s character, Lucy, on such a far-away mission, even though her relationship with Kate is so popular among fans, is because of her scheduling conflicts.
Al-Bustami is filming another show, called The Chosen at the same time that she is filming NCIS: Hawaii. As such, the show has had to accommodate her when she is filming for the other show by sending her character far away.
Will Lucy return to Hawaii?
Even though Lucy has not been featured in the second season of NCIS: Hawaii all that much, besides for the cross-over episode, the character has not been written out of the show completely.
In fact, when Lucy initially told Kate about this new job, she mentioned that she would only be away for four months.
Vanessa Lachey, who plays Jane Tennant on the show, has subsequently confirmed that Lucy will indeed return to the show and to the NCIS: Hawaii team eventually.
When will Lucy return to NCIS: Hawaii?
For now, there has not been official word about when exactly Lucy will be back on NCIS: Hawaii or when she will resume her role as an agent within the NCIS: Hawaii team.
However, Christopher Silber, who is an executive producer for the series, once again confirmed that Lucy will return to the island and the NCIS: Hawaii team eventually, sometime in the future.
He also added that Lucy will have a “good deal of action” waiting for her on Hawaii upon her return.
Since the show has not been picked up for a third season yet, and the creators of the show are so certain about Lucy’s return, fans can most likely expect to see Lucy back before the end of the second season of the show.