'NCIS LA' season 8 spoilers: Anna Kolcheck returns for a mission and a holiday celebration

A still from "NCIS: LA" season 8 episode 5, "Ghost Gun," where Bar Paly last returned as Anna Kolcheck CBS

"NCIS: Los Angeles" season 8 will be on a three-week hiatus, but the show will be back with a holiday special, "Tidings We Bring," a week before Christmas.

The installment will see the return of Bar Paly as Anna Kolcheck, who was last seen working with her ex-boyfriend Callen (Chris O'Donnell) in episode 5, "Ghost Gun."

Anna will be back in "NCIS: LA" season 8 episode 11 to help the team investigate the disappearance of a navy lieutenant commander, which appears to have resulted in foreign cyber threats.

She will not be working with Callen, though. Anna will instead team up with Sam (LL Cool J) while Callen goes with Deeks (Eric Christian Olsen).

Anna's work in "Ghost Gun" had Granger (Michael Ferrer) impressed. He described the stint a "good first day" and leaned towards a "maybe" with the idea of bringing her back.

It turns out that Anna will indeed be back, and it is happening in the upcoming episode. It will be interesting to see the interaction between her and Callen.

Although a relationship between them is already considered to have an expiration date should they try it again, they still flirted in "Ghost Gun." Whether this will be the case in the episode remains to be seen.

Interestingly, it looks like Anna will be around for the team's holiday celebration, which might give way to her and Callen to talk things out.

Meanwhile, the previous "NCIS: LA" season 8 episode brought the team closer to learning the identity of the mole. They got a name from one of the infiltrator's cohorts before she was shot.

The name was Ray, and with a little digging, the team realizes they are dealing with a woman and one who hit on Granger at a bar. Of course, there is more to discover about this.

"NCIS: LA" executive producer R. Scott Gemmill told TV Guide that the team will uncover the mole mystery by the end of the season, but with "catastrophic results."

"NCIS: LA" season 8 will be back with episode 11, "Tidings We Bring," on Sunday, Dec. 18, at 8:30 p.m. EST on CBS.

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