‘Chee hoo!’: Blessing ceremony kicks off filming for season 2 of ‘NCIS: Hawaii’

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - A blessing ceremony Monday has officially kicked off filming for the second season of the CBS crime drama “NCIS: Hawaii.”

Cast and crew members for the TV series gathered at a film studio in Honolulu for the traditional Hawaiian blessing.

While dressed in lei, the Kahu gave the cast a three-stranded tea plant that he said represented the past, present and future.

Season one of “NCIS: Hawaii,” which premiered in September 2021, followed Special Agent Jane Tennant, played by Vanessa Lachey, as she and her team dealt with reoccurring riffs on the island.

Lachey’s character is also the NCIS franchise’s first female Special Agent lead.

“To give young girls and young women that hope to keep pursuing your dreams, keep moving forward, keep fighting for what you want and believe in, I think is extremely important,” she said.

Between fictional kidnappings, murders and contraband on camera, Lachey says that she and her family have found Hawaii to be a comforting place that “she has been searching for her whole life.”

“I’ve never felt more at home than I have here,” she said.

The cast did not give many spoilers at the blessing, but Lachey did hint that there will more “T’N’T” action this season, which she said only true fans will know about.

The blessing ended with cast and crew giving a big “chee hoo!”

“We get the honor to film here on the island, but we want to make sure we give back to the island what it gives us,” Lachey said.

Season two premieres Sept. 19 on KGMB.

This story will be updated.

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