'NCIS: New Orleans' season 3 spoilers, updates: Brody leaves the team; Sebastian's mother drops in for visit

"NCIS: New Orleans" is returning to the small screens for its third season in less than a month, and according to the latest updates about the series, fans should expect big changes moving forward.

A few cast shakeups and introductions are to be expected, and as Entertainment Weekly bared, the earliest part of the season will see the arrival of Sebastian Lund's (Rob Kerkovich) mother. According to the publication, Wendie Malick has been tapped to play Sylvia Lund, the "loving and overprotective" mother of resident forensic scientist Sebastian.

Apparently, Mrs. Lund still treats Sebastian as a young boy who needs her undivided care and attention. It would be worth anticipating if NoLa NCIS' nerd will see a few embarrassing moments courtesy of his doting mother in case she decides to pop up at the workplace.

Malick comes in to the series in the wake of Zoe McLellan's departure. TV Line has reported towards the end of July that McLellan's character, Agent Meredith Brody, has been written off the series for "creative purposes." The fan-favorite character will no longer be seen when the show comes back on air, as the actress left "NCIS: New Orleans" even before production for season 3 started.

It will be recalled that towards the end of season 2, Agent Brody made some poor decisions that put the integrity of Agent Pride's (Scott Bakula) team in question. Agent Brody got involved with Homeland Security Agent John Russo (Ivan Sergei), who turned out to be an anti-military fanatic.

Agent Brody's involvement with Agent Russo put her and the team in trouble, putting them on administrative leave by the end of the season 2 finale. The events prompted higher-ups to call in an FBI Special Agent to monitor and snoop around the team's operation in the upcoming season.

"Graceland's" Vanessa Ferlito will breathe life to the role of the "sexy, tough, and acerbic" FBI Special Agent, who's also described as a "by-the-book bureaucrat." She will investigate how Pride's team operates, putting her at odds with the NoLa NCIS team.

"NCIS: New Orleans" season 3 premieres Tuesday, Sept. 20 at 10 p.m. EDT on CBS.