It's almost time for the agents of NCIS: Los Angeles to jump back into action.

The CBS cast will return to set on Friday, but there is one crucial task the men of the series need to take care of first - shaving off those hiatus beards.

Barrett Foa (Eric) won't take the plunge until Sunday, however, presumably before filming his first scenes on Monday. The Office of Special Project's resident techie general has a fairly lax approach to his workplace attires - the man is flat out allergic to long pants - but donning a busy beard isn't one of Eric's signature traits. For Foa, the start of production means a close shave -

The season 6 premiere saw Callen (Chris O'Donnell) ditch his closes cropped crew cut for a new a beard and shaggy locks for an undercover assignment, and perhaps one day the Ops denizen will get the same chance. For now, however, Eric generally prefers to aid the team from behind the screen.

NCIS: LA closed out filming in May by completing two of season 7's fall episodes, and Friday will allowed the cast to start work on their third script of the season. Airing order is currently unknown, however, and any of these three installments could easily serve as the Sept. 21 premiere.

Catch NCIS: LA Mondays at 10 p.m. ET on CBS. Catch up on the season 6 finale by watching the preview below.

Tags: NCIS: LA NCIS: Los Angeles television CBS