Volumn 1

Edition 5

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Hello and welcome to our second roundtable NCIS Los Angeles discussion here on NCISLA Magazine and in particular for the new feature Decidedly Deeks.  Welcome, I’m Phillydi and I’d also like to welcome Imahistorian, Mel and Sweet Lu, Lindy to our panel once again.  We’re going to discuss season four and how it relates to Deeks and the whole Densi mystique.  So guys, what did you think about season four overall and the progression of Deeks’ character.  So take it away…..

Mel: In terms of Deeks’ development and the characterization of him throughout the season and Densi…to me I think a big part of the season was Kensi coming around to realizing her feelings for Deeks and grappling with them a bit.  I’m not sure or totally convinced she knows exactly what she feels or is willing to admit to herself what she feels, but I think it was a big part of Deeks being consistent and being there for her during the season.  I think he had his ups and downs in term of the rest of the team, with them, for example some of the stuff that went down with Sam towards the end of the season, but I think  it’s been an interesting season of them trying to…well they are definitely partners and they have that closeness….and trying to get to the point of…could they be more or not?

Lindy:  I’ve kind of written off the first half of the season because I didn’t think it was that strong and by the middle when they started doing Sam’s arc, I think they also brought in Kensi’s and Deeks’ relationship and they started building that more towards the end while they were building the tension between Sam and Deeks.  I think there was a lot of things going in the second half of the season that we can kind of lock on to and I think watching Deeks as he related to Kensi was interesting because you can kind of see he started being a lot more serious even though he goofed around with her in a couple of episodes like the one where he threw her on the bed, that was kind of fun.   But it escalated pretty quickly and all through that for me, and I’m with Mel, I don’t think Kensi knew quite what to do with her feelings.  I knew, she knew she had them and they had little things where she was defending him against Monica saying that she trusted him with everything…. yet she didn’t.

So I think she was very conflicted.  While I think Deeks was afraid basically just to do anything to upset the balance between them and during that last episode, particularly that Monica episode, Parley where he’s not sure where he stands with her and he’s not sure what to say and he’s afraid to communicate anything and then, when we get to the last (episode) and says “the hell with it” and goes for it…  I think that was an incredible leap for both characters.  How they deal with it in the next season, I have no idea.  There is so many thinks they can do, it’s such an open book, kind of thing.  I think it’s going to be a fascinating season and I hope they don’t blow it!

I hope they do a really great job in coming to terms with that and definitely they need to come to terms with what happen between Sam and Deeks because I think that kind of threw me for a loop as far as Sam’s reaction for Deeks and his disrespect for him and basically questioning his character.  I think that is such a strong story line and then with the torture and stuff at the end, I think that is something they really have to deal with.  They really have to deal with that because I think they damaged Sam’s character and I’m sorry to see that, sad to see that, because Sam was such a strong, strong character and they made us take sides and I think that was unfortunate.  Although I agree with the dramatic scenes and I really felt that tension, not only between Sam and Deeks but between Kensi and Deeks and between Callen and what’s going to happen with Sam.  There is so much tension and so many storylines.  It will be interesting to see if they can deal with that in one episode or if they are going to let it spill over to a second episode in the beginning of the season.

Diane:  It’s interesting that you say it was such a surprise to see Sam react like that….and I agree with you and I don’t know if it’s because we’ve been lulled to seeing how Sam has always reacted to Deeks but I went back to the very first couple of episodes that Deeks was in and Sam keeps calling him Temp and he’s constantly on him about taking Dom’s place because he’s not  happy about that and it doesn’t help that back then, he wasn’t getting any respect from the LAPD.   But I think it’s interesting that Deeks asks Sam if he wants to coddle him and of course Sam gives him no answer.  So I think this has been going on for a long time and I don’t know why it came as such a surprise.  What do you guys think?

Mel:  I think that Sam has always had a sort of discomfort with Deeks and how Deeks deals with things, how he jokes around which is fairly consistent throughout the series.  I think for me during the finale, what really struck me was the depth of Sam’s apparent mistrust.  I got that we’re never going to be the best of friends and everything and that Sam maybe had some trust issues with Deeks but his attack to Deeks was just so prejudicially focused on things like his hair and his clothes and his methods.  I think Deeks made a good point to Sam to say hey I never let anyone down before, where is this coming from?  It felt like a blow to Sam’s integrity and his character that he was latching on to things that are not necessarily, not really reflective of Deeks character.  So for me I had a hard time reconciling that with Sam’s moral center.  I didn’t really feel like that was how Sam would necessarily react but also Sam was in a very stressful situation with his wife, the mother of his child and people do things and say things they wouldn’t normally do when they are in that situation.  But I agree with Lindy that I’m sad to see that happen to Sam.  I feel like something needs to happen to Sam to see him redeem himself, for himself but also to redeem himself for Deeks if that relationship can ever possibly be repaired.   Something has got to happen; something has got to fix it.

Lindy:  And I think it’s important for the team for that to happen too.  There’s that, I can’t remember what episode it was in, but there was that scene, the opening segment where Sam takes Deeks seat and Deeks come in and doesn’t understand, and he (Sam) says we all have to be together, it’s one for all, and all for one.  That’s a team thing, a team concept to expect that from Sam.  So for him to suddenly blow that off and in the middle of an operation and tells Deeks I don’t trust you and I don’t want you around, not only me but I don’t want you around my kids, I don’t want you around my wife.  I don’t want to have to trust you, because I don’t trust you.  I think that hurt Sam’s character in a lot of fans eyes, or at least some of the fans that have written to me and they are angry with him and I don’t think that is where the writers or Shane Brennan wants that character to be.  They spent a whole arc on Sam’s character this year to get us to know him better and understand him and sympathize with him on a certain emotional level and yet at the end they lost some of that.  So I think they really have to address that relationship between him and Deeks or I can’t see how the team is going to survive.

Diane:  I thought it was kind of interesting when he wouldn’t even let Deeks watch his kid.  He would let Kensi because she was a woman and not because she had the skills…but not him.  I mean, every time you see Deeks with kids, he’s just a natural.  Why would you not let him with your kids?

Mel:  I think there is more to it than that and that’s what maybe they will have to do in terms of repairing the relationship between Deeks and Sam and maybe get at some of Sam’s motivations and why he thinks that way and maybe seeing if Sam can come around to something different.  I’d like to hope that…. because I think that Sam is a really strong character with really strong integrity and morality and I’d like to think they will recapture that with however the finale fallout happens.

Lindy:  Sort of like what Mel says, she and I were talking earlier.  It has to be more than just words, it has to be more than Sam just coming up and saying gosh, I’m sorry I really didn’t mean it.  There has to be some physical action of some sort to redeem those characters.  And I’ve also thought that when you go through that kind of scenario together, where you are both being tortured…it’s like when you are in a foxhole together… you come together and I think they could use that to bring them both together.  Whether they do that first episode or string it out over a couple of episodes, I agree with Mel that there has to be something more than just words that happens between those two.

Mel:  Something instinctual will have to happen.  I think up till now, Sam is facing a lot of his perception about Deeks, odd things which are extremely superficial about Deeks…. like he jokes around and his hair and his clothes and his message.  Well they are all things that Sam sees and he doesn’t work close with Deeks except on a few occasions…..

Lindy: And they have never gotten along!

Mel: ….Right!  So perhaps by going through this situation together, this trial by fire, perhaps Sam will be able to see his perceptions are not what he thought they were.  Because I agree, a simple apology is not going to do it…also if you think about it’s not very satisfying.  You want to see Deeks and Sam come to some sort of understanding.  They may never be the best of friends but being a team and working together is a different situation for them.

Lindy: And how will the torture effect the relationship between him and Kensi will be an interesting thing for the  writers as well because he’s laid it all on the line with her.  He’s expressed, or he communicated with her exactly how he felt and how he’s going to deal with that will be interesting.   But what’s going to be even more interesting is what he goes through physically with that last episode with Sidorov….is that going to fill his mind so much, that he’s the one who pulls away from her?

Diane:  Well, let’s talk a little bit about the season finale.  What did you think?

Lindy:  I think the thing that is remarkable to me is how many open story lines they left in that season finale.  You’ve got Callen versus Janvier, you got Kensi and Deeks, Deeks and Sam.  You got Michelle going out of a building with Kensi trying to save her.  How they tie it all up in one episode is going to be interesting to watch.  But I thought it was one of the strongest episodes, and season finales on any show.  I really did like it.  I know why from a dramatic standpoint…. I understand why they put Sam and Deeks in opposed places…making it even more tension filled.  In the middle of that they give us a bright shining moment with the kiss between Kensi and Deeks.  So you can be thrilled with that and the plunge into the pool with Sam and Deeks…it was an amazing episode.  I thought it was well written and strong.  I just think they left a lot of things unsaid and things they need to deal with last season.

Diane:  I was really happy with the way the kiss went, I thought it was well done, it wasn’t schmaltzy.  It was perfect in terms of those characters.

Mel:  For me I think the whole thing about the kiss was he did communicate in a physical kind of way but he didn’t actually say much in terms of actual feelings but I think the whole season has been leading up towards Deeks.  I think Deeks is further along in his understanding of how he feels towards Kensi.  His realization about her smelling like sunshine and gunpowder and realizing those are two of his favorite things.  I think he is further along in understanding that they are more than just partners and friends and even just a simple distraction.  I think Kensi’s reaction to the kiss which was kind of surprise and shock and then basically running away, although basically she has really good reasons to go after Michelle…her inability to really respond to that moment was a sign that she is not as far along as Deeks in recognizing the depths of what it is.

She gets that he’s important to her, I wouldn’t disagree with that and I don’t think she knows what to do with it.  I think she is scared of it.  She doesn’t know what to think about what she feels.  That comes out in her dichotomy in her kind of ragging on him over the comm when he is in there with Monica and then telling Monica she trusts him with everything. She’s hard on Deeks talking to the other CIA agents and she can’t help but be affectionate in other ways in giving him a hug and other things like that.  I think Kensi is at war with herself even though she probably doesn’t realize it and would never admit it and I think, Deeks has kind of shown throughout the season that he is a bit more steady in his belief and his understanding of what he feels for Kensi.  So it kind of comes to a head with the kiss at the finale with him doing something and her not knowing quite what to do about it.  So we will see where that goes.

Diane:  It was a great moment and I think we have a lot to look forward to in the future.  Not necessarily romance-wise but how the characterizations are going to be played out.  So in finishing up our little talk right now, we started off our first roundtable…asking what’s in the box and it never really went anywhere.  If we can maybe touch on that maybe one last time and close the loop.  What was that whole thing about?

Lindy:  You don’t think we’ve beaten the box into submission by now?  I think it’s dented and broken.

Diane:  I don’t think we will ever see it again, do you?

Mel:  The box could definitely reappear.  I have to go back to what I thought when the box first appeared was that it’s not important what’s in the box.  I don’t think we are ever going to find out what’s in it if the box ever reappears because….

Lindy:  We would be disappointed anyway.

Mel:  Exactly!  What could possibly be in it that could satisfy everyone?  I don’t think that exists.  I think ultimately the box it a metaphor and is treated as a metaphor throughout.  It’s up on a shelve sitting in Ops and it’s just going to sit there.  They may bring it down again when they are just going to pull out another metaphor!

Lindy:  Let it gather dust, I say!

Diane:  On that final word from Lindy…thank you ladies.  I appreciate you coming on board here and going through our second roundtable discussion because we’re going to be back again, closer towards the season five opener.  We’re going to try to project what is going to happen during season five.  So I hope you will come back for our third roundtable discussion and we’ll see you then!

Check out the latest Deeks-centric fanfics from our panel on www.fanfic.net :

Sweet Lu:  Promises to Keep

Imahistorian:  Feel the Tide

Phillydi:  Venus Rising