I was left hugely disappointed by this week’s NCIS: LA. Got anything that might cheer me up? — Amy
Look at this and tell me if you’re seriously still bummed/not totally bursting with excitement about the finale. If you are, I owe you a Coke (and vice versa — what do you think I am, some sort of soda fairy?) Shall I give you my address now or later?
Executive producer Shane Brennan also talks to THR about the eventful two-night crossover with “Hawaii Five-0.”
“Brazen is a very good way to describe the actions of the bad guy [The Chameleon],” Brennan shared with The Hollywood Reporter.
There are several pivotal moments during the two-hour third season closer that viewers should pay particular attention to, according to the NCIS franchise veteran. One of them can be seen in the promo that will air following Tuesday’s episode.
“We’ll see Hetty (Linda Hunt) in a morgue,” teased Brennan without much elaboration. “She’s astonishing in that scene. That scene is worth the price of admission, as they say.”
Another key development that takes place is more for the adrenaline junkies. There is “an explosion,” Brennan says. “I want people to know that.”
With no real CGI touch-ups or “any foibles” added, the EP revealed that to make the scene happen, the crew employed ten cameras to capture the mayhem: “You will hit the rewind button on the DVR and say, ‘I need to see that again’.”
Last week’s Hawaii Five-0 (10.9 million)/NCIS: LA (15.2 million) crossover drew eyeballs and reaction has been positive.
“I know we’re really happy with the numbers we got overnight, but I’ve been too busy to go on the forums and look [at people’s reactions],” Brennan says. “The general feeling from people is that everyone enjoyed it, particularly having the Hawaii Five-0 guys come to us.”
With the success of the two-night event, the potential for more crossovers in the future is something Brennan is open to.
“It is something that I believe is very contemporary,” he says. “I think the audiences are willing to accept crossovers when both shows operate in the same world and that was certainly the case with NCIS and Hawaii Five-0. Having them overlap in terms of crimes was very easy for us to do. Whether or not we’ll do more is up to CBS. It’s something I’d be very happy to do again.”
NCIS: LA airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on CBS.
Daniela Ruah and Eric Christian Olsen are huddled very close together, and things are starting to get extremely warm.
That’s because the NCIS: Los Angeles scene partners have gathered in the tiny non-air-conditioned bathroom of an L.A. apartment building, down the hall from where their next scene from the CBS drama is setting up. There, they are hovering over a publicist’s cell phone to speak with TVLine about the episode airing this Tuesday at 9/8c, in which Deeks and Kensi pose as husband and wife to suss out a Russian sleeper cell in a suburban nabe.
TVLINE | It was back in January when Shane Brennan first told me about this “married” episode. Were you filled with anticipation waiting to see the actual script?
ERIC CHRISTIAN OLSEN | [Sarcastically] I was so excited I’ve hardly been able to sleep.
DANIELA RUAH | Eric wishes we were a married couple, so this is the only way he’s ever going to get it. [Laughs]
OLSEN | Wow. Gee, that’s a fantastic quote. Let’s use that.
RUAH | Fine, Eric – “I love you.”
OLSEN | Use that, too! I think it’s awesome because it’s a pretty big departure from a lot of the episodes that we’ve done, and yet it drives storyline as these two characters are forced to go undercover and play this married couple. And there’s a great speech from Hetty that talks about how the dynamic changes just based on proximity, which is true. There are some pretty fantastic scenes between the characters that are really fun to play. The end result is fulfilling as far as what the audience wants.
RUAH | I’ve been told by people who’ve seen the final edited version that there’s more comedy involved than in other episodes. There’s definitely a different tone.
TVLINE | What can you say about “Melissa” and “Justin,” the personae they create for themselves?
RUAH | Honestly, Kensi has an immense amount of fun with this. She’s playing a character that she’s probably not really ever go to be in real life, because she’s an agent. We have a very sort of Desperate Housewives-like lifestyle, we’re very couple-y, there are cute dresses, she bakes cookies for her neighbor…. Plus she just loves undercover work. So she’s having fun with it, and at some point she talks about how she thought she’d hate being a “married “couple, and it turns out she’s enjoying it — and it might be something she wants in the future.
OLSEN | Mostly because she’s in love with Deeks.
RUAH | Ha!
OLSEN | We find out that my character loves running in short shorts — because, yeah, that happens. I decided as a character choice that I’m go to run around the neighborhood to do surveillance but I’m not go to wear traditional shorts. I’m going to go with the short shorts.
RUAH | They’re not that short.
OLSEN | They’re pretty short. I’m showing a lot of thigh. What, you wanted them shorter?
RUAH | No, I think they should have been Spandex.
OLSEN | It’s fun, because Deeks definitely sees opportunities to kind of push it, the relationship, because it’s under these false circumstances. He kind of puts her into positions that lead to some pretty interesting things that would never happen in real life.TVLINE | That was my next question. What lines of intimacy need to be crossed as part of keeping this cover?
OLSEN | There’s initially an argument because you’ve got to sleep in the same bed, because if [the bad guys] have any sort of heat sensors or cameras or microphones planted or something…
RUAH | …we have to play a married couple all the way, as far as anyone else is able to see. So obviously within that there are…
OLSEN | … a lot of lines to be crossed.
RUAH | Huge lines. And they’re crossed.
OLSEN | By both characters.
RUAH | Deeks is pretty cheeky, but I agree – lines are crossed by both characters for sure.
OLSEN | You say “cheeky,” some would say “charming.”
RUAH | Cheeky, charming, tomato, tomahto.TVLINE | Are there plentiful PDA moments for “Densi” fans to enjoy?
RUAH | I don’t think we should reveal any of that.
OLSEN| You don’t want to talk about the PDA moments?
RUAH | I want the audience to be surprised.
OLSEN| But by saying that they’re going to be surprised, doesn’t that mean there will be some? Isn’t that what you’re hinting at?
RUAH | No, not at all. [She pauses] OK, I get smacked in the butt once, by Deeks.
OLSEN | That wasn’t the moment I was talking about.
RUAH | And she doesn’t punch him in return!
OLSEN | But that’s what we’re talking about, the circumstances that make it impossible for her to do what she’d normally do. Because if we weren’t undercover, she’d knock him out! He knows she has to play that role, and in turn there’s something that Kensi does to Deeks that completely throws him, and it will leave a lasting impression with everybody who watches.TVLINE | Turning serious-ish, will this fuel any real talk between the two of them? Do they have a “moment” at the end of all of this?
RUAH | There’s a moment where they’re sitting down on the couch and Deeks brings her a bag of frozen peas because she got hurt, and that’s when she talks about what I said before – how she thought she would hate all of this. But she actually likes it. It’s comforting and nice. So there are definitely moments where they get serious with each other.
OLSEN | I think the best version of a relationship as it matures is two characters that are kind of discovering each other and themselves through that relationship, and this is a good example of that. Every episode has elements of that, and obviously some are more light-hearted, but even in those we put our defenses down and you see who these characters are at the end of the day.
RUAH | Or even who you would like to be. You live a certain lifestyle, and then you see this other lifestyle, and it becomes something that they may want in the future — with or without each other.
Sometimes in a show rife with guns and action, there’s nothing better than hot banter and sexual tension between partners. No, we aren’t talking about Sam (LL Cool J) and Callen (Chris O’Donnell), but rather quick-witted and constantly flirty Kensi (Daniela Ruah) and Deeks (Eric Christian Olsen).
Olsen tells us all about the sexy undercover operation that’ll have Kensi and Deeks sharing a roof—and a bed! Plus, get scoop on the “catastrophic” season finale cliffhanger that will bring death to NCIS: Los Angeles.
Playing House: Praise the TV gods, Densi fans (or is it Keeks?)! You are about to get a whole lot of fantasy undercover goodness. “We go undercover a lot for different situations and usually they are just for one or two scenes,” Olsen explains.
“But this opens with us living together in a house. Which is fantastic because that’s where people want this relationship to go, and all of a sudden it starts with us in this world—I wake up and roll over and it’s a pretty fantastic episode.” Yep, fantastic, we think that about sums it up. But wait, there’s more.
Playing an undercover couple might lead to some (fantastically) awkward scenes as well. “Which is kind of why this episode is so fantastic, because Deeks is really good at navigating how much he can get away with based on the circumstances,” Olsen tells us. “And usually he just ends up getting punched. He definitely pushes the boundaries of what he can get away with as far as proximity and affection and loving tenderness.” Yes, he said affection.
Foreshadowing Future: Kensi might be a kickass agent by day, but in tonight’s episode she gets to don an apron and play wife. Is this the hardest role for her to play? Maybe not.
“It comes quite as a surprise to her that she’s attracted to this lifestyle,” Olsen says. Could this be a glimpse into their life six seasons from now? “It throws Deeks off because she sees her as this hard-edged creature that he would never see as a normal wife or a mother. But there is something she finds in [that lifestyle] that Deeks responds to, that’s attractive to him.”
We asked if Kensi and Deeks could ever be together beyond an undercover operation. “That’s one of the things I love the most about our producers and our writers, they paint out these storylines. All you can ask for in a relationship is that you grow and mature together. And that’s what these guys are doing.”
The deeper scenes beyond the sexual chemistry and banter aren’t just for exposition, Olsen says: “Those are kind of monumental episodes as far as milestones in relationships. All those barriers and defenses that both of these characters have start to break down, and it builds a very interesting bond and dynamic between the two of them.”
Catastrophic Chameleon: Are you ready for the two-hour season finale? “It’s crazy,” Olsen dishes. “So much so that when we finished the table read, everybody was freaking out, demanding to know what was happening. [The showrunner] made everybody leave the room and kept the core actors in there and said, “All right, here’s the plan.” Everybody was blown away.
Not only is there a jaw-dropping cliffhanger, Olsen tells us that LA’s big bad, The Chameleon, will be back with a goal. “That character is gunning for Callen and revenge. It’s become like Usual Suspects, it’s a game of cat and mouse, and he’s playing with all sorts of characters. And deaths! People die. There are catastrophic consequences to some of the actions that the characters choose.” Dun. Dun. Dun. Scared yet?
Are you excited to see Kensi and Deeks married? Nervous for the cliffhanger finale? Head to the comments!
‘NCIS: LA’ BOSS TAKES YOUR QUESTIONS!
I love being your bridge to behind the scenes access, so whenever possible, I like to take a couple of questions and post them to the fine minds behind your favorite shows. So be sure to watch my Twitter closely; you never know when I’ll randomly call for questions! This week, NCIS: LA executive producer Shane Brennan took some of your burning questions! And as a special treat, come back Monday for an exclusive look (and scoop!) on the huge, two-hour season finale!Anything on Deeks & Kensi’s episode next week? #NCISLA — @texmex327
SHANE BRENNAN: This is probably the funniest episode we’ve ever made in the 72 made so far — but it needed to be. The finale has its somber moments, so everyone should sit back and have a fun ride with Kensi (Daniela Ruah) and Deeks (Eric Christian Olsen). It came about because of the crossover. We needed to free up Callen (Chris O’Donnell) and Sam (LL Cool J) to go to Hawaii [to film], so we were looking for an episode that would have some Kensi and Deeks, and this fell perfectly into place. There’s the kiss, and there’s more to the kiss — certainly from Eric — than we anticipated. So the audience is going to have a lot of fun with this. There are a lot of funny insights and it’s a really interesting way to peek behind the curtain and see what it’s like if these two people lived together. And, I’ve gotta say, they’re not perfect when they live together…. Oh, romance is a funny thing. Who chooses to sleep on which side of the bed can cause friction.I want to know how the undercover-marriage job will affect Deeks/Kensi “thing.” Will it change their dynamic? #NCISLA — @MissAlesig
People will have different [opinions]. Personally, I think Deeks is the one who is a little more unsettled by this and carries something into future episodes. We have the kiss, and he seems to be the one who is more affected by it than Kensi. But if you look closely, you’ll see Kensi is also affected by it.Is Granger gone for good on #NCISLA? Never did trust him & still don’t after the “Blye, K.” episodes. – @zoyaroses
EW: Actually, I can take this one. He’s NOT gone for good. In fact, he pops up in the season finale and shares some pretty great scenes with Callen. And the cliffhanger, teases Brennan, will have an “enormous fall-out” that will particularly affect Callen, Hetty, Granger and Sam.
NCIS: Los Angeles | Speaking of lighter fare, NCIS‘ spin-off this Tuesday will find Deeks and Kensi undercover as a married couple living in the suburbs — a set-up that showrunner Shane Brennan says fuels “probably the funniest episode of the 72 we’ve made.” And the timing couldn’t be better. As Brennan notes, “It needed to be lots of fun – because the finale comes in pretty hot.” So, will “husband” or “wife” come away from this ruse most affected? That’s a very good question…,” Brennan starts, before settling on Deeks. “Other people may say Kensi, but there’s a moment – I’m not going to lie, a kiss – and Deeks is that one that’s like, ‘Whoa, what just happened?!’” Might the partners get too cozy in their covers? Sounds like it. Says Brennan with a chuckle, “Hetty has to give them a little chat.”
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