CBS’ NCIS: Los Angeles resumes Season 5 tonight at 9/8c with the first of two February sweeps outings — the second of which unleashes the typically fearsome Danny Trejo. But does Machete not kill this go-round?

First up, the NCIS team this week trails the murder of two military contractors, while in subplotland Sam sets Callen up on a blind date. But amid and beyond that, there’s other drama to be had, as Kensi’s top-secret op has explosive repercussions for Deeks and the team at large, while Trejo’s aforementioned visit sheds light on no fewer than three characters’ pasts. TVLine recently invited show boss Shane Brennan to talk up what’s to come.

TVLINE | First off, how did the timing of Daniela Ruah having her baby [on Dec. 30] work out? Had you already filmed everything you needed to get her off the canvas for however long you might need her off?
It worked out perfectly. We planned ahead — we were working on eight episodes at the same time! — and she is in every episode. Taking Kensi and Deeks to that moment that everyone’s been waiting for was the key to it. And then, before they had a chance to explain themselves or to discuss what happened, we split them apart and sent her off to Afghanistan….

TVLINE | But they’ve been keeping in touch….
They’re keeping in touch, yes — and Hetty is doing things to keep them in touch…. The story that we’ve come up with in Afghanistan will impact both Kensi and Deeks in a totally unexpected way. It impacts on the rest of the team, as well. We’ve been slowly revealing what her mission is, and when it comes time to complete it, something major happens. Something that shocks everyone and puts Kensi in an enormous amount of jeopardy. And then we have to deal with the consequences of that, at the same time she and Deeks are dealing with the reality of that night they spent together – and I’m not saying anything happened, though it certainly looks that way.

TVLINE | They will have been faced with the worst possible consequence – “If we’re together, what happens when one of us gets sent into the line of fire? And do we want to keep doing that or not?”
We’re going to certainly play with their emotional stability. One of the interesting themes for Deeks and for Kensi to deal with, at the beginning of this season, was the trauma that Deeks went through after being tortured [in the Season 4 finale], how he was going to cope with that. What we do with Kensi when she comes back is put her through that same emotional trauma that Deeks went through. I’m not saying she gets tortured, but….

TVLINE | “Can two people who have each endured great trauma connect?”
Yes, how do they connect? They have a common understanding of something, but at the same time it’s… messy. And I can tell you, when Kensi NCIS Los Angeles Spoilerscomes back, finally — back to L.A. and back to the team — it doesn’t work out the way she thinks its going to work out.

TVLINE | I also understand you’ll be flashing back to Sam and Callen’s first days together, in the Feb. 25 episode.
It’s not a flashback, but more of a “flash story back”…? I don’t think that’s a word. [Laughs] We don’t flash back and see them in that situation, but we discover how they first met. It involved a character called Tuhon, played by Danny Trejo, and an unresolved case. Here we are, six years later, and Tuhon’s back in circulation, back on their radar, and we discover a whole lot more about that character than they ever knew when they first went after him. What we learn is that he has a very close connection to Hetty. So you’ve got Danny Trejo… and Linda Hunt. [Chuckles] And their scenes are fantastic. Danny loves this kind of stuff, because he gets a little… I wouldn’t say “typecast,” but people have an expectation. So it’s great to be able to turn that expectation on its head.

TVLINE | Might this tough, scary, tattooed guy have a soft spot for Hetty?
[Smiles] I think he could well have a soft spot for Hetty…. Hetty has a soft spot for everyone, but she can also just cut ‘em off if she needs to. It’s a great episode with some amazing action sequences in it, and yet at the same time you’re taking this tough, scary guy and showing the other side of him. And for Sam and Callen, it’s much as a surprise for them to see what he’s really like.

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This NCIS: LA fan needs something good on the Densi front. Anything you can share? –Monica
I have good… and not-so-good. Showrunner Shane Brennan confirmed for me that the timing of Daniela Ruah’s maternity leave “worked out perfectly,” in that the show had already pre-shot enough Kensi scenes to keep her in every episode, without missing a single beat. Thing is, when Kensi eventually returns from her Afghanistan op — during which something “totally unexpected” and calamitous happens, leaving her understandably shell-shocked — being back in Deeks’ orbit “doesn’t work out the way she thinks it’s going to work out.”

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Former NUMB3RS star Dylan Bruno is heading to NCIS: Los Angeles, TVGuide.com has learned exclusively.

On the episode “War Cries,” Bruno will play Robert Brown, a former Army intelligence officer who also worked for a private contractor in Afghanistan. Described as athletic, together and unsuspecting, Brown appears to be genuinely afraid for his life as he’s on the run from powerful people who want to stop him from testifying about war crimes he witnessed.

The episode is scheduled to air in February. Bruno also previously guest-starred on NCIS as disgraced former Army ranger Jason Paul Dean.

Are you looking forward to seeing Bruno on NCIS: LA?

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Though NCIS: Los Angeles cast member Daniela Ruah is due to give birth this winter, there will be no pause — pregnant or otherwise — in Kensi Blye’s storyline.

For the forseeable future, “You will see Kensi in every episode,” NCIS: LA showrunner Shane Brennan promises, thanks to the miracle of clever editing “and through the miracle of storytelling, too,” he notes.

“If you noticed, she went to a cold climate where she needs to rug up!” Brennan says of Kensi’s top-secret assignment in Afghanistan, which yanked her away from lover boy Deeks and where the only friendly familiar face is Granger’s. Tonight (CBS, 9/8c), we’ll check in on her as she manages to find holiday cheer, receiving “the perfect gift from one of her co-workers.”

As retrofitted into what was otherwise a meticulously planned Season 5, Brennan says, Kensi’s Afghanistan op “has turned into a great arc for the second half of the season — the whole mystery of what she’s doing there, who the ‘White Ghost’ is…. And it’s been fabulous to team her up with Granger” (who will grow so scruffy that Eric in a coming episode will liken him to a “pirate”).

But most importantly, though it devastated those who were thrilled to see Kensi and Deeks finally take a step forward in their nascent romance, Kensi’s abrupt reassignment, at Hetty’s doing, played out organically. Says Brennan, “We didn’t want to just send her off so she disappeared for a number of episodes, so we thought very carefully about how we could do it.” The solution, “from a production point of view, was very challenging,” Brennan says, basically requiring the writers to write eight or so episodes ahead.

Through it all, Brennan effuses, expectant Ruah has been nothing short of “remarkable,” resolved to keep Kensi in the picture as long as she can before her delivery date arrives. Says Brennan: “Now we’re just waiting for the blessed event!”

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Cult film antihero Danny Trejo will bring some bang to a February sweeps episode of NCIS: Los Angeles.

TVLine has learned exclusively that Trejo, whose myriad pulpy big screen turns include Machete Kills, The Devil’s Rejects and From Dusk Till Dawn, will guest-star on the CBS drama as a character who has past ties not just to Hetty, but Callen and Sam as well.

“It’s a big episode that takes everyone down to Mexico, where there’s a lot of action as well as character stuff for Callen, Sam and Hetty,” NCIS: LA showrunner Shane Brennan tells TVLine.

Trejo’s recent TV credits include an arc on Sons of Anarchy and episodes of Maron, Bones and Modern Family.

NCIS: LA returns from its holiday break on Jan. 14.

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Question: Any scoop on what Deeks will be up to (and with whom) while Kensi is off on her mission to Afghanistan? —Jan
Ausiello: First off, it hasn’t been officially confirmed that Kensi is, in fact, hopping a plane to the Middle East. Let’s see what exec poducer Shane Brennan has to say on the subject. “Kensi and Deeks face their biggest challenge, both professionally and personally in coming episodes,” teases the boss. “The emotional ripple that started with their unexpected kiss at the end of last season is about to turn into a tsunami that doesn’t just impact them, but the whole team. As a result, one of them will be reassigned.” OK, now it’s officially confirmed. (I think.) Now here’s a Bonus Scoop to make up for the fact that I totally side-stepped your original query: I have uncovered fresh intel about the new tech officer being played by Bones’ Andrew Leeds. Per sources, his character, Booker, is a member of a special task force hunting down an elusive terrorist.

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