It’s been about a year since Kensi and Deeks finally decided to go “all in” at the ice rink in last season’s Christmas episode, “Humbug,” but the latest NCIS: Los Angeles episode ended with one of them keeping a secret from the other. Will that secret come out, and if it does, how will the other person react?
The last NCIS: Los Angeles episode to air was “Internal Affairs,” which had the series’ largest audience since March, according to The Futon Critic . It was the episode that saw the IA investigation into Deeks dating back to last season come to a head when, following his arrest in the previous episode, the rest of the team found out why he’s on LAPD’s radar.
See, his former partner, Francis Boyle, was murdered, and it was rumored that one of the prostitutes he liked to beat up had enough and turned his own gun on him. Deeks had told Kensi earlier in the season – without, at the time, naming his former partner – that he had confronted Boyle after he used hot coffee to get a suspect to talk, and Boyle put his gun in his mouth. After that, Deeks went into undercover work.
Boyle’s former partner, Steadman, also a dirty cop, made it clear he was out for Deeks, but it was after Lieutenant Bates helped Deeks escape police custody that he found out what Steadman was really after: a stash of his and Boyle’s from years ago that Quinn had hidden away somewhere. News had gotten out that Quinn had escaped, but, after Steadman was arrested and Deeks was clear from the IA investigation, Deeks realized that Quinn had never gotten out of prison. When he asked Hetty why she put this plan together, she countered with, “Why did you kill Boyle?”
Yes, Deeks did kill his former partner; he was going to kill Tiffany, a prostitute Quinn had enlisted to supposedly take down Boyle, only he never showed up for the bust. As Deeks wondered how he’s going to keep this from Kensi, Hetty advised him that she’s always found it easier to keep secrets when you have no one to share them with, which means Deeks clearly has a decision to make.
So far this season, Kensi and Deeks’ relationship has been in a good place. They’re saying “I love you” like it’s no big deal, calling each other “baby,” she’s met his mother and she was so determined to help him in the most recent NCIS: Los Angelesepisode, she confronted Hetty about her Machiavellian plans. But could that all change if she finds out what he did?
“He’s going to have to tell her,” Eric Christian Olsen told TV Guide , adding though that he has had plenty of time to tell her before now. After all, she’s been asking him why IA was investigating him and he did bring up his experience as Boyle’s partner and Boyle’s murder, but instead of telling her the truth, he just acted like it was only possibly about that. The fact that he hasn’t confessed to her yet, Olsen said, has to do with who Deeks is .
“I would say that’s more of a reflection, not of their relationship, but of how Deeks values himself. That’s what the fear is. If he really valued himself in the relationship he wouldn’t be afraid to tell her this out of some sort of irrational fear that he would lose her.”
So right now, it has yet to be seen if an upcoming NCIS: LA episode will see Deeks confessing the truth and how Kensi will handle it – could it happen as they prepare to celebrate the holidays in “Cancel Christmas”? – but according to Olsen, “There’s a twist that we didn’t see coming as actors, and I don’t think the audience will see coming either, that makes that scene so poignant.”
NCIS: Los Angeles season 7 airs Mondays at 10 p.m. on CBS.
[Image via CBS]
