The Brotherhood: Between the Lines is the path to Allegiance

Why did Shaggy Boy show his Allegiance finally to the Big Boys in episode 5x13-Allegiance ? I am attempting to understand where is this going in Season 5. Will it lead to becoming a Trio for the Boys ? or Will it lead to Deeks accepting to be the Agent. 

The Big Boys have not stopped teasing Deeks. Then why was Deeks trying to augment skill sets of the team by trying to learn a new language, when it was getting difficult for him to learn it? And interestingly that is not the only thing. Deeks has been coming forth with his real feelings with the boys. He says to Sam, "Remind me to talk about my inferiority complex when Nate comes". He also complains to Callen ,"You don't have to rub it in" when Callen amusingly keeps teasing Deeks how he cannot learn a foreign language. Previously too Deeks had owned up to facts about himself and previously too the big guys had teased him. But now things have changed. I can see the difference. The Big Guys want to have fun at Deeks expense like earlier times and yet there is no more the feeling of any hostility or condescension towards Deeks from Sam.

Callen had always been the same with Deeks. He had accepted Deeks in 1x20 Fame just like Hetty and knew he could use Deeks as his new team member for the skills he had. He knew Deeks background being the Team Lead of the team.  The teasing from Callen continues like earlier times. Like the "Other Guy" in Fallout. Callen was never the problem for Deeks. We see more and more characteristic affinity between Callen and Deeks in 5x04-Rezhnikov N with the way they respond with protective instincts for people they like or see them as kind souls. Deeks smiles to the story as Callen narrates how he broke the broom on the guys head for trying to beat up his wife. That's exactly like Deeks story of shooting his father in self-defense when he was about to shoot his wife and kid.

Then does Deek's Allegiance to team now boil down to being accepted by Sam and Kensi ? Kensi is altogether a different story for Deeks. His and Kensi's partnership and relationship has puzzled even his boss. But it is anyones guess that if Deeks is still able to work at NCIS, it is because of Kensi. But that would be just in the capacity of LAPD Liaison Officer. 

Then it leaves Sam as the factor of the change in Deeks for the self-effacing loyalty shown in 5x13-Allegiance. Sam's kind words of appreciation in 5x01-Ascension, "You are a good Cop. You would make a good Agent. I made a mistake. Would not make the mistake again."; probably keep ringing in Deeks head and he started feeling he can be at par with these highly trained Agents. Sam further reminds Deeks occasionally like in 5x05-Unwritten Rule, that he needs to become an Agent to truly know and follow the rules and discipline of an Agent and inspite of his best efforts, he cannot fit into Agent Life, owing to the simple fact that he is not "formally" an Agent.

Its anyone's guess as we see the relationship between Sam and Deeks improving since 5x03-Omni once Deeks rejoins work. It is Sam who is defending Deeks' rejoining work when Callen expresses his doubts about his readiness. Sam keeps seeing more and more similarities between Callen and Deeks. Like in 5x06-Big Brother, Sam chides Callen's careless handing of his neighbour's interest in him as something he could have expected from Deeks but not him. In 5x08-Fallout, he sees the bachelors; Callen and Deeks bonding up to tease him about his DIY project and how he could have instead enjoyed himself either with a Mojito or a Marguerita. Probably Sam may have missed seeing these similarities traits before. Because, as a viewer I have seen Callen teaming up with Deeks to tease Sam, earlier too. After Sam's realization that he had mistook Deeks and as he starts to correct all that; Callen starts teasing Sam about his "starting to care for Deeks" emotions.  That does not stop both Sam and Deeks from showing up their brotherly feelings for each other. 

So the respect that Deeks has always felt for the Big Guys has now been wholeheartedly accepted and acknowledged by the Big Guys for the Shaggy Boy and it doesn't matter even to the Shaggy Boy, that he is sometimes the butt of joke for the Big Guys. There have been changes along the way. Kensi has taken Deeks to heart, Sam also has taken Deeks to his heart, Callen keeps noticing these two changes. Alongside Deeks has proven himself umpteen number of times that he is an asset for the team, like how he retrieved the Thumb Drive after they lost it to Thapa in 5x10-The Frozen Lake.

Would that mean Deeks would stop being the outsider? Would that mean Deeks will now accept Hetty's offer of  taking up the position of Agent in her team ? Deeks had once turned down Hetty's offer of Agent's position for him at the OSP, NCIS; saying "He is a Cop and that is who he is." It then makes me wonder why Deeks now is ready to get out of his "Cop" role and try getting the feel of being an actual Agent by seeing what all they have to do other than running the tasks for the assigned missions. Or is it just a competitive promotion of himself for the Big Boys to accept him and make him part of their team, even when Kensi is not there?


The partnership of  'The Trio' 
What we do see is that; ever since Kensi's going away to Afghanistan for the Classified Mission and Deeks being left without partner, when it becomes a must for Deeks to tag along with Callen and Sam for the mission, he no longer is the third-wheel. The Trio, now become a team and give us enjoyable moments of banter and action. Previously too, they have bonded together from Season 2 and we have seen them in action. But it was all mission oriented. Now working together has become a matter of choice as well as the necessity and that too without Kensi being there or having to rescue her. Let's trace this.

In 5x08-Fallout - Hetty is in trouble as she is going to be blamed for the stolen Nuke Sensing Device Locations data from Dept of Energy as she once let go of Kelvin C Griffith, a man she was investigating and could not find evidence against him. If the team needs to remove impending threat to Hetty, the team needs to steal the data back from the Russians. It could cost the Agents their jobs if caught in the process. When Callen asks everyone including Sam, Deeks, Kensi, Nell and Eric to think about it, Deeks says aloud that he is in, because, "It is Hetty and besides when Kensi goes, I roll". Now wouldn't that suggest that all that matters to Deeks is Hetty and Kensi and as long as they are involved, he would be part of any risky mission. And that has been the case in previous times.

However, that is changed in In 5x11-Iron Curtain Rising. There is no Kensi and Hetty officially asks the team to drop the case as SecNav has asked NCIS to stop investigating the high profile Romanian War Criminal Anton Zevlos. And yet Deeks joins hands with Callen and Sam to finish the unfinished business. It doesn't matter that earlier Callen and Sam refused to take him along with them when on case and he went out alone on the field to do his part for the case and obtain important piece of information. But when it is time to work together as the team, the three boys aboard the plane and take down the CIA Agent friend of Anton Zevlos and arrest the war criminal at his yacht. There is perfect camaraderie between the three when completing the mission. 

Check out the CBS Videos:In the Plane

In 5x13-Allegiance, its again not a matter of choice and it becomes a matter of necessity for the LAPD and NCIS teams to work together. And yet the choice to work together comes across in the Bull Pen interactions and not in the field. And that is where Deeks learning new languages kicks in. He is having difficulty in learning Danish and yet he keeps going at it along with list of languages that he can learn to augment team's skills.  It is appreciated by the Big Guys and in token appreciation, they ask Deeks to play the undercover part of Danish Interior Decorator of Sven for cracking on the Hawala Agent location in one of the Afghani shops. Later, whether it was coincidental or the need of the hour, Callen was able to command Deeks to deliver the same that he can expect of Sam; that of the task of taking down of the suicide bombers on the count of 3 at the same time so that he can shoot the suicide bombers. It needed skill and trusting between the three to have their timing work for the success of the mission. And Deeks doesn't disappoint Callen and Sam ! 

Deeks learning languages + Fabulous Interior Decorator

Check this tweet from NCIS LA ‏@NCISLA_CBS  Mar 18 : What r Deeks' hypothetical bros like?

5x17-BetweenThe Lines has to be watched for Deeks and his two elder brothers. The big boys have indeed accepted Deeks as the younger one, willing to take him along with them, willing to teach him their "between the lines" language. "Read between the lines." , Sam and Callen keep advising Deeks in exacerbated tones to get better at the job, like Scallen themselves understand unsaid plans about what each partner wants to do while in the field. Deeks is made to see that earlier in the case, he should have done opposite of what Callen said in the field when in action, because that is how Scallen work successfully. 

I had always wanted to see how Deeks and Callen when paired together, they would work. In that episode I got to see it. It was lovely to watch. Two similar people and yet with dissimilar attitudes. But they work well like elder brother and younger brother. Deeks speaks up to ask permission and Callen heeds to advise embedded in Deeks permission speaking and decides the next step. Callen doesn’t banter with Deeks like he rattles Sam, sitting in the car during stakeouts, but it was not totally bad. Callen does not have any problems with Deeks style and trusts him as team player delegating him independent work. We start to see, how Deeks gets anxious for his partners, even if that is someone like Sam. Deeks heart beats for Sam, a partner in trouble. It proves all his previous work on why and how he had Kensi’s back and how Sam was saved. And it comes out in a credible manner while working with Callen as his partner. All of this makes it credible to believe that Deeks actually thinks about Scallen as his elder brothers.

SCallen bond at partnership and emotional level. Deeks and Callen are closer at personal characteristic level as far as their personalities go and now recently Deeks got added into a similar predicament as Sam, by falling in love with his female partner. There are lot of possibilities of how it can branch out especially as Densi Love Story is poised to hit a roadblock again post 5x19.  Deeks might need the Big Boys support to get through his difficulties of working later on with a troubled partner. This tracing has not ended here. We will need to watch the rest of the season 5 episodes to see how the Trio as a team bond together.