Hetty - Grooming the Boys to become Gentlemen deserving her "Mr"

We all know that Hetty was a Costume Designer/dress maker in Hollywood. Presently at NCIS OSP, as the OPS Manager, she maintains the wardrobe for her Agents's backstopping roles. She is very careful about how her Agents dress and how they carry themselves. Its a job that she does with passion.

Season 5

Hetty turns her attention this year to her boys Eric and Deeks. She is grooming them to become the gentlemen that their woman should be pleased to look at and feel proud of them. Previously, Hetty has paid attention to only Callen. It was seen and felt by us in Season 1 and 2 when she shows Callen what he needs to wear and where he needs to stay. She arranged for his wardrobe and a residence that he could call as his own. She even advised Nate once how he should be dressing. This year as Densi story gets more serious and as Nell gets more and more out in the field, Hetty cannot but feel the pressure herself what those two smart and tough girls like Kensi and Nell can do her two geeky-surfing boys with their quirky habits. She needs to start before the girls mark her boys down! She needs to keep her boys in the game...A Game if we can use ECO (Eric Christian Olsen) lingo!

Scenes from 5x18-ZeroDays

Eric Beale

5x02-Impact- Hetty gets Eric pants, full length pants, that Eric hates them so much that he enters the incinerating room to incinerate his pants. Its Nell who actually saves him the embarrassment of being seen in underpants. She does help him by cutting his pants. But that one day's ordeal is enough for Hetty to stamp in Eric's mind that he cannot be imagining himself in Half-pants for the rest of his life. Eric is no more free to say that he can do what his Beale Clan has been doing for ages! 5x06-Big Brother -If that was not enough, Hetty in Big Brother reprimands Eric for breaking even the relaxed code she allows for the NCIS OSP employees and that he cannot think of breaking even that, else she would have to revoke her allowance of half-pants for Eric. In 5x08-Fallout, Hetty advises Eric to see what Nell sees and not just depend on her when trying to find the leads. 

Its quite significant development to see that Hetty is being tough with Eric. It shows how she wants him to be perfect for Nell Jones. We know how Hetty loves her female employees. She is grooming Nell to take after her. So she deserves the best. And if Nell likes Eric and Eric likes Nell and there is a Neric on the horizon, then Eric has to be groomed as Nell is also being groomed. And we start to see Eric Beale gaining confidence, managing work all alone by himself, as the season goes by; just like Nell keeps going into the field with confidence. Eric starts manning up for himself and for Nell. We can see his sense of pride and confidence when he tells Ira what he has to do and that Nell has Hazel colored eyes. That is what 5x18-ZeroDays is about to an extent. About himself and his sense of purpose and interest with NCIS and Nell Jones. He complements them as much as they complement him.

Marty Deeks

This year Hetty has been paying attention to Marty Deeks every episode, for the sake of story arcs around him. There is the PTSD Story arc that needs her attention over him to get him back to work and recover from it. Then we have her paying attention on him to sail his ship with Densi. If we leave those arcs and just single out Hetty's compulsion to dress her agents into good looking attractive gentlemen deserving her 'Mister', then I have to say, I liked Hetty's attention to Deeks looks, manners and grit becoming of a gentleman in 5x10- The Frozen Lake and 5x13-Allegiance. 

The Frozen Lake grooming was an Undercover Ops, but the dressing needed to be convincing for the success of the mission. It also meant winning Kensi's trust and interest back in Deeks. The killing looks that one cannot ignore! 5x13-Allegiance, we have Hetty taking serious turn with Deeks, warning him not to be profane with his language or habits. He is now himself getting interested in being an Agent now that he feels at home with everyone there, with or without Kensi's presence and Hetty's support and he has Kensi in his life now. Hetty asks Deeks to be careful with his instragramming habit of posting Selfies. Little she know that Deeks is messaging Kensi by the means of Instagramming. Now that is a topic we can discuss at other times, but what is interesting here is Hetty asking him to keep his cover protected. And now coming to the most important part. Adding a Curb to Deeks guttery ramble. She shows him how in a 10 second ** test Deeks has 4 sexual references to make. Its not funny anymore to her and she lets him see it that she needs him to take care how he lets his mind run. He is no more a teen boy fishing for excitement, but going out with a girl he loves.

Post 5x13-Allegiance, Hetty starts getting tougher and tougher on Deeks. More so because, she knows Deeks is in a tight spot with regards to his relationship with Kensi. Hetty though supporting it, as a boss takes her judgement call to see that Deeks does not compromise National Security by giving any kind of support to Deeks. Her cold treatment to Deeks from 5x14-WarCries begins when she is confident that rest of the team support him and take care of him. Increasingly by becoming a tough boss, Hetty keeps testing Deeks emotions, resilience to duress and accountability. She remains inaccessible to him, though he keeps looking at her for any hints that she might be throwing his way about her cold treatment. So far, from 5x14 through 5x20, Deeks has passed all her tests, but we have to see what else Hetty has in mind for Deeks.