Game for Game: Personal Vs Professional, Deeks Vs Hetty

Beginning of the End or End of the Beginning! 

Granger: Beginning of the End?
Hetty: No. End of the Beginning.

That was Hetty getting Deeks message. 

The End of Profanity
The End of Indecisivness
The End of Beating around the Bushes
The End of Hide and Seek
The End of How it Began. The "This Thing" "No Thing" "Our Thing"
Its the Beginning of serious commitment - Its a Love Story
Its the Beginning of serious consideration.

You might have noticed that there is an increasing distance between Deeks and Hetty from 5x14-War Cries. All we can see is a boss and subordinate relationship from 5x14-War Cries onwards. At first Hetty distances herself from Deeks. Hetty becomes pronounced as a tough boss from 5x17-Between the Lines. And by 5x19-SpoilsOfWar, Deeks does notice himself being singled out from the rest of the Kensi Search and Rescue Mission. I have traced this in each of the episodes so far. While Hetty relented to Deeks rebellious seeking of his partner in 5x20-Windfall, who would have suspected that she had plans of making a mockery of Deeks personal relationship with his partner, to her professional use of having a breakthrough to another NCIS Agent Paulo Angelo going rogue. It was downright making it public and that too in a demeaning way, like a commodity available for trade. She used Densi relationship for her professional gain and she justified as it being okay. Perhaps, these are the unforeseen ugly consequences of falling in love with partners at work places. Others making a joke or game out of it. What follows is an humiliated and outraged response from Densi, especially Deeks, as he can see where this is all leading to. And he makes a decision. Perhaps, Hetty can let Kensi and Deeks work together without worrying. But can Hetty be sure that, her relationship with Deeks is still intact. Would he be able to see that, by taking that extreme step, perhaps, she might have protected him before, it became more ugly?!!! We cannot tell. We have to wait.

One might wonder, what I am rambling about. Well..I am rambling about, why Deeks felt outraged coming out of the Boatshed Interrogation of Paulo Angelo, and how he felt like taking a shower. And how what he did in the end actually is his step to protect his third heart. Hetty asked Deeks in 5x05-Unwritten Rule, "How's your emotional Center?". And Kensi asked in 5x21-ThreeHearts, "What does your Third Heart say?" A long journey indeed for Deeks to learn that one can be exploited even by the persons you trust most. It is perhaps too early for me to even say this, but one cannot ignore the vibes we get. Hard as it was for Deeks to break away from Kensi, but he just got his personal dignity back by securing his Third Heart. 

How did Deeks come around this decision? or rather how did the writers take him there?

The Fight between Being Professional and Personal

It was Deeks all over again, with his Love Story in EP 5x21-ThreeHearts. A repeat of 5x16-Fish Out of Water mental state leading to 5x19-Spoils of War vulnerable state, seeking a release from the 5x10-FrozenLake. Can he be patient with Kensi? He can be provided Kensi wants to. Is Kensi serious enough about him. Yes. To the point of her letting him go to protect him. What does Deeks do? Take the plunge. He lets her go and do whatever she wants to do with him. He will wait for her.

In 5x16-Fish Out of Water, Joe Sachs weaves a story for Densi and Deeks, with the serious side of the “Love Story” coming up for the first time after Frozen Lake. The complication of two working partners falling in love and what implications each can have regards to his or her career is touched upon through the Guest character DEA Agent Talia. And yet by the end of the episode, Deeks is adamant about what he wants. If he fell in love with his work-partner and it has become a purposeful and meaningful existence for him, makes him a better person, he would fight for all of it, and be ready for any kind of fight he has to take up with his authorities. The simple human reason being, how can falling in love be demeaned as complicated if one can be reasonable enough to work it out. 

For all of these arguments, there are consequences and the persons, who ask these sort of questions get charged of breaking the law, like Paulo Angelo, but in the end, their question is valid enough for us to put our thoughts to amend a wrong. We can see that the emotional meltdown that Deeks goes through in 5x16-Fish Out of Water consequences both professionally and personally, he starts to fight for his own individuality, his beliefs, all that his existence is made of in the subsequent episodes. It starts becoming a fight between him and authority as represented by Henrietta Lange and a fight between him and professionalism as represented by Special Agent Kensi Blye. In 5x19-SpoilsofWar, Deeks disproves Hetty that he can let his emotions get in the middle of the rescue operation. Even if he loses himself briefly, Deeks finds his ground and is instrumental in rescuing all the others.

When Kensi is back, she is not allowed to work on field with Deeks. Nell is asked to work with Deeks and Kensi is asked to help Eric Beale in Ops Room. Can Densi and Neric take all this? Neric take it professionally. Deeks though disappointed that he did not get Kensi's company even when, she was there, he still manages working on a good footing with Nell. He continues mentoring Nell as Senior to Junoir and supportive and appreciative of her skills on the field. In contrast, Kensi miserably fails to work with Eric Beale. After watching Nell and Eric make her feel totally incapable as them, her spirit just kicks in honestly to be humble enough to approach her boss and ask her to allow her to get back to “Agent-ing”. It was a big step for Kensi. Like in 5x02-Impact, Deeks came back to form at the carrot stick of Hetty having to find his replacement for Kensi’s partner, Kensi in 5x20-Windfall, feels the jolt of not being able to work with Deeks and that too someone who replaced her in a better way on the field and in the Ops Room where she was assigned for the day. Why this is important is because, Kensi has gone back to her shell and has grown comfortable in her inner pain by not reigning in her emotions. She also has stopped being responsive to Deeks as someone who loves her to infinity. But being left alone, with no partner, makes her kick herself alive. And then comes her possessive response about losing Deeks to someone else. The return and the punch.

All of this is being favourable and understanding to Kensi. But the wait is getting longer for Deeks. Who is taking care of him for his fallout in Afghanistan? Apparently no one. Not only had Deeks seen his Third Heart with regards to vulnerability caused by his feelings for Kensi, Deeks also had to see the revelation, that in Kensi's heart, Deeks had never been able to make a place for him in last 3 years, that Jack Simon had in Kensi's heart apparently gone missing and presumed dead from last 9 years. While Deeks sees Kensi as his soul mate and home, apparently Kensi does not see him that way.

He starts to fight for his own survival and standing and negotiates clearly with his boss and his love interest, what he considers as professional and personal boundaries. He starts questioning in talk-back style. For the first time. And he sends his message across rightly to Hetty and Kensi, both professional par excellance.

Deeks waited for 5 months for Kensi to be back. And he complainingly asks Hetty to give him back his partner in 5x20-Windfall. It takes a loving boss to take Deeks demand kindly. Otherwise, Deeks tone to Hetty is rebellious and demanding, when he asks, “I want my partner back”; just like it was in 5x03-Omni when he says,”Ask me tomorrow” when she asked him if he was back. Shows his losing his edge, trying to find a meaning, why would Hetty not trust Kensi with him?! Is he not capable of taking care of Kensi?! more than anyone?! that seems to be his questioning as against Hetty’s administrative and qualified judgement call to detain Kensi from going on field without making her feel responsible enough on how serious she has to be while at work now. His whole attitude about questioning Hetty, is if she is ready to trust him. There is clear articulation of Hetty remarking on Deeks questions, "yet you question about my judgement".

Hetty in her official capacity and also in personal capacity; does relent by the end of the episode that, she or for that matter anyone else other than Deeks cannot assess Kensi's true emotional condition after her stint in Afghanistan. If she must have her Special Agent recover quickly from a traumatic experience, she would have to entrust Kensi to Deeks care. There is no doubt about it that Kensi will not open herself to anyone else. The only person, close enough to break her walls has been Deeks. And Hetty is well aware of it. Hetty remains impartial in this decision from administrative point, Hetty employs Eric Beale and Nell Jones to come to this decision. She trusts Neric as friends of Densi and yet quite capable of deductive reasoning much needed on the job. After speaking to Eric, Hetty is able to table it in her official assessment that Kensi is bored and restless when not in the field and appears totally stable emotionally to him. She informs Kensi, that she is allowing her to work on the field as she has come to an understanding that, if she is kept apart from the field or Deeks, revelations would not happen about her emotional state.

And after working a case together, Deeks goes for another rebellious questioning with Kensi and shows her what he thinks of her personal investment towards him. That's in 5x21-Three Hearts. Kensi's indecisiveness towards their relationship, Deeks sees it as a professional affront to his capabilities as seen through her personal and professionally critical eyes. She goes at length at protecting him before Angelo, which kind of puts Deeks in a bad light, as if he cannot manage himself. Could be true. But if Kensi was really professional, she would not have bothered to cut into Deeks negotiating style with Angelo. She would have had that trust on him both personally and professionally and they could still have their private thing going on. By protecting Deeks, Kensi exposes herself too. She forgets that Deeks has raised himself, is a negotiator by profession and would know how to manage interrogation. Its pleasure seeing someone going at length to protect you, but then it also means that the other cares about you in wholesome manner. Can Deeks be sure of that now? After what he saw in Afghanistan? Is Kensi protecting her work partner or protecting him for other personal reasons? Then it just remains for Deeks to take care of the fact that she need not get protective on him when working. Remove his "emotional center" and end the bother. 

So just by being a good work-partner to her, he lets go off the personal dangling "thing" between them, showing Kensi that if she prefers professionalism, then so be it until they both are ready to handle their personal versus profess He breaks away from her. Its slam dunk case he makes for himself against two judging women against his professional integrity. One has to either trust or distrust. One cannot be in perpetual doubtful state of "is he going to be one of us or be the weakling or a traitor, just because he is good at his undercover persona or wears his heart on his sleeve." Deeks neither can let Kensi become the DEA Agent like Talia, who can go ahead and dump him; nor can let himself get turned into Paulo Angelo the "doubted" as the NCIS under Hetty make of him. Slam Dunk rebellion of the Crass Distrust and the mockery that Hetty makes of his Love Story by sending him into the Interrogation Room to question Angelo, something that was so personal to him treated as a commodity by others.

That was Deeks point of view. What is Hetty's point of view? And how do they hash it out?

We see that even Hetty goes through a Fight between Personal and Professional desires. Her personal desire is that she wants Deeks and Kensi get to together. And she has helped them a lot from last 4 seasons. But then there is that professional side of hers, that also needs to assess the partners in love, dedication and objectivity towards work. It would have been easy for us to manage her two loved team members. But as fate would have it, she has a friend in Afghanistan, Jack Simon; who is in trouble and needs her help. Coincidentally, Jack Simon is also Kensi's Ex-Fiance, whom Kensi believes as dead. Hetty has to make the tough choice between her two personal wishes of seeing Kensi with Deeks, but having to send Kensi for rescuing Jack Simon. Its a tough call, but more on the professional lines, she decides to send Kensi to Afghanistan, well aware of the repercussions it may have on Deek's budding Love story with Kensi.

I am sure Hetty might have started feeling heavy about this. And thus she starts distancing herself from Deeks. This is where I started with the post above. How did then Hetty's decision affect her personally by affecting both Deeks and Kensi?  The answer is that, both Kensi and Deeks get to their Third Heart, that part of them that is so vulnerable that they cannot ever let it seen by others and have to always gaurd it. Both Kensi and Deeks lose stability when in Afghanistan. Its good and bad that they have seen what can happen to them. But what is the fallout?  The Fallout is that, its a step back for The Love Story. Kensi can see, that in her heart there was still Jack Simon. And until she flushes him out, she cannot let in Deeks. And Deeks, sees for himself, that he could go to a dark place for Kensi, but its not worth at all, because Kensi does not love him. She might care for him a lot, they have their Thing going on, but definitely its not the kind that Kensi feels for Jack Simon.  Hetty is all aware of this fallout. This is her personal loss. But first things first, she needs to get back her Special Agent Kensi Blye into shape, even if that means; having to exploit her other skilled team member Deeks closeness to Kensi. A Manager indeed!

Eric Beale - The Smart Boy

Season 5 has paid some attention to developing characters of Tech Operator Eric Beale and Intelligence Analyst Nell Jones. 

 Retweeted by Barrett Foa

ChrisDaisy ‏@ChrisDaisy405  1h

@BarrettFoa @fiona1wallace & the end of 5x06: Eric being acknowledged as the smart 1. That scene was really sweet! pic.twitter.com/pdbFJO5VfB

Recently, you may have seen me writing about Nell Jones In and on the Field . The prompt was ofcourse the Episode 5x14-War Cries where Nell showed her prowess in self-defence through her handling her opponent with a knife. With that fight she proved that she was fully ready to be on the field, unlike the "how to deal with unprepared challenge' in 4x14-Kill House last season. Nell Jones has been going to field at various times as needed throughout from Season 2 where she began her field assignments from 2x06-StandOff.

Same is the case with Eric Beale. My prompt this time to write about Eric is 5x18-ZeroDays episode, an episode very much dealing with IT People, Hacking etc. Zero Days itself is the IT concept of that challenge which can be tapped by a Hacker which has not been even addressed by the developer. And that makes me write about Eric Beale-The Smart Boy. 

It was Dave Kalstein's 1x03-Predator where we were given a little peep into Eric Beale's character, about how much he is so focussed and stressed about achieving the mission objective. Nate psychoanalyzes him as a person who keeps pressing the elevators buttons even if he knows its not going to come any sooner that it supposed to take time. It is the moment when Nate observes Eric being totally edgy with impatience at the kaleidoscope search not giving him fast results. We are informed that Eric is a surfer and uses a lot of surfer lingo that others cannot much understand. He dresses in beach-casuals. But that is just him and his looks. But his work shows him as him being the best at his work. He is a Hacker himself working for the Government against the rogue hackers on his watch. He helps Kensi get on with guest lecturing the superior hackers, and he also hacks into Joel Hardy’s laptop to know whereabouts of the rogue Drone. Eric Beale as the Tech Operator, explains us the two NCIS technologies that they use vastly - The FacialRecognition software search and the Kaleidoscope Search which is a visual search that scans live feeds from traffic cams through inputting of search parameters.

This year Eric Beale carries on with same traits as introduced before. He is smart, impatient, is geeky, wears casuals and keeps experimenting with his whistling calls for the Agents to come up to Ops Room for case hearing. On the surface, its not at all visible that anything much has changed for Eric. But subtlely things are changing this season for him. Inspite of the E-bot jokes on him for the rest of the team, who are irritated of his knowledge that they cannot understand, we as viewers see that increasingly, cases are coming that are going nowhere and only Eric along with Nell's partnership, give an insight into the cases that the team are working on. We are impressed with his skills in Gemmill's episodes 5x02-Impact, 5x14-War Cries , in Jordana Lewis Jaffe in 5x06-Big Brother, Andrew Bartels' 5x18-ZeroDays and Gil Grant's 5x20-Windfall. These episodes take us close to a real life NSA Employee who works for Government and is a hacker for Government related Security Projects and need all surveillance skills that allow security agencies to do their work. They are as much agents, detectives and soldiers on the field with their prowess about using technologies.

Eric worked against D7 Company to unearth information that they were trying to hide. You can read about that in my episode analysis of 5x02-Impact . In 5x14-WarCries, we see that it is because of him that D7 changes its tactics and shuts down its Ops and floats for itself a new entity. In that episode, Eric further helps Kensi run the surveillance for her in Afghanistan, unknown to his boss Hetty Lange under the very eyes of Assistant Director Owen Granger who flies to LA to find out who is helping Kensi. If you ask me it needs skill more than friends. Friends can help you having your back, but you also need to have that "extra edge" for which that gladly have your back. And that is Eric Beale equally to Kensi and Nell like they are to him. Its team work and Skill.

In 5x06-BigBrother, Eric was given a peep into his hacker mind and personality. A solo like we have seen episodes about him from Season 1. Like I remember him and the Drone Episode 1x03-Predator. All this just keeps pointing out to Obama Administration, which was directing that War on Terror can be also fought through remote targeting and not just actually in the field. The extensive use of Drones Air Strikes began under Obama and so had NSA spying and surveillance increased, to the point it got abused and exposed by a whisteblower Edward Snowden. And Big Brother is exactly that story. Through a story about a Teen Hacker, we are shown Eric Beale the Smart Guy, who actually understands when to hack and when not. The purpose is what counts for his way of work.

In, 5x18-ZeroDays takes us into Eric's blast with past in the form of his friendship with College friend Ira Wells. Ira's successful life-style, adds a Hacker's Dilemma to Eric, who then has to decide for himself, why he is at NCIS...something that even another favourite character of the series, Deeks; undergoes periodically. Isn't it surprising that both these guys are surfers and sork of geeky fellows ?!!  As a free-lance hacker, Eric could have made a fortune like Ira does, but instead he chose to work for Government with much lower remuneration and continues to be proud about that. When Hetty does not allow Eric work with Ira, he feels dejected, but by the end of the episode, when situation reverses, Eric feels all grateful about the position he has in Ops and the support he provides to NCIS. It shows us, how he too needs appreciation like the others and also how only a few can understand him what he does for the nation. It is only like his boss Henrietta Lange, who has been with Internet Development, can appreciate what kind of an asset Eric Beale is to the team. So much that she takes special interest into grooming him into wearing trousers, make a gentleman out of him. Why? Because he has started liking Intelligence Analyst Nell Jones. Its that sense of pride and confidence in himself, that prepares him into going into the field and finish his mission about tweaking the geo-satellite to mask its coordinates in a bid to avoid nuclear missile attack on San Francisco. 

Towards the season ending episodes, Eric comes across to us as maturing one, enough to take on equal aged young Agents of the team who are also his friends. He already had been teasing Deeks to stop being child in the previous episode about the workload that makes one be exhausted. In 5x20-Windfall, he is mature enough for Hetty to feel confident about his deductive skills and ask his assessment about Kensi, after her return from Afghanistan. Eric admits to Hetty that Kensi is bored and restless but emotionally is rock-solid. Hetty is also confident, though exhausted, Eric would survive the work alone without Nell in the Ops room, if situation demands that he has to work alone. After all, she had been preparing him from 5x08-Fallout to think like Nell, when he feels likes he needs her support.  And in 5x20-Windfall, we actually start seeing Eric, knowing exactly what Nell would do to support him. We see through the case investigation in retrospect, how much Eric and Nell actually keep applying their inductive and deductive methods at gathering Intel and provide leads to the Agents on the Field. They know to dig for clues within given virtual datasets. And this comes out starkly as Eric feels exhausted with the amount of data-mining he has to do all by himself, when Kensi is assigned to work with him. Neither Kensi is motivated enough to take enterprise until ordered by Eric nor Eric is motivated enough to delegate work to Kensi until she asks for it. Eric Beale is not the same person as of Season 1 where he could use Kensi's help in whichever form he gets. Now Eric after having worked with Nell Jones, misses her at work for how much she shares his Intel gathering work and how she complements and supplements him at work. After getting used to that level of higher skills, Eric just cannot adapt to non-technical team members such as Kensi. He feels relieved when Nell joins him in Ops room for few minutes and they get to cracking on important piece of info.

I am sure, we are going to see more coming our way in the left over episodes of this season. And I shall continue updating that...

Cashkend ‏@Cashkend_o  Nov 19

#NCISLA #Fallout + #maps + #Eric + glasses @Ladydi2000 @BarrettFoa pic.twitter.com/hWX3lMPUKb

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.