NCIS: Los Angeles – The 10 Best Deeks And Kensi Episodes
While NCIS: Los Angeles features an ensemble cast of characters with their own stories, the romance between Deeks and Kensi is the emotional core of the show. NCIS: Los Angeles is part of the larger NCIS shared universe, taking place in the titular city. The series follows the members of the Office of Special Projects (OSP), an elite task force within the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS). This unit is responsible for undercover work in and around the city of Los Angeles and often sees them dealing with crimes happening close to the Mexican border.
NCIS: Los Angeles has a cast of characters ranging from in-the-field agents to office employees, and their relationships with one another are the high points of the series. Kensi Blye (Daniela Ruah), junior field agent, and Martin Atticus “Marty” Deeks (Eric Christian Olsen), special agent, appear in all 14 seasons of the show as main characters, save for season 1 when Deeks is a guest character. The relationship between these two operatives is a series-long affair, known as “Densi,” with some key episodes serving as important milestones in their journey from smitten coworkers to loving parents.
Deeks and Kensi’s first meeting comes in season 1, episode 19, “Hand-to-Hand”, which also serves as Olsen’s debut episode. In the episode, a marine and MMA fighter is found dead outside a gym. Deeks, working for the LAPD, is already undercover there and unwittingly engages with OSP undercovers. Deeks and Kensi meet for the first time here and there is clearly chemistry between the two agents, though they are undercover as they do so. They both comment on each other’s attire, which comes up again later in the show.
Deeks and Kensi didn’t have another major episode together until season 3, episode 22 “Neighborhood Watch”. The two agents go undercover as a married couple to uncover a spy ring operating in an affluent LA neighborhood. It’s a bit of a cliché to put the will-they, won’t-they partners in an undercover couple role, but Olsen and Ruah’s chemistry makes it worthwhile. The couple have their first kiss here, though it’s in character, but how they each coyly recall what the other was wearing in their first meeting suggests the kiss had more meaning to it after all.
In season 4, episode 24, “Descent”, NCIS: Los Angeles sees the true beginning of the relationship fans were waiting for. A cache of stolen nuclear weapons forces the OSP team to split up, with Kensi even going overseas, in the season 4 finale. After a season of Kensi and Deeks unsuccessfully trying to work as partners while pretending they don’t have feelings for one another, the pair finally share their first non-undercover kiss in this episode. Kensi has accused Deeks multiple times of not saying how he truly feels. In “Descent,” he answers the question with a kiss.
The previous season saw Sam (LL Cool J) and Deeks tortured by terrorist Isaak Sidorov (Timothy Murphy). Two episodes into season 5, Deeks is still trying to deal with his PTSD. He does find comfort in one person in season 5, episode 2, “Impact”, which is with Kensi. The agent takes care of Deeks and when he falls asleep in her arms, Kensi asks, “What’s next?” Deeks’ reply, “A love story,” is a reassuring and romantic phrase to end the grim episode. Kensi doesn’t respond to Deeks, but her face says she’s curious to find out what that means.
