Editorial: Deeks’ Mom? It’s about time, NCISLA!
Well, it’s happened. Deeks’ fans have gotten word that we are finally going to get a glimpse into the LAPD detective’s backstory. According to Entertainment Weekly, Pamela Reed is set to star as Marty Deeks’ mom in an episode to air sometime in September. Will her introduction be a part of the Dave Kalstein episode entitled “Citadel” currently in production? Kalstein and Deeks have certainly been BFFs for the past six seasons, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he has taken on this daunting task of bringing Deeks’ mother into the NCIS:LA fold as well.
At the beginning of the summer, Kalstein asked Twitter fans what they wanted to see going forward and the overwhelming majority of Deeks’ fans cried out for a backstory. They wanted to know what makes this character tick, give us some history, tell us about his life before NCIS! After six years of pleading to the writers and producers (and thousands of fan fics later), we may have some answers. This is an exciting and scary moment for all of us who have been waiting so patiently for these answers. Will they get it right… and will we be happy with the story of Deeks’ early years?
As we have been told over and over again, this is Callen’s story. We heard that loud and clear. But in announcing the news regarding Deeks’ mom, Shane Brennan called this a big moment for a beloved character. If this is the case, then all we ask is that the showrunners give this moment and this character the respect that it deserves. We have been waiting so long for an episode (or two) entitled “Deeks, M.” If not a full episode, then at least give us a serious arc or storyline that we can sink our teeth into and that will leave us emotionally and intellectually charged during Season 7. Tall order? You bet! But after six years of waiting, fans of Marty Deeks want to see their hero become the respected center of attention during this revelation. Give him time to tell his tale and give us the backstory that will make fans love this character even more than we thought possible. We may be asking for a lot… but don’t you think we deserve it too?
What is your reaction to this news regarding Deeks’ backstory? What do you want to see happen? Let’s burn up the comment section with your thoughts!
Diane Volpe is a Contributing Editor at wikiDeeks.com.
Follow her on Twitter: @phillydi
wikiDeeks | Marty Deeks | NCISLA 
Finally!!!! I am so happy their doing this.
LikeLike
Agree with everything you say, especially the “respected center of attention.” This had better not be an excuse to make Deeks be the butt of jokes or portrayed as somehow lesser than the rest of the team, and it sure better not be an excuse to make the story all about Kalstein’s fantasy girl Kensi. They’ll only get one shot at this, and they can’t afford to screw it up.
LikeLike
I think it is a great casting choice, but will be wary until I see the episode. They have made no indication that he had a living parent in the last five years (spending holidays alone, not wanting to list a next of kin, assuming Kensi’s mother was dead because she never talked about her). I hope this is a well thought out character arc and not just a one episode fan service because some people on Twitter said they wanted to see his mother.
LikeLike
I was extremely happy to hear this news. I am also happy they chose to pick an accomplished actress for his mother, I am hopeful the writers give us some emotional scenes that allow ECO and Pamela Reed to show their acting abilities.I agree with everything you said especially wanting our beloved character to be treated with the respect he deserves.
LikeLike
Hooray! Thrilled, hopeful and scared and all in this order sums up my feelings. I am now at the scared stage. I hope the showrunners do Deeks’s backstory justice. I believe they will. They haven’t done wrong by Callen, Sam & Kensi’s backstories. It will be certainly be a challenge to explain her appearance since Hetty is listed as Deeks’s next of kin. It needs to be at least a 2 parter with story arcs for the remaining season to flesh out the details. Can’t wait for September😄
LikeLike
I was so excited when I read the news even if I admit being a bit scared… How will this new important presence in Deeks’ life be treated by the writers? Let’s hope all will make sense in the end.
My questions are especially: will his mother become a recurrent character? or will she be like Julia, Kensi’s mother, sometimes mentioned but never appeared again after “Blye K”?
I think the revelation that Deeks’ mother is alive also casts a different light on Hetty’s words in “Fighting shadows”:
HETTY: They (IA) will use everything they have against you
KENSI: Me…
Now we know that it might be someone else…
LikeLike
Nice catch! Maybe it’s not Kensi and it has something to do with his mom. This would add a unique twist to the storyline.
LikeLike
Wonderful piece, Di, and great comments from everyone. I guess it’s a sad commentary on my lack of faith in the showrunners and this writer that I am extremely nervous about something that should just make me happy and excited. I just can’t stop thinking about all the ways it could go wrong. You are right Di, that the most important thing is that they give Deeks’ character the respect he deserves. (And that everything we’ve learned so far will actually make sense with this current story.)
I of course am reading far too much into the wording here, but I liked that it said “The first episode for Reed…” as if she’ll be somewhat of a recurring character. I disliked that Shane Brennan’s focus included Kensi meeting mom- that could no doubt be interesting, but this episode had better revolve around Deeks and not Kensi (I’m looking at you Dave Kalstein). I am so not wanting another episode that disappoints and divides us Deeks fans.
OK, now maybe you can help me with some of the clues we’ve seen so far (where’s Tess’ preview when you need it?). ECO posted an Instagram of two chairs labeled “Deeks” so I assume that means one was for his mom? And does that mean she went back to her maiden name (I’d be surprised if she never took her husband’s last name)?
There have also been lots of posts with Mercedes Mason AKA Talia, most of them seemingly out in the woods. Were they part of the same episode, or the episode before? I think from Dave’s twitter feed it looks like the same ep? The photo with the chairs also looked like it was out in the woods. Hmmm. Not sure I’m happy to see a dramatic Deeks storyline where Talia’s in the mix- she is sort of distracting and has never been part of a particularly serious episode.
At least we’ll have this done next month (!) so we won’t have to fret about it for long.
LikeLike
Talia is in the same episode (production 7×02). It looks like she spent a day filming with ECO and a day with Dani. I think that the mother character will probably play a small role in the Kalstein episode and then a larger role in the Bartels one right after it. I have no evidence to support this of course, it’s just a theory.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good catch on the 2 chairs labeled Deeks, Karen. I assumed it was for his stunt double brother when it showed up, but now it makes more sense.
LikeLike
FInally Deeks gets a storyline involving his family. (Sorry but it always seems to be about Callen and his family). I really hope they do this storyline justice. Deeks is an important part of the show and his romance with Kensi is an integral part of why viewers are so devoted to the show. I think Deeks is the most popular character on the show (but then I am biased). I am sure that they wont disapoint the huge following of Deeks fans out there. At least that is what I am praying for!
LikeLike
Hello girls: wikiDeeks! ! It was time to meet Mom Deeks! I just hope they do not disappoint me about it! It is unexpected but great, as long as their appearance corresponds with the little “known” history Deeks is, I hope not his mother appears as if she had always been in the life of her son! Since supposedly Deeks was alone, Hetty otherwise would not contact your doctor and sometime he would have referred to it! You can not come out of nowhere and be all nice and fun, as Mr. Brennan said read! It would be disrespectful to all the fans of Marty Deeks! I love this wonderful character and Eric Christian Olsen and I hope to surprise and be literally with open mouth happy amazed and so are counting on! Now I really would have liked a M.Deeks or M.Brandel chapter or something not, I hope and trust! God forbid, do not let us down !!! Les I have a question; True, the show was about to be canceled last year, for low ratings? They published here and I wonder if it’s true! From already thank them for any information they can give me!(I hope my writing is correct and well understand what I mean! If it does not apologize!) Kisses from Argentina !
LikeLike
Kriss: Hard to say if the show was in danger of being canceled because of the drop in ratings on Monday night. Some think there was the possibiity but I guess it was a positive sign they were renewed and we shouldn’t worry…for now.
LikeLike
High hopes…very high. I am trying to stay positive, having been disappointed that we have had to wait so long to get even a small hint about Deeks’ childhood. I want it to all make sense. I want to know the reason she hasn’t been in his life and where she’s been all this time and did he know she was still alive? I can’t believe he did. I can see so many sad possibilities for Deeks, but I really don’t want to speculate. I can only wait and hope that I will be as touched by this part of his story as I was when I watched Personal. Dave Kalstein is a gifted writer and I want to believe he cares for Deeks as much as we do and that he will do justice to this important part of his life. We fans deserve that almost as much as Deeks.
LikeLike
In total agreement. Well said!
LikeLike
Quite glad I waited a bit to read this in order to review all of the other readers’ comments. My personal primary joy is for ECO; they seem to be giving him some material to really work his acting chops. While we adore the bits of banter and humorous (very short-term) covers, THIS will be the Deeks we all really long for – the dramatic Deeks mostly hidden away since S2 & 3 (a few appearances in S5). On that note, I’d lay a hard bet the IA issue relates directly back to Mama vs Kensi. (Well played misdirection team!)
I find it amusing that so many of us immediately jumped from excited to scared. On one hand that’s sad, that the show/writers have trained us to expect the worst. One the other hand it’s fantastic because it indicates how much we care for this character and what it to be a powerful experience for all of us.
The show will have to win me over regarding Talia, which will be a huge feat. (I’m still not all the way there with Granger and look how long that’s been going on.) Knowing only what we know now, I’m pretty displeased Talia is in the same ep as Mama Deeks, primarily because I don’t want Deeks’ (or even Kensi’s) attention to be split. Unlike some, I implicitly trust Kalstein with this. Now it’s up to him to earn or ruin that.
LikeLike
I share your same feeling that Talia and mama Deeks in the same episode may be too much… but I am confident that Mama Deeks will only have a minor role here and then play a bigger part in the following episode. That would be the best because I think, as others in this post have highlighted, that Talia is kind of distracting in an episode, whatever she does, be it flirt with Deeks or joke with Kensi (I hope with all my heart that the jealousy card won’t be played anymore now).
LikeLike