WikiDeeks Roundtable Podcast – Season 9 Discussion
Welcome to the Season 9 wikiDeeks Roundtable discussion! This is our first audio podcast where you can actually put voices to some of our very familiar wikiDeeks contributors! Find out what we thought about last season and some of the Deeks centric episodes. Make sure you join the discussion too by leaving comments in the area below. We hope you enjoy the discussion!!
wikiDeeks | Marty Deeks | NCISLA 
Ok, I haven’t listened to the podcast yet (really don’t want to hear the sound of my own voice) but after this great discussion with these amazing people I realized something I wanted to add. In the beginning when we were grasping for, er, coming up with positive things to say about S9, I forgot to mention the return of Mama Deeks! Still not sure what the point of that little arc was in the beginning of the season, but Pamela Reed can play opposite ECO any day and I will be happy to watch.
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Thank you to all of you who took the time to do this. I enjoyed listening to everyone’s thoughts and getting to put a voice with the names. Hearing you voice your opinions, getting the tone behind your thoughts, was a refreshing change of pace. I really have nothing to add regarding the season. I’m pretty much in agreement with everything that was said here. I’m looking forward to the fanfiction stories during the hiatus and beyond. To me, several writers (Lindy, Psyched – I’m looking right at you – Randy, too!) and a few other authors’ stories have surpassed the show in my opinion. It’s you writers that have such a passion for these characters that have kept my love for them alive. I’m looking forward to season 10 with hope, but I’m most excited for the fanfiction. I know we will get some brilliant stories from you. Thanks again for sharing your talents with us. And once again, let me say how much I’m going to miss wikiDeeks.
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I am new to commenting, but not new to following Wikideeks. I really enjoyed your podcast and will miss Wikideeks. As a prelude to my comments–I have watched this franchise since its genesis, from the first episode of JAG, through NCIS, and then NCIS LA. (Yes, I’m old.) Midway through Season 1, I was really starting to question why I was watching. To me, Callen, Sam and Kensi were too one dimensional and Dom just didn’t fit. (Why was such a young newbie on a supposedly elite team?) Then “Hand to Hand” happened! I was hooked and found myself watching the rest of season 1after “Fame” just to see if Deeks was back. It’s now one of only two shows that I insist on watching live. Of course, it’s also being recorded. About a year ago, I realized that when I think about prior seasons, my mind sees Season 1, Eps 1 through 18, in black and white. Color doesn’t happen till Deeks. I’m sure there’s something Freudian in there. (I know it’s all in color because I have the DVDs. My brain just doesn’t see it that way.) I’ve always felt like Deeks is the most layered of the characters and there are so many more layers to peel back. I really want a “Deeks, M”, preceded by a “Brandel, M”!! I really don’t want ECO to cut back on his screen time any more than we’ve already seen.
I also love your fanfics. I always look forward to reading all of your work. But most of all, I would really love to see you, Randy, get back to writing. You write Deeks the way I see him–very intelligent, skilled, funny, deeply caring and very complicated. Here’s to new stories and continuations of those that are finished!
Thanks for all your hard work.
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Finally got around to listening to this. Some very good points were made about the shortcomings of season 9. I’ve already forgotten half of what I wanted to say (without benefit of a transcript to refer back to, I apparently have a short little attention span), but I was intrigued by the speculation that perhaps Mosely’s reason for coming to NCIS on the West Coast was to find her son. That’s an interesting parallel to Kensi joining NCIS to investigate her father’s death. The job Kensi takes for an ulterior motive eventually becomes her self-declared identity (I still don’t see how and when that happened ); maybe if Mosely survives whatever repercussions there are for the events of the finale, she will undergo the same transformation. It would be an interesting parallel for the writers to draw, but frankly I doubt the fans would accept it.
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It was a pleasure to hear all the voices and your personalities come through in the discussion. Like MaryLynn above, I have followed the franchise since its inception as JAG and also was about to give up on NCIS:LA until “Hand to Hand.” Not that I don’t like Chris, LL & Daniella, but Deeks is the voice of the audience; we are let in on the secret world of NCIS:LA through his eyes. While the writers certainly had a lot to do with the character, a hefty part of the credit goes to ECO as he took an undeveloped character and turned him into the everyman of the NCIS universe: foibles, fears, flights of fancy, sidetracks, under-appreciated & gifted outsider and conscience. (He covered ALL bases. And reference his interviews where he states, in front of Shane during his audition, he put down the script and did an impromptu monologue of what he thought the eventual Densi would look like. Now, that is creative and shows some big cojones!) After all, we the viewers are outsiders as well.
I agree with all your cogent evaluations of S9. In many ways, it was an incredible disappointment.
One point I might make to the introduction of Mosley & Hidoko – Linda Hunt was not onscreen. My first fear was that she was ill or some other personal scenario required her to pull back significantly this season. If so, they did a very poor job of covering her absence. The storylines for Daniella during her pregnancies were outstanding but if something happened suddenly to Linda, well, they seem to have gotten the scripts out from under the water tower vault at Paramount. (Pailey Fest cast discussion, 2015?)
I had always appreciated Gemmill’s leadership for NCIS:LA but this was a distracted season with little consistency or oversight.
The actresses portraying Mosley & Hidoko are wonderful people from what I have seen on interviews. Nia WAS acting as she created such an unlovable bitch. Even though we sympathize slightly with Mosley on her quest for her son, we can’t go far enough to accept her as she respects no one. That’s the difference between Mosley’s & Kensi’s journeys – Kensi, in her blood revenge, still tried to take care of others by keeping them at a safe distance while Mosley just walked on, chewed up and spit out every one who was in her way. Even her closest confidant Hidoko was warned she was expendable sans ABSOLUTE, UNQUESTIONING loyalty. Frankly, she seemed like the Queen of the South. (I hold the Gemmill, the writers and directors responsible.) And Andrea Bordeaux, while we were confused by her character’s presence, is someone I want to see succeed in this business. While the Mosley character will surely be gone in S10, it is a loss for Hidoko; I fancifully thought – even with the age difference – that she & Sam might get together just because of the similar pain they have gone through.
While we all plaintively cry the potential departure of ECO, I didn’t think that was what motivated the season. (Paragraph above.) What the arc does show – and has never been handled well in the NCIS universe – is the roll a woman plays in a warrior situation. We deal with it in the armed forces all the time now, but it is never discussed. Even Ziva was, in a way, handled as one dimensional – a woman has to be traumatized in order to work at such a high level. (Something has to be “off” with a woman who is a warrior.) Hetty told Kensi early on that one day she would hang up her guns. Prophetic arc? Is this the time? Will S10 be the introspection and unfolding of the true psychology of Kensi? Does she find who she really is minus fear-based emotions? What about Hetty? She has always been up on Mount Olympus for the gang. She has now stepped down and entered the realm of humans. Agent Orange is looming for her as well. Is Linda going to be the one to retire? NCIS:LA is not the same show as 10 years ago. It is more real for the characters and, vicariously, us. More drama than bang when it is on target.
Correctly, ECO is a genius with his ability to truthfully portray an emotion with his entire body sans one word. After all the trauma Deeks has gone through, the cracks are showing. Same for Sam. This would be the opportune season to explore what happens to fighters after all this trauma & stress. (Both ECO & LL Cool J were nominated for portraying the mental health issue of trauma.) More so than the mothership, these characters seem to verily experience and live the moments of the shows. (I leave it to Jericho Steel to correct me.)
I loved this podcast and wish you all could interact more; it was great to hear your evaluations. I look forward to more stories. (Hey, Jericho Steel, haven’t seen your work in awhile!)
Thank you for all your incredible work.
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I wanted to add my farewell to you all. Somehow in my crazy busy life, I didn’t get the email about the round table and I’m very sorry to have missed it. This crew has been amazing to work with and I’m going to miss them. The amount of research and thought that went into the previews, reviews, and fanfics made them top notch articles and stories that brought us all back week after week.
Due to some family issues causing serious time constraints, I was late or completely absent with Kensi’s Journal from some of the later episodes this season and for that I sincerely apologize. I can promise it was not because I lacked interest. My Mother in Law has Alzheimer’s and we move from one crisis to the next. I’m very sad to see WikiDeeks go but I also know that I would not have been able to continue writing the Journal. I do know that one of these other awesome writers would have picked it up in a heartbeat!
To you, the fans who have commented and liked and come back week after week, I want to thank you all. You have made it worthwhile and I will miss your encouragement.
Thank you Diane, Karen P., Lindy, Gayle, Randy and Coleen. You all have been wonderful and I hope to be able to collaborate with you again in the future. The fanfics were a lot of fun and I appreciated the opportunity to participate in them but most of all, thank you for allowing me to be the voice of Kensi for the past 5 years.
Sincerely,
Karen S. (Kadiedid)
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We missed you and we’re sorry you couldn’t join us!! Thank you for all your hard work and being the wonderful voice of Kensi. Your creative work will always be welcomed at wikiDeeks! We’ll be sure to stay in touch!
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I was glad I had a chance today to listen to this podcast, many thanks to all of you who took part. I think it was a really great idea to let us hear the contributors’ voices instead of just writing your thoughts and comments on the season.
I agree with everything you said, especially about the character of Mosley and the fact that TPTB had planned since the very beginning to have no Densi wedding this season and all their talking about it was just to keep the Densi fans quiet. Still about the wedding, I’m also glad, as I have already said in other past comments, the showrunners didn’t make it happen off screen or in a very quick and rushed way either, as the engagement scene was handled last season.
Now my only hope is all the team survives that terrible rocket and we get to see them ALL struggle to find a new balance and direction.
It’s making me a little nervous to know that the NCIS:LA offices have re-opened and some of the crew and authors are already working on season 10. When the cast is back too, I hope we will get some (minor) spoilers at least about who may be or may not be part of next season. I don’t know if it’s normal to be both curious and scared at the same time!
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It was asked why everyone loves Deeks. For me it is a simple answer. Deeks makes the show watchable. Season one, before he showed up, was, quite honestly, rather boring. Deeks brought life and excitement to NCIS: Los Angeles that was seriously lacking. He will always be my favorite NCIS character. Eric Christian Olsen ROCKS!!!!
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Wow, great conversation! I loved listening to everyone’s viewpoints on season 9, Densi, and Deeks. Some of your comments made me laugh out loud I’m definitely getting more and more excited for season 10.
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