Recently I was reading through this interview with Mr. Olsen that plays Deeks on NCIS:LA and one thing caught my attention. The reference to the fact that for some reason, Deeks as a character has made a lot of emotional attachment with fans.
Now, I am personally iffy of using the phrase 'emotional attachment' in reference to TV characters. I'd rather say he's the character that has elicited some of the strongest responses. But I would certainly agree that Deeks is a character that a lot of fans, me included, have responded strongly to and enjoy watching so much. He is without a doubt the character I enjoy the most on the show; as a character he makes me grin and laugh heartily and I respond to his stories.
And this all got me thinking, what is it precisely about Deeks that makes him so popular?
What hit me personally about the character was the fact that from the beginning he was so human, so relateable. From the moment he entered the screen he was an impressive, complicated character with an intensive back-story. He felt like someone that could exist in real life. From the beginning, Deeks was presented as someone that had deep personal integrity and loyalty and was dedicated to his job. But he was not immune to it. The thing that impressed me from the start was how strongly Deeks would react to things and how his job was seen to affect him. While the other character felt like cardboards at times (Sam, Callen, Hetty) when it came to displaying their feelings, Deeks was from the start open emotionally and was shown to respond strongly to things, both good and bad.
He as been presented as a character that is not perfect. While the rest of them sometimes seem to inhabit a bubble of perfection, never doing anything wrong (Sam especially), Deeks is different. He blunders, has a strange humor (Germany f.ex.), is sometimes very awkward, has a tendency to talk far too much, listens to musicals and Donny and Marie (I do not know who these are!), does not always have social communication down to a tee, has a horrendous British accent, is Norwegian (whoop!), does some pretty strange things when he's undercover, can be very sensitive, hates forests and the desert, plays violin and knows classical music, in no way in tune with nature and many other things. He does not like shooting people and defends those he feels have been wronged. He is in love with Kensi but has trouble acting on it, he has some unresolved issues with his father and his past does not feel impressive or grand. It feels realistic.
In other words he feels delightfully human, has a lot of strange quirks and vices and habits just like anyone else. From the start, Deeks as a character did not live in the bubble of perfection the other characters still sometimes do. From the start, he has felt human.
And I have to mention his humour. Deeks is without a doubt the character that makes me laugh the most and grin like an idiot. I have said it times and again that one of the things I look for in my favorite TV shows is that they make me laugh, that they make me feel happy. NCIS:LA does that well and that is in large part thanks to Deeks.
NCIS:LA has radically improved in terms of their character development, especially in regards to Kensi. But Deeks will always be their best created character in my opinion. The human factor is pivotal when it comes to creating a good character and concerning Deeks, NCIS:LA did extremely well from the start.
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